Page 29 of Pitcher Us
My luck is running out as my little dog lands just one short of “Go” on New York Avenue, which happens to be Will’s most valuable property.
“No,” I fake whine, and Will tenses next to me. I haven’t got shit to offer him and I know I’m screwed. “Welp, I’m out.”
At this point Adam, Catherine, and Lucie have all abandoned us to go watch holiday specials in the living room, so I scoot out my chair to join them.
Will grabs the leg of my wooden chair pulling it back in. “Hold on?—”
“Oh no, no, no,” Reagan stops before he can even get another word out. “Sorry, Callie. But she doesn’t have shit to offer you. If you want to keep her here, so you can keep looking at her every five seconds, then ask her to stay until you lose because she’s out.”
Will’s jaw clenches and his hand lets go of my chair. Tension fills the table, but I don’t think it’s because of the game. I’m honestly on cloud nine about it because a hot guy stealing glances—um, go me—obviously is good for the self-esteem. But I don’t think Will wanted me to know he was looking…or maybe he didn’t even realize he was doing it?
A timer on someone’s phone blasts from the living room and while Reagan and Will have their little stare down, everyone files back into the dining room.
“It’s almost like clockwork,” Lucie says as she comes up behind her sister. “Two hours on the dot and you two are fighting at the end of the game. We may have to set the timer for an hour and a half cutoff time now.”
Catherine chuckles as she leans over, sliding the board to the opposite end of the table. “I should have warned you, Callie, thatI also have to set a timer for the game to end, or I fear Will and Reagan may kill each other.”
I chuckle lightly. “It’s okay, Adam and I would never be able to do this with our family, so this was a nice change in the holiday.”
Adam shoots me a sympathetic smile then squeezes my shoulder.
The tension that was coming off Will seems to dissipate as he stands from the table. “How about dessert?”
“I’ll help,” Adam says, releasing my shoulder to follow Will out, leaving just us girls at the table.
I start organizing the extra monopoly money on the table and hand it to Lucie while Reagan picks up the properties. “I wanted to thank you guys for letting Adam and I crash your holiday. Things have been tense with our family for so long, it’s nice to see how much fun Christmas can be. I hope we didn’t impose too much.”
“Oh, nonsense.” Catherine waves her hand, brushing off my words. “We’re happy you’re here. Will was practically on autopilot when he lived in Seattle. It’s nice to see this trade has brought you all closer together. I like seeing my boy smile for a change.”
The tug those words have on my heart is stronger than I expected.
“Did you and Will hang out in Seattle?” Lucie asks, putting on the lid to the game and sliding it to the end of the table.
“No, to be honest, I think I was on autopilot too for this past year while living with Adam. I never hung out with him while he was with the team and left his games right after they ended. I’ve been holding a bit of a grudge against baseball players for a while now. Bad ex, he kind of put a bad taste in my mouth for dating baseball players.” And when I realize how that sounds, I add, “Or being around them for that matter.”
Reagan and Lucie give each other a quick glance but I don’t really get a read on if it’s a good or bad telepathic message they’ve sent each other. It seems silly to care, but I want them to like me.
Behind me, I hear the start of the birthday song. Turning my head, I see Adam walking in with a round cake in his hands and Will trailing in behind him. Everyone around me starts to join in singing and when Adam sets the cake in front of me, the tears pool in my eyes at the realization that this was actually planned for me.
On the top it reads “Happy (first) Birthday, Callie.”Beautiful icing flowers decorate the sides, and it even has a “1” candle lit on it.
When the singing stops, I have to wipe the escaped tears from my cheek before blowing out the candle. My wish is to pull myself back together because I’m about to look like a mess if I can’t get my emotions in check—but I’m pretty sure I’m already failing.
“Adam, you didn’t have to get me a cake.” I chuckle through the happy tears.
Much to my surprise, Adam replies, “Oh, I can’t take credit for this, Cals.”
Lucie raises her hand slowly. “I made it, but it was Will’s idea. He said you like chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling. I hope that’s okay.”
Will did this? This was his idea? I turn to him slowly, but he doesn’t meet my eyes.
“Adam told me the flavor, but?—”
“It’s perfect, thank you.” I don’t let the fact that he won’t make eye contact bother me. I can’t, because then I look back at this cake and no matter who did what, it means so much to me.
I pull out the candle and lick the icing off the bottom. My word, it’s good. “Since it’s my ‘first’ birthday, I want the piece with my name on it.”
“Coming right up.” Reagan picks my cake back up and carries it back to the kitchen.
