Page 55 of Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend (Catching Feelings #1)
FLETCH
I don’t do weddings.
I don’t do parties and happily-ever-afters and small talk.
If I hadn’t promised my boss to smile and play nice, I wouldn’t be here at all.
Was becoming head coach for a Triple-A ball team worth the pain?
The jury’s still out.
Speaking of which …
My phone buzzes with a notification from GracieLou, my chat room … friend? Nemesis? We fight as much as we agree, yet I’m more excited getting in an argument with her than I am getting along with anyone else.
Even if I don’t know anything about her.
Well, not nothing.
I know a lot about her, even if very few of those facts are …
demographic. The messaging board we met on requires identification to sign up, so there’s no catfishing allowed.
I don’t know if Grace is her actual name, but I call her that, just like she calls me Arrow.
(My name is Oliver Fletcher and a fletcher is someone who makes arrows, and Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow and the most underrated DC Superhero …
you know what? Doesn’t matter. My handle is GreenArrow11, and she calls me Arrow, and I like it.)
Even though we’re not supposed to give out identifying information, I know she has some tie to Rochester, NY, where I grew up. I know she’s around my age based on her mentioning a song that was big when she was in high school.
I know she’s beautiful.
I don’t mean physically.
Over months of chats, I’ve seen the core of who she is: compassionate, funny, and firm on her values while still being open-minded.
And also, we were talking about bars once, and she let slip some of the worst pickup lines she’s ever gotten, and they were classic Crypto Bro pickup lines, which means, yeah, she’s also beautiful beautiful.
Not that it matters. We’ll never meet in real life. I wouldn’t want to even if we could.
Talking to Grace is the only bright spot in my day, and considering how adept I am at ruining things—futures, relationships—I’d rather keep this particular spot bright and unsullied by the dark cloud that is Oliver Fletcher.
I’m sitting at a long picnic table, a few feet away from the nearest reception guests.
They’re mostly people from the team, but I don’t want prying eyes as I pull up Grace’s latest message.
We moved our conversations from the main thread to a private discussion months ago.
We’ve never swapped phone numbers. I wonder if she’s as eager as I am to maintain anonymity.
Between you and me, the mystery is half the fun.
GracieLou
You were wrong.
GreenArrow11
No I wasn’t.
About what?
GracieLou
About The Notebook! It wasn’t a psychological thriller—it was a romantic tragedy! It was so sad!
GreenArrow11
Are you serious?
GracieLou
Are YOU? Why did you think it was a thriller?
GreenArrow11
What do you mean? The main guy is an obsessive stalker.
He manipulates her into going on a date.
She very literally physically assaults him.
They fight constantly. He buys her dream house and writes her daily letters with zero reciprocation (no doubt you’ll say the mom kept them apart, but HE didn’t know that).
When she sees her stalker years later, she’s engaged to a great guy but gets caught back up in his chaos and decides to cheat with her stalker instead of marrying a good man.
And don’t get me started on the retirement home.
GracieLou
…
I don’t know how to even respond.
GreenArrow11
I think the words you’re looking for are “You’re right.”
GracieLou
What problem could you possibly have with the retirement home?
GreenArrow11
Stalker’s gonna stalk.
GracieLou
He was her husband!
GreenArrow11
She didn’t know that. And she had dementia. He should have validated her reality, but he was too selfish and just had to reel her back in.
GracieLou
…
…
GreenArrow11
Fine. Let’s stick with the obvious. She cheated.
GracieLou
She did. I hated that.
GreenArrow11
He played a lot of mind games. I hate mind games.
GracieLou
I don’t disagree.
But it was so romantic!
GreenArrow11
Imagine it was Bill Skarsg?rd instead of Ryan Gosling.
GracieLou
Hold while I go look up Bill Skarsg?rd…
OH MY GOSH IT’S A PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
I fight back a smile.
GreenArrow11
Boom.
GracieLou
I don’t know how to process this. I have literal chills.
GreenArrow11
I told you it was chilling.
You should probably admit it now.
GracieLou
Admit what?
GreenArrow11
Don’t embarrass yourself.
GracieLou
*whistles and twirls thumbs*
GreenArrow11
Grace…
GracieLou
Ugh. Fine, Arrow. You were right.
GreenArrow11
Was that so hard?
GracieLou
You have no idea
“Who’s got you smiling?”
The question is so jarring, I feel like I’ve been yanked out of one reality and dropped into another.
I blink and look up to see Lucas Fischer sit across from me at the table.
At least, I think it’s Lucas. He and Logan are identical twins, but Lucas’s hair is messier and his whole being is … louder.
“I wasn’t smiling,” I say, turning off my screen and clutching my phone between my hands like it’s fragile.
“You were practically beaming. Wasn’t he, Scottie?”
Scottie’s sitting several feet away from us with Clementine Partridge, and when Lucas addresses her, she pauses and peers through her cat-eye glasses, like she’s not sure if she wants to roll her eyes and ignore him or toy with him like a cat would toy with a mouse.
