5. JOSH
JOSH
Carlos swung the bat at the baseball that was launching at him. He missed. By a mile. He cursed under his breath before turning to glare at me. “Jesus… You’re not supposed to bang your way through every profile!”
I tucked my head down to my chest as I suppressed a laugh that wanted to bubble out. Seriously? Had he not considered the side-effects of his bet?
“I didn’t sleep with them all,” I tossed back casually. “Did you not just hear me? She fell a-sl-eeeep!” I elongated the words, making it clear I got no action.
These two clowns beside me broke out into a chorus of laughter as I told the unfortunate story of my “sleepy” date.
“Wait, she was like asleep, asleep?” Kev stopped howling long enough to choke out the words.
“The snoring indicated that,” I replied dryly.
More laughter.
Jake was doubled over. Why had I told them?
Oh, right, they knew I was on the date. We had a group chat.
Carlos made me do that to make sure I wasn’t skipping out on the stupid wager and at this point, I was ready to.
I’d never had so much bad luck with women as I had since this whole thing started.
It was like the cosmic dating universe was on his side.
“Besides, aren’t you the one who made the bet? Not my fault all these ladies think we have a connection.” I air quoted just to tick him off more.
Realistically, I hadn’t slept with any of them, since none of them could make it that far without being drunk, asleep, or psychotic.
But I was not about to admit that to them.
I’d rather let them think I was ahead of the game.
After all, I had a playboy reputation to protect and me not closing the deal, wasn’t it.
Carlos’s forehead creased and his lips pressed together, forming a perfect white line.
He aimed his bat at the ball and swung his hardest. Yikes, not good.
The bat rattled as it connected with the ball, which popped straight back for a foul.
He stepped away from the plate, tapping it a little more than necessary considering it was practice and not game day.
When he turned back, there was a hint of frustration mixed with something else. Something mischievous? Shit.
Jake and Kev stood watching him. They began whispering back and forth. As if they knew something was coming.
I raised my hands in the air. “Okay, okay, maybe I was taking advantage of the situation, but seriously, who wouldn’t? It was like a free pass!”
Not that I was locked down before. I’d been single for more than five years and the wager was almost like a challenge. But after my recent string of bad luck, I was done with the online shit.
Carlos stepped back up to the plate and dug his right foot into the ground, as if he was covering a divot. “I think we need to adjust the wager.”
“Oh, no, no.” I wagged my finger. “You already made the rules.”
“And the profile,” Kev interjected on my behalf.
Carlos’s eyes narrowed at him. “Ones he’s breaking.”
“Woah! I met them through the app, talked about that ever so important connection.”
“The deal was you had to have the connection before you got involved,” Carlos said through gritted teeth.
Oops. May have forgotten that specific detail.
“You should know that not everyone has been a winner, though.” I ticked my fingers off, thinking about a couple of failures. “There was the one girl with the thick unibrow and the start of a mustache.”
Kev cackled. “Don’t forget the single mom with three baby daddies who only wanted you for the fourth. Didn’t she say something like, it was cheaper than IVF?!”
Jake opened and closed his mouth before squeezing his eyes shut, buckling over.
“Oh, and a terrifying encounter with a woman who must have used her college-days picture, because I was sure she was the same age as my mom.” I shuddered at the memory of her inch-long nails digging into my thigh under the table.
I couldn’t escape fast enough. Glad I never gave her my number.
“What did you expect from me? I’m not the guy who is going to buy flowers, talk about romantic shit, or fall into a relationship.
I’m the guy who gives you a great time, for a short time. ”
“That should be your tagline.” Jake scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’m sure you’d have them lining up around the block.”
“Worked so far.” I flipped him off. A slight stretch, but before that stunt, it was true. I had a few that lingered for a few months here or there, but no one I was serious about.
“I’m sweating like a farm animal. I’m gonna hit the showers,” Carlos huffed at us.
Once he left, I turned to my teammates and pleaded for help.
I had been juggling online conversations between warmups, practice, and travel.
I was fucking over it. It was like a full-time job.
“Guys, I fucking need help. This isn’t going to plan and I can’t lose to fucking Carlos. You know how he is.”
Jake nodded. “Yeah, he can be a real prick when he wins.”
“Try again. Maybe go for the opposite of whatever you’ve been doing.” Jake shrugged.
Kev scratched his jaw. “Change the profile?”
“Nah. He’ll need more than that,” Jake added.
We walked back to the locker room in silence, thinking about what to do next and how to up my game.
What the hell could I do? Weeding through online chats was exhausting.
Meeting someone in person was even harder with our season schedule.
A night here or there was one thing, but if I was meant to date someone, it meant spending actual time with them.
Of all the fucking ways he could have screwed me out of winning, he sure knew what he was doing.
And say what you want about the bet being about love, but this wasn’t it.
This was strategy. It was about time, or lack of it, which was why he knew I couldn’t win.
He stacked the odds against me before it even began.
The problem was, I was a competitive fucker and he’d just motivated me.
Before we continued, Carlos came out wearing a towel around his waist, his thick hairy chest glistening from his shower. “Alright, how about an amendment?”
My brow lifted. “What kind of amendment?”
