I watched the two of them come together and smile shyly at one another. A pang of jealousy radiated through my chest.
I brushed away those unhelpful feelings as he shook Amber’s hand and introduced himself. This was going to be hard. I shouldn’t have invited him. Five minutes later, the doorbell rang and I opened the door. Evan greeted me with a smile that wasn’t anywhere near as familiar as Braden’s. “You look beautiful,” he said.
He looked short. Our first and only meeting had been at the café, sitting around the booth. I didn’t realize how tall he was at the time, but we were basically eye to eye. Granted, I was five-eleven and was surrounded by people over six-three in my everyday life, so I wasn’t used to average.
“Thanks. Come in. My dad wants to meet you.”
He took a deep breath as if preparing for the encounter.
“Dad, this is Evan.”
My dad grabbed his hand in a firm shake. “Drive knowing that if anything happens to my daughter in your car, I will hold you personally responsible.”
“Dad.”
“I will, sir.”
“Good.” He finally released his hand.
I managed to hold back an eye roll. “Okay, we’ll see you later.”
As we were leaving, I noticed my dad clamp his hand onto Braden’s shoulder and say something under his breath. Braden smiled and nodded, and then my dad gave him a friendly pat on the back. “Have fun,” he said.
“What was that all about?” I asked Braden when we left the house.
“Oh, you know, protecting-Charlie instructions.”
“Funny.”
Braden gave Evan, who was walking down the path in front of us, a once-over. It wasn’t until Braden paused on Evan’s loafers that I realized he was wearing them. Braden raised his eyebrows at me and I nearly laughed.
Evan slowed his walk so that Braden and I caught up. “I’m Evan.”
“Oh, sorry,” I said, realizing I hadn’t introduced them. “This is Braden. Braden, this is Evan.”
They shook hands, and we resumed our walk to the car. Once we got there, we all stood for a second—each, I was sure, trying to figure out seating arrangements for the long drive.
“Girls in the back?” I suggested, not sure what date protocol was.
“I’ll sit in the back,” Braden said. “Why don’t you take shotgun, Charlie?”
“Are you sure? There’s more leg room up there.”
Amber gave me a withering look that seemed to say Let him sit in the back with me.
“I’m sure,” he said, and I wondered if he was just as excited as Amber about the close quarters.
I nodded, and they climbed into the back as Evan opened the door for me.
“You’re tall,” he said just as I started to get in. It was hard to tell if he was disappointed that I was tall or happy about it. So I just climbed in without a word.
At moments like these, I was grateful for Amber’s chatty nature. She kept the conversation in the car flowing naturally. Once there, I watched Braden’s reaction as we walked into the stadium. His eyes lit up and seemed to take in every detail, committing them to memory. It was pretty awe-worthy. Years of watching baseball on television did not prepare me for how beautiful and big the Coliseum would be. The grass was greener than any I had ever seen and the bases glowed white. Rows upon rows of green plastic seats filled the cement steps.
Evan laughed next to me. “You look starstruck.”
“It’s amazing.”
We worked our way down to seats that were fairly close, right next to first base. I nudged Braden’s arm so we could share a this-is-so-awesome look. He smiled at me, then squeezed my hand once. The gesture surprised me, and just when I was about to look up at Braden to see if there was any hint in his eyes as to what it meant, Evan put his arm around my shoulders and pointed to the home team dugout. “That’s where the A’s will sit.”
I nodded as though he was imparting some sort of new wisdom to me.
“You see that net thing? That’s where the pitcher warms up.”
“She’s not an idiot,” Braden said. “She knows what a practice screen is.”
I shot Braden a look as we all took our seats. Amber and I ended up sitting next to each other with the guys on the outside. Probably a good thing, considering Braden’s previous remarks. I found myself slouching down a little so that I didn’t sit taller than Evan.
“I’m thirsty,” Amber said the minute we sat down. “Charlie and I are going to go get some drinks before the game starts.” She pulled me up by my arm.
“Okay. Guess we’re going to get some drinks. Do you want anything?” I asked Evan.
He reached in his pocket and pulled out a twenty. “Yes, will you get me a Dr Pepper?”
“Sure.”
Amber looked at Braden.
“No, I’m good.” And then, as if he remembered he was supposed to be her date, he quickly retrieved some money from his wallet and handed it to her.
She smiled her brightest smile. “Thanks.” The thing that bothered me was that the only reason I took Evan’s money was because he ordered a soda. I fully intended to pay for my own. So now I felt bad because I shamed Braden into giving Amber money.
As we walked up the steps to the concession stands, Amber said, “Geez, Charlie, when you were going on and on about how nice and funny and sweet Braden was, I thought he must be dog-ugly because you were focusing so much on his personality. All you had to say was he was hot and I would’ve been sold.”
I nodded, trying my hardest not to be bothered. There was so much more to Braden than his looks. “Yeah, I’ve known him my whole life, so I know him really well.”
“Do you think he likes me?”
He better not. “He just met you.”
“But don’t you believe in Fate? I mean, here I was supposed to go out with Dustin and suddenly he gets sick and who should happen to take his place but the man of my dreams? It must be fate.”
“Must be.”
“I’m going to buy him a drink anyway,” she said as we reached the front of the line. “What’s his favorite?”
Don’t you mean he is going to buy himself a drink? I wanted to say, but I decided I was being unfair to her just because she was Braden’s date. I was the one who invited him to begin with. Did I honestly think Amber wouldn’t find him attractive and vice versa? “He’s not really into soda, actually. Get him water or Gatorade and he’ll be happy.”
When she ordered a cherry Gatorade, I kept my mouth shut at first, knowing that was his least favorite. Cherry-flavored anything reminded him of cough medicine. But finally, I felt guilty enough to say “Lemon is his favorite.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at me with her perfectly straight, even teeth and changed the order. The way I was acting was not okay. I needed to snap out of it. We were friends. This was what we had both decided. Nothing more. And since when did I begrudge Braden a gorgeous, fun girl? I thought back. It had been a while since I’d seen him with a girl at all. Sure, he had his random dates here and there, but he hadn’t had a girlfriend for over a year now. I hadn’t been upset back then. I wouldn’t be upset now. Because we were friends.
Chapter 24
Amber spent the entirety of the game asking Braden questions about the rules and regulations of baseball, playing the perfect example of making a guy feel useful. I spent the entirety of the game pretending to be interested in Evan giving me the play-by-play while trying to actually watch the game. Toward the end of the game, Amber asked how long one of the pitchers had been on the team. “He looks so young,” she said.