Page 31 of Pitcher Perfect
Robbie scrubbed at his beard. “Oh, yeah. Obviously.”
“Was that flirting just now?” she asked, after a beat, clearly thrown that their proximity hadn’t registered earlier. He’d been close enough to kiss her.
God, I’d die to kiss her.
“If so, you’re getting better at it,” Robbie said. “I couldn’t even tell you were trying.”
“I wasn’t,” she said, mostly to herself, her brows drawing together. “Trying, that is.”
Maybe... she didn’t have to try.
Maybe she was a little bit attracted to him?
Normally, women being attracted to Robbie was a given, but not with Skylar. This new possibility that the chemical reaction he experienced in her presence might go both ways was the best news he’d received since getting drafted by the Bearcats.
It was also dangerous.
Robbie was already falling for Skylar. The only thing keeping him realistic and grounded about his chances was the fact that she loved someone else. But if he had attraction on his side? Hope opened doors. Hope made him feel like he had a shot.
And he didn’t. So he needed to keep his eyes wide open.
“I’ll go get the bags out of the car,” he managed on his way into the hallway. “You want your planner?”
That threw her. She opened her mouth, closed it. “Yes, please.”
He turned and went before he could reach too much into the silent appreciation arranging her features.
The opening ceremony was a cookout in the backyard, thankfully. Robbie had been entertaining visions of blood sacrifices and the summoning of ancient deities, so the sizzle of burgers on the grill was a welcome sound, instead of his own tormented screams.
In attendance were the usual suspects from the earlier front yard introductions, henceforth known as the following:
Team Silver Hair = Doug and Vivica (another obvious ploy to dupe everyone into counting them out because of their age; not happening).
Team Foul Balls = Madden and Elton (a joke they’d obviously come up with as teenagers; it hadn’t aged well).
Team Skeeve = Skylar and Eve (a combination of their names that they clearly hadn’t chosen, but it had stuck nonetheless).
The six of them stood around the firepit in the backyard, sizing one another up, quietly conferring with their counterparts and sipping straight water. No one was consuming a drop of alcohol, which would have made the gathering a shoo-in for the most boring cookout of all time, except it wasn’t. Not at all.
For one, Skylar was there.
And two, this was Robbie’s chance to properly get a read on Madden.
Did the big, quiet dude with the Irish brogue like her back? Was he into Skylar and merely prevented from pursuing her due to his best-friend status with Elton? If so, he was a lot more noble than Robbie, because Robbie would have gone for her anyway, damn the consequences.
Problem was, Madden wasn’t an easy read. His expression rarely shifted from silent observation. He definitely looked atSkylar every once in a while, that attention lingering long enough for tension to build in Robbie’s neck, but beyond an open flicker of curiosity from the guy now and again, Robbie couldn’t glean much else.
Now was a good time to remind himself he was supposed towantMadden to notice Skylar. As more than a kid sister. As the beautiful woman she was. That was the goal. That’s why he’d volunteered to be there this week. He’d come to Cumberland to help Skylar land this man. He needed to focus on making that happen instead of wondering about the what-ifs; for example, what if Madden wasn’t interested?
Would she... could she... turn her attention to Robbie?
Better squash thathopenow before it grows teeth.
A flame licked out of the firepit in Skylar’s direction and Robbie moved without thinking, hooking an arm around the small of her back and walking them backward and out of the literal line of fire. “Careful,” he said, looking down into her startled face.
“Thanks,” she said, wetting her lips. Her attention drifted over his shoulder to the others. “Maybe you should let me go now. Everyone is staring.”
“Maybe that’s exactly why I shouldn’t.”