Her eyes jump from Lucas’s to mine, and she gives me a look that’s too assessing. I don’t like being assessed. I don’t like being noticed or even talked to, really.
“It pains me to agree with Lukie, but you were smiling, Fletch.”
If I were one to emote, I’d glare at her.
“So who is she?” Lucas asks.
“A friend,” I say, both hating telling him even this much and feeling like the term is … insufficient.
Lucas grins. “Coach’s got a girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend. We’ve never met.”
“Ah, you swiped right. Cool.”
“It’s not a dating app,” I grumble.
Lucas looks me over. “Okay. I think I see what’s happening here. You’re trolling people on Reddit.”
Scottie snorts and then clears her throat.
About that glare …
“You think I’m the kind of guy who trolls people on Reddit?”
Everyone at the table gives me a look.
“It would explain the smile,” Scottie says.
I let out an exhausted sigh. “It’s a chatroom, okay? We connected over a … common interest.”
“What?”
“I’m not telling you what.”
“Why not?” Lucas says. "Is it gross? Don’t tell me if it’s gross.”
“It’s not gross. What does that even mean?”
Lucas’s look is so suspicious, I can’t help myself.
“It’s a ‘Beyond Justice’ message board, okay?”
“‘Beyond Justice?’” Scottie asks. She and Clementine both scoot closer to Lucas and me. “The true crime podcast?”
“It’s not just true crime. They follow cases along through the sentencing and the aftermath for the families.”
“I loved the series on the Jones’ murder,” Clementine says. “It was gruesome.”
“It was a travesty,” I say, anger flaring in my gut. “The guy walked because they held him at the wrong prison. It was legal procedure, not evidence.”
“Like I said. Gruesome.”
“Where does your girl fall on that one?” Lucas asks.
“She was too mad to finish it.”
“She’s a keeper,” Lucas says.
“She’s a friend,” I insist. “And I’m done talking about this.”
“That’s cool,” Lucas says, eating a bacon-wrapped scallop from his plate.
My phone buzzes, and my eyes jump to it instantly, eagerly, although I shouldn’t show my hand like this.
Especially when it’s not actually Grace.
It’s the general manager for our big-league team, the Chicago Firebirds.
DOUG
Hey Fletch. How are the Fischer brothers looking?
FLETCH
Their stats are good. I assume you’re asking if they’re healthy enough to get called up?
DOUG
That’s exactly what I’m asking.
FLETCH
They’re both healthy. No signs of wear or tear.
DOUG
And what about mentally?
FLETCH
Lucas is fearless. He won’t be fazed.
DOUG
And Logan?
FLETCH
More introspective. He could get in his head, but he’s been solid.
DOUG
Good to know. Let’s keep them on a strict pitch count. Especially Lucas.
FLETCH
Will do. How’s the trade for Rodgers working out?
DOUG
Pfft. He’s Jake Rodgers. Great third baseman. Terrible attitude.
FLETCH
Glad he’s your problem and not mine.
DOUG
Maybe I’ll send him down to the minors for a couple of months. Teach you both a lesson.
FLETCH
You should worry more about making the playoffs.
DOUG
Good idea. Why didn’t I think of that?
I set down my phone with a chuckle and look at Lucas and Logan further down the table. “That was the Firebirds. You’re both on a pitch count. Stay healthy and don’t do anything stupid.”
Lucas and Logan swap excited looks. Well, Lucas is excited. Logan looks like his brow just gained a hundred pounds.
I’m sympathetic. Getting the call is nerve-wracking.
And that first moment on the field …
After a few more minutes of the rest of the table making small talk, my patience dries up. I stand and give everyone a nod. “I’m heading out. See you tomorrow.”
I make my goodbyes to Kayla and Sean next, accepting Kayla’s hug and Sean’s handshake.
I try not to let their happiness bother me.
Try not to let jealousy at what they have fester in my gut.
Because I’m not the kind of guy good things happen for, and even if they did, it’s not like I could appreciate them. Some people see the glass as half full, others half empty.
I’m convinced whatever’s in the glass is poisonous. Whether it’s fast-acting or slow, it’ll kill you eventually.
Grace has hinted at wanting to know more about me. She’s given me enough details that I could piece some things together, if I tried.
I won’t try.
She’s the one good thing in my life, and I refuse to taint it by letting myself wish or hope.
GreenArrow11
Good night. Don’t pick up any hitchhikers.
GracieLou
Night! Be sure to double lock your doors.
I smile, but I force it to stay there, at the surface.
There’s safety in not wanting anything. There’s security in accepting you’ll never have more.
Hope is for fools.
And I may be a lot of things, but I’m no fool.
Will Fletch ever meet the woman of his dreams? And will he make it home for his brother’s Christmas wedding? Find out in Planes, Reins, and Automobiles , coming soon!
Books in the Catching Feelings series can be read in any order, so if you’d rather save this book for the holiday season, read on for Scottie and Lucas’s bonus epilogue.