“Yeah, I wanna hear this,” Jake added, smirking at me.
“My sister…” My heart stopped with the word sister. No freaking way. His sister was the exact version of him, just with longer hair. Never happening. “Relax,” he said, as if reading my mind. “Besides, I’d never let you near her.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
He smirked. “Forget the online bullshit. How about we pick someone for you?”
“Not a chance.” My head shook as I started to remove my gear. “I’m not letting any of you shits set me up.”
Kev’s eyebrows shot up. “As if I would let you near anyone I know.”
“Come on. We know you and your taste in women. We will find the challenge,” Jake added with renewed energy.
I needed to sit down. “Why would I agree to this?”
“You’re sick of all the games and shit. But you don’t want to lose.” Kev clapped me on the back.
“But…if you want to change the rules, he should be compensated,” Jake added.
Carlos rubbed his fingers across his jaw, like he was trying to figure out why I’d agree with it. “Come on. Don't they say your friends pick the best person for you?”
“Friends maybe, but not you assholes.” I pointed specifically to Jake and Carlos.
Jake raised his hands. “What the hell did I do?”
I reminded him of a clinger at the club, getting his snicker in response.
Rolling my eyes, I glanced away and caught a glimpse of April walking by the locker room with her earbuds in, a duffel bag strapped across her chest. She was pretty today, the way she had her long red locks loose around her.
She seemed better than the last time I saw her.
Jake nodded toward her and grinned like a cat who caught the canary.
“No.” I shook my head, instantly seeing what he was thinking. April and I had history. Not that these jerks knew about it, but there was no way I could bring her into this. She was already going through enough.
Carlos clapped me on the back. “Okay, Romeo, this is the last chance. You find someone to start dating by next week, or you forfeit. Playtime is over.”
Groaning, I scrubbed my hands down my face. “Not fair. You can’t believe I’d fall in love with someone in only a month.”
“Dude, do you listen to anything? You had a month to find someone with the potential to fall in love,” Carlos snapped. “It’s been what, two weeks? And despite all your dates, you’re nowhere ahead.”
“Yeah, man,” Kev agreed, turning his head from where he checked out April to wink at me. “She had a hard time fitting in, but you guys seem to be chummy.”
I threw my hands up. “Fuck it. I’m out.”
Carlos cheered. Kev’s jaw dropped in disbelief. I felt the same way.
Jake held his hand up as if he were to stop me. “Hold on, let’s not be hasty.”
“It’s a workplace thing, man.” I shook my head. “No go.”
Out of the side of his mouth, Kev muttered, “Double or nothing?”
Both me and Jake let out a low whistle. Not going to lie, that was a tempting offer. Carlos’s pride and joy was that vintage car he had restored.
Carlos’s eyes twitched. “Fine. But you have two weeks left. No extensions!”
“Oh, no. If we’re changing the rules, I get more time.” Carlos scoffed, but I cut him off. “If I am going to make a go with someone not online, I need time. If you bother to check our schedule, you’ll see that’s not easy. I need until the end of regular season.”
“I’ll give you until the end of August. Can’t make it too easy and you, Prince Charming, could probably win this bet if you took your head out of your ass.”
“Done.” I smirked. Nice, Josh. Dig in a little deeper, why don’cha? At least the new plan bought me a few more weeks to figure something out.
“You'd better find someone quick,” Jake added. I noticed his eyes drifting towards the gym. “April and you get along? Kinda friends?” he asked, as if leading me to redemption.
“Not happening,” I scoffed. “HR rules, remember.”
He nodded. “Okay, fair. Does she have a friend? Maybe Carlos had a point. Being introduced to someone usually works better. I can ask Millie if she knows anyone.”
Right as he finished talking, his phone began vibrating on the bench.
He paused, glancing over his shoulder before lowering his voice.
“Sometimes things come from the unexpected and friends to lovers has an easy enough in.” He winked and swiped across his phone, smiling to whom I assumed was his wife, and walking away. “Hey hun.”
Friends to lovers? What? My brain was jogging along the lines of what Jake was suggesting.
Did he just give me a way around things?
Immediately my brain raced back to that night with April.
The fair, day drinking, the rides. Turned out, aside from being our hot new physiotherapist on the team, we had a bunch of stuff in common.
We liked similar music, we’d been to similar places on vacation.
She loved sports. And despite her curves pulling all of my attention all night, she was off limits thanks to our co-worker status.
Or at least, I thought, until a stolen kiss behind the carnie games lit something within me.
She was soft and curvy. Smart, funny, and all the things I never noticed in the time I’d spent with her.
The only reason it didn’t go further was work.
It was a complication and neither of us wanted to risk it.
So, I shelved it and locked it in a box buried so deep it was gone, but not forgotten. Then I did what I always did. Moved on.
“Beers?” Kev asked, snapping my thoughts away from April and the possibility Jake just unboxed.
“Sure. Meet you out in ten.” I grabbed my stuff and headed for the showers.
The cold water did nothing to cool the burn inside me. Why the fuck couldn’t I just forfeit? Probably because I might like to have someone to come home to.
I slammed off the water and quickly dried off to meet Kev. Maybