Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
“You guys are way too easy,” Kellan said, opening one of the cupboards. “All your ridiculous snacks are safe and sound.”
My teammates acted like it was Halloween or something, swarming Kellan and grabbing handfuls from the bowl of snack-size candies he’d brought out.
“You’re like a bunch of animals.” I shook my head and returned to my locker to grab my stuff. But Hollister was looking at me strangely as I passed by him. “What?”
“Nothing.” He headed toward the door. “See you at home.”
When I got out to the parking lot, my family was waiting for me. We’d planned to grab dinner together so we could catch up, like we sometimes did after home games.
“You played well,” my dad said as my mom pulled me into a hug.
“Your fielding percentage is gonna be awesome,” Ricky said, and we high-fived.
“It already is awesome,” I said with a laugh, suddenly feeling lighter than I had in a couple of days, and it had everything to do with Kellan making everything feel comfortable again.
“Such modesty.” Dad threw an arm around me as we walked toward the car.
“Wanna get pizza with us?” Ricky said over my shoulder, and when I turned, I was expecting to see Hollister, who joined us sometimes. I should’ve asked him in the locker room, but I was understandably distracted.
Instead, I saw that Ricky was asking Kellan, and my stomach tightened as he neared us with a strained smile on his face.
“Ricky, Kellan doesn’t want to go out with—”
“Can he, Mom?” Ricky asked, talking over me like he sometimes did when his excitement overtook him.
“Why not?” Mom said in a careful tone, eyeing Kellan. “But this is spur-of-the-moment, so he might be busy.”
“I…sure. I can definitely eat.” Kellan glanced at me, likely to make certain I was okay with his split-second decision, but I was too busy trying to gulp down my surprise. “I’m starving.”
“We’re going to Angelo’s,” Dad said, and Kellan nodded, no doubt familiar with the place a couple of streets over.
“I know where it is.” He placed his bag in his car, which was in the row behind ours. “I just have to run back inside and talk to my dad—Coach—so I’ll meet you there.”
I was quiet the whole way to the pizza place, which didn’t really matter because Ricky had plenty to say about our game. But I kept thinking about the fact that Kellan was about to join my family for dinner. Holy shit.
Okay, calm down, it’s only pizza. Besides, he was already on friendly terms with my family after such a long season.
We were seated at a table near the back of the restaurant, and Ricky made sure to leave a space for Kellan beside him, which was sweet. And watching Kellan walk in and look for us was…strange, to say the least. Yet nice. Before I could lift my hand, my mom waved him over, and when he slid into the seat across from me, his foot accidentally brushed against mine, waking me right up.
After we ordered, there was a moment of silence I rushed to fill, feeling this restless energy. “Good one with the celery.”
“Yeah?” Kellan’s smile was dazzling. “I thought so too.”
“Celery?” Dad asked, and we went to answer at the same time, then stopped and grinned at each other.
When I motioned for him to go ahead, he turned toward my dad. “The other day, I was teasing Dono…I mean, Brady about taking a nutrition class when he eats so much junk food.”
“All of us do,” I admitted.
“Junk is good,” Ricky said as the server brought our drinks and a basket of bread.
“It definitely is,” Kellan replied. “But I decided to play a little trick on your brother.”
Ricky laughed and clapped his hands like Kellan was the best storyteller in history. Maybe Mom was right that he had a bit of a crush too. Who wouldn’t?
I was so lost in thought about how adorable and charming Kellan was that I missed the punchline. They were all laughing, and I felt heat crawl over my cheeks. My mom was watching me across the table with a look on her face I’d never seen before, and my heart nearly stopped. Could she have caught on to my crush? Kellan’s foot tapped my ankle under the table, and it only made my blush deepen.
Thankfully our pizza came right then, and we all dug in, my parents asking Kellan questions about his family and his degree, and Ricky throwing brainy questions his way too.
Once the bill was paid and we all spilled into the parking lot, my family waved goodbye to Kellan while I lingered a minute on the sidewalk. “You’ve got to be exhausted from all the questions.”
“No, your family’s great.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He nodded and grinned. “Glad I came.”
“Now they’ll all have a crush on you too and probably won’t shut up about it.”