Page 36 of Fair Trade
“Nick! What are you doing here?” my sister asks excitedly.
Luisa’s head snaps in my direction, and I take in her white suit with blood red heels. Her eyes narrow in suspicion as I openly stare at her beauty.
Oh, just you wait, sweetheart.
I wrap my sister in a hug and lift her off her feet, like I did when we were kids.
She pinches my side as she squeals. “Put me down right now. We are at work, Nick,” she scolds between a fit of laughter.
It’s nice to hear her this way. Even though she plasters on those fake as fuck smiles day in and day out, I know my sister better than I know myself. And I know that something is up with her. I have a feeling my father is involved in this somehow.
“If I have to.” I place her down next to me, then look up to greet Luisa. She’s giving me a quizzical look. As if she cannot reconcile the person she spent the night with and the man standing before her. “Hello there, Luisa. Congrats on the win tonight.” The cheering around us hasn’t subsided, but I swear I can hear her thoughts from where I stand.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, straight to the point.
I make a show of looking around the clubhouse. “You know, oddly enough, last I checked, I owned this place. Can you believe it?” I scratch my chin as I feign astonishment.
Her eyes scan up and down my body, and I don’t miss the momentary appreciation in them before she shuts that shit down. “What are you up to, Stonehaven?”
I don’t attempt to hide my predatory smile as I wave at the coaching staff to get their attention. Quickly, they garner the attention of the rowdy players. I’m tall enough that I don’t need to hop on a chair to get their eyes on me, so I begin right where I stand. “Congratulations on the win, guys. You were amazing out there.” The cheering continues for a few seconds before they settle again. “You have been performing at a level that has far exceeded anyone’s expectations, given that it is your first year playing as a team, but I know this is only the beginning.”
Cheers erupt again as the team catcher, Anthony Torres, yells, “¡Así es! We’re riding this straight into the World Series, baby!”
I wave my hand to settle them once more. I need to wrap this up before they go completely off leash on me. “I know there is a tradition for big games like these, where you seat a player or manager in one of the carts and wheel them into the shower while they’re doused in champagne.”
The players start shaking bottles in preparation and shoving the new shortstop into a cart.
I raise my hand. “I was wondering if you’d be open to a suggestion. You guys dominate the field, but there’s a certain someone who has been dominating behind the scenes and went above and beyond to get our newest teammate here traded in what I’ve been told to be quite an impressive deal.”
“Álvarez!” Chants start to break out as another cart is brought out. She glares in my direction as the players start to circle around her.
“No way. This outfit is new.”
“I’ll buy you a new one.” The words spill from my lips before I even register what I’m saying.
The dare hangs between us. Someone rolls a cart my way, and I aim it in Luisa’s direction, raising a challenging brow.
She slowly removes her white blazer, and the noise level reaches an alarming high. She keeps her eyes locked on mine and removes her heels. In this moment I’m glad there’s a cart blocking the view of the bulge in my pants. She walks toward me and smacks the heels against my chest. “Hold these for me, would you?”
I grunt a response, since she’s activated the caveman mode in my brain. She seats herself in the cart as delicately as possible, but eventually slumps in until her cute little feet are pointing up and out of the cart and she uses her arms to stay somewhat upright.
“Okay, let’s get this over with, you overgrown children.” She huffs as the team claps with excitement.
“Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. Since this is Luisa’s first go at this rite of passage, I thought we’d do something more original than bottles of champagne.”
Everyone looks on in anticipation as Luisa mutters under her breath, “What are you up to, Lucifer?”
“Everyone, please help yourself to those small buckets of sangria I had brought in. They have extra fruit in them.Luisa’s favorite.”
Luisa turns in an impressive exorcist-style manner as I toss her shoes to a laughing Daisy and start to wheel her into the showers myself.
This wasn’t part of my plan. I was supposed to look on from a safe and dry distance. But over my dead body will anyone else be in charge of leading this experience for her.
“Nicholas León Stonehaven, you absolutely did not plan all of this in that tiny peanut brain of yours,” Luisa rants.
I tuck a piece of hair that’s slipped from her ponytail behind her ear. “Angel, you know my middle name? I’m touched.” Her cheeks pinken slightly, and for a moment I want to force everyone out of the clubhouse so I can explore this further.
But before I know it, everything I’ve put into motion starts coming at us fast. Mateo Martinez hands me a bucket as he smiles. “Something tells me you want to be the one who does the honors.”
