Page 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

JULIET

Paige lets out a long falling whistle as we exit the cab. “Bat boy has good taste.”

“It’s the team building.” I attempt to make it seem less grand than it is, but the Row really is a gorgeous building. The brick is nostalgic with windows that glitter in the setting sun. It gives the feeling of old New York with a hint of modern elegance.

Lodhi squirms in my arms, the traffic and sounds of the city sending him into a state of fight or flight.

“It’s okay, bud,” I croon. “We’re almost there.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to call it home, but I won’t allow myself that luxury. I might have reached a point of trusting Ford, but there’s no way I’m staying here longer than necessary. He’s already done so much for me. And while there is the tiniest part of me that understands why he did it and is amazed by his kindness, a much larger part of me is waiting for him to realize his guilt is as misplaced as my own.

Paige heaves the two boxes that I insisted I move myself from the back of the cab.

“What the hell is in these?” she huffs.

I shrug. “Records.”

Paige rolls her eyes. “You and your records.”

I tried once to explain to her the joy listening to vinyl brought me. The raw sound that warms my soul. The connection to the music that comes with lowering the needle and listening to a whole side uninterrupted. For so long all I’ve had is my music. It was the one thing Tyler never took from me.

The door to the building swings open and Franklin, the doorman, greets us. “Ah, Miss Cruz. We’ve been expecting you. I’m so happy you’ll be staying with us.” He lifts his hand and gestures inside. “Right this way.”

The moment Franklin looks away Paige is wiggling her brows and mouthing “you have a doorman?”

No. Ford has a doorman.

“Thank you, Franklin,” I say, ignoring Paige. The sweet man is one of my favorite parts of visiting the Row. He always has a good story or anecdote to share. “How’s your grandbaby feeling? Better I hope.”

“Oh, she’s much better now that those teeth have come all the way through. Thank you for asking.”

Once we’re inside Franklin takes the boxes from Paige and puts them on a dolly before leading us to the elevator. He joins us and presses the button for the seventeenth floor.

“Wait hold the door!” We hear from across the lobby, and Franklin quickly hits the door open button.

A tall redhead slides in with us, her arms filled with groceries. Out of breath she looks over the top of a stalk of celery. “Thank you so much. I didn’t want to have to wait for the next one holding all this.”

“Well why don’t you put it right on top here,” Franklin offers, gesturing to the dolly. “We’re all heading to the same floor.”

“Oh thank you.” The woman sets the bags down and her eyes immediately lock on us. “You’re new in the building.”

There’s a hint of accusation in her tone that doesn’t sit well with me.

She gives Paige and I a once over and narrows her eyes to slits. “Are you dating or fucking one of the players?”

“Well then,” Paige mutters at the same time I let out a shocked, “oh.”

Franklin shakes his head and laughs under his breath. “Miss Etta is moving in with Mr. McCoy for a short time while she looks for a new apartment.”

“Oh. Shit. You’re his penguin.”

My eyes go wide. “His what?”

“Fuck,” she stammers like she’s said too much and looks away. “Nothing.”

“Oh no.” Paige pushes off the wall of the elevator like a kid who just clocked the aunt that is going to give them candy before dinner. “What does it mean to be Ford’s penguin?”

The elevator slows and lurches to a stop. “Oh look we’re here.”

Franklin holds the door so we can exit, but Paige, my wonderful best friend, blocks the hallway so the woman can’t escape.

Franklin laughs and takes off down the long hallway of apartments. “I’ll just take these down to Ford’s place. I’ll drop your groceries at yours too, Jo.”

“Thanks for abandoning me, Franklin,” she mock hollers after the doorman, laughing. Then she turns her gaze back to us. “I’m Jo, by the way. My husband is on the team, Kiefer James.”

“Etta.” I smile, thankful Lodhi is in my arms making it impossible to shake her hand.

“The fact that there is no recognition in your eyes tells me already I’m going to like you.”

“Baseball isn’t her thing.” Paige confirms. “Now back to the penguin.”

