Page 30 of Meet Your Match
She rolled her eyes, popping out of her barstool to stand. “So, Vince Cool. What do you do with a day off?”
“I’ll show you,” I said. “But first… what doyouwant to do?”
“Me?”
I nodded. “You said you’re missing your normal life. What would Maven King be doing on a Sunday morning if she wasn’t babysitting a pro hockey player?”
At that, she folded her arms with her brow slowly arching. “You really want to know?”
“I do.”
She watched me for a long moment before shaking her head. “Alright,” she said, grabbing her purse off the island. “Let’s go, Tanny Boy. Wear something casual that you don’t mind sweating in. Oh,” she added with a wry grin. “And bring your credit card.”
“Am I taking you shopping?”
“Something like that.”
CHAPTER 11
FOR MY EYES ONLY
Maven
“Ican’t believe you did all this for us, Vince,” Mr. Pruitt said, smiling his signature gap-toothed smile. Mr. Pruitt was a white man, sixty-two, with long gray hair and more unbelievable road trip stories than a circus troupe. “You know you didn’t need to.”
“Yeah, we’re happy just to hang out. We didn’t think we’d see you much once the season started,” Lonnie added, clapping Vince on the back. Where Mr. Pruitt was pale, Lonnie was bronzed like he lived at the beach. And to be honest, on some occasions, he did. He was also very proud of his full head of brown hair and matching long beard.
And while I usually would be hugging them and asking how they’d been, I was currently standing there on the edge of the conversation, completely shocked.
When Vince had asked me what I would usually be doing on a Sunday morning, I’d thought I’d be throwing him for a loop when I told him. Because every Sunday morning, I either made egg sandwiches myself, or grabbedsome from McDonald’s, along with some orange juice, and came downtown to the park where a handful of Tampa’s displaced population tended to congregate.
It was something I started doing when I was in college, and the tradition continued once I made so many friends. While it killed me to see their situation stay the same for so long, it also filled me with joy to spend time with them, to hear their stories and show them kindness that I knew they weren’t showed often. When I had a little extra to give, they were usually the first people I gave it to. Sometimes I took them to get their hair cut. Sometimes I put them up in a hotel when a cold front swept through, which wasn’t often in Tampa, thank goodness. And sometimes,mosttimes, I just came out to chat with them, to remind them that regardless of how some might treat them, they were still worthy of love and respect.
This morning, with Vince’s credit card in hand, I’d decided to spoil them not only with a hot breakfast from McDonald’s, but with Publix subs to save for later,andbrand-new packages of socks and underwear, too. And the entire time, Vince had been quiet, wearing a smug little smile that I thought meant he was just amused and confused about what was happening.
But when we pulled up to the park and walked over, all of its residents greeted Vince before they did me.
And I’d been standing there confused ever since, watching as they interacted the way family would.
“Well, to be fair, you probably won’t see quite as much of me,” Vince admitted, scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “But this one dragged me out this morning. And I’m glad she did.”
“Ah, Maven is an angel on Earth,” Nonna said. I didn’t know if that was her real name or just what she had everyonecall her, but she was one of the only women who stayed at the park with all these rascals. She had olive skin, and an accent I couldn’t quite place, along with a smile that felt like a warm hug any time she geared it toward you. The guys here respected her like she was their grandmother even though she couldn’t be more than sixty years old, so maybe that was why they called her Nonna. “You picked a good girl to date, son.”
“Oh, she’s not my girl,” Vince said, his eyes twinkling a little bit when they met mine. “Not yet, anyway.”
Lonnie and Mr. Pruitt exchanged glances on a snicker at that, but I was still too shocked to even roll my eyes. Here was this man who lived in a multi-million-dollar condo not even five blocks from this park, who wore designer suits and drove a car that cost more than my parents’home— and somehow, everyone here knew him.
How?
I watched them all chatter for a bit as Vince handed out the underwear and socks before digging out breakfast from the multiple paper bags. Everyone chowed down and laughed beneath the large oak trees covered in Spanish moss that shaded the park. I joined in, but still couldn’t hide mywhat the fuckface, apparently, because after a while, Vince nudged my arm.
“What’s wrong, Maven? You look a little perplexed there.”
I glared at him. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on or just sit there all cocksure?”
“I like the sound of that second option,” he said, biting into a McGriddle even though we’d already eaten a massive waffle. He was so lean, I found it hard to believe he ate as much as I’d seen him eat in the past couple of days. Then again, when you skate nonstop for hours at atime, I guess you need to pack it on so you have the energy to do so.
“How do you know everyone here?”
