Page 13 of Friends with Benefits

“Tacos,” I answered.

They shrieked again and ran down the hall, their footsteps echoing behind them.

“They don’t take after you at all,” Tripp said.

“Shut up. How was practice?”

He brought the bags into the kitchen and started mixing the ingredients for the drinks as I plated the tacos and toppings on the table. Lifting a shoulder, he said, “It wasn’t too bad. They released the schedule for this year. First game is in February, a double-header against Maine.”

Tripp didn’t like to talk about baseball with me too much. I didn’t mind. It wasn’t exactly my milieu, but I was always a little curious about that side of his life. The side where he traveled across the U.S. pitching for a championship team, being fawned over by stick-thin coeds with lives as apple pie as his.

I knew he went undrafted out of high school, and that he was now one of the top picks for professional ball after graduation. I had to admit it made me a little sad to think of him leaving in a few months for the big time. Not because I was jealous of the fame and fortune, but because I’d grown so accustomed to having him as a part of my life.

I wished it hadn’t taken me until now to figure that out. I was quiet during dinner, but Tripp was kept busy enough helping me wrangle the twins.

Yeah, I was going to be sad when he left.

To the rest of the world, he was a nationally ranked baseball superstar, but to me, he was so much more.

Chapter Six

Tripp

I wasglad when Ember changed the subject away from practice and ball. I wasn’t interested in talking about it. Everyone seemed to want a piece of me when it came to baseball. Ember never did. She always saw me as me. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t stay away when we first met. She was the only person who ever thought of my “stardom” as a non-issue.

“How are you feeling?” I asked as the twins helped clear off the table. “You hear anything from that douchebag?”

“What’s a douchebag?” Molly piped up.

I winced. “Nothing, sweetheart. I made it up.”

“Good one,” Ember said with a snort.

“I aim to please.”

She sighed heavily and lowered her voice so the twins couldn’t hear. “I blocked him everywhere. I don’t plan on giving him the opportunity.”

I bit my tongue, then asked, “What about your parents?”

“Nothing there either. It’s not going to give a girl abandonment issues at all.”

“Lucky for you, you’re never getting rid of me.”

“Pfft. You’re leaving at the end of the year when you move on to play pro ball.” She shoved my shoulder jokingly, but there was a thread of real concern in her voice. I tried not to read too much into it. She was hurting and probably feeling a little alone.

“Maybe I’ll invite you to one of my games when I go pro. You can always come out and watch, you know.”

My hope was to be drafted to the Orlando Falcons once I graduated, but I’d be happy anywhere. Except getting drafted to a team across the country would mean leaving my family and Ember. Playing ball was all I had ever wanted, and she was the only person who’d ever made me second-guess my dreams. Though she’d kill me if she ever knew that. She’d given up her aspirations of being a doctor to take care of her family. If she ever thought I’d give up pro ball to be here with her, she’d skin me alive.

“Can we come, too?” Tillie asked, clearly eavesdropping on our conversation.

I lifted her up and spun her around. “Of course you can. I can’t play without my favorite cheerleaders.”

“Me, too?” Molly asked eagerly. Her wide, innocent eyes were exactly the same color as Ember’s.

After ruffling her hair, I knelt down to her level, her sister still on my hip. “Of course, short stuff.” I glanced up at Ember, who seemed relaxed for the first time since all that shit had gone down. “All of you.”

Ember helpedthe twins with their nighttime routine after they had thoroughly decimated their tacos and virgin daiquiris—which they called slushies. Their voices trailed from the hallway down to where I was cleaning up in the kitchen, making me smile. I was an only child, and while my parents had been attentive and loving, there had never been any other kids to play with when I was younger. My life growing up had often been solitary. I had to admit it was nice to have their noise and clutter around. It was like a constant hug.