Jo gives me a conspiratorial grin and chuckles. “Ford is going to kill my character for this, but you are practically his family, and I understand the weight of having something to hold over a brother’s head.”

My chest tightens as I chew on her words. She sees Ford as my brother-in-law. My brother. It feels wrong.

If Jo notices my discomfort she doesn’t react.

“The guys call him the penguin because while he was looking for you, he used to collect crystals during each road game. He said it was just a placeholder until he found you.”

Shock zaps through me like lightning.

He remembered.

After all these years, he remembered something that I only ever told him once.

It was during one of our chemistry classes. My usual partner was out sick and the two of us got paired together. I was wary because of everything Tyler had told me about him, but we made it through without any problems. One assignment had us bringing something from our lives that was chemistry related to share with the class. I brought the crystals I collected with my Abuelita and showed how they were formed through the natural process of the atoms and molecules rearranging themselves. Ford brought his surfboard and talked about how surfing created the feel-good chemicals in your brain—dopamine, serotonin and endorphins.

It was a moment so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of our lives and yet, by the sound of it, those crystals kept him looking for me.

They’re what brought us here.

“...so basically, he was like a penguin collecting rocks.” Jo’s voice pulls me back just in time to catch the end of the story. “Although now that I think about it, the whole thing would be more romantic if you weren’t basically his sister.”

“But I’m not,” I say, without thinking. “I’m his friend.”

“Oh.” Jo’s tone draws up and both her and Paige raise a questioning brow.

Heat fills my cheeks as the realization hits me that those thoughts should have remained inside.

“I mean…”

What do I mean?

“We get it.” Paige jumps in, saving me from explaining myself. Though we both know she’s going to question me the moment we are alone. Especially after I so thoroughly shut down the idea of Ford and me with the brother excuse.

“Totally,” Jo agrees, but there’s no missing the skepticism in her voice. “Well, I better get my groceries in the fridge. It was nice meeting you, Etta. I hope to see you around.”

“Same,” I mutter, keeping my eyes trained on Jo as she walks away and ignoring the deeply amused stare coming from my best friend.

“So…” Paige doesn’t even pretend to feign innocence. “You and Ford aren’t practically siblings?”

I roll my eyes. “Nope. Not having this conversation.”

“Fine. I’ll let you keep your secret for now.” She strolls past me in the direction Franklin and Jo went. “But let the record show I called this.”

“There’s nothing to call.”

“Uh-huh.”

We walk the short distance to apartment seventeen-oh-seven, finding my boxes outside the door. Ford had movers pick up the rest of my stuff and they’ll be delivered tomorrow morning while the rest of my furniture will be put into storage until I find a new place.

The moment I open the door, Lodhi jumps from my arms. I yell at him to come back. Ford has too many breakable things that damn cat can destroy with a single swipe of his paw. Of course, he makes a liar out of me and instead of scaling the expensive curtains he prances straight for the newly added cat tree in the window directly across from the door.

“Does Ford have cats?” Paige asks.

“No.”

“So he had that delivered in the twenty-four hours since agreeing to allow you to stay here, specifically for your cat.”

“It would seem so.” It would also seem like the asshole cheated on me and had someone come and clean his apartment before I arrived. There isn’t a single spec of dust on any surface which is not how I left it four days ago. We’ve been focusing so much on organizing that the actual cleaning part of my job has gone by the wayside.

Paige plops down onto the sofa, moaning as it envelops her. “This is the most comfortable couch I have ever sat on.”

“Right?” I’ve tried to get Ford to tell me where it came from, but he said it’s a secret he wouldn’t divulge. When I asked why he said he needed something that would keep me coming back to visit him after the apartment was organized.

Paige takes her time, scanning the rest of the apartment. “And we’re still not going to talk about how Ford is your friend and no longer your brother-in-law.”

“Not a chance.”

She kicks her feet up on the coffee table. “Okay. Just checking. But when you’re ready to stop lying to yourself, I’ll be here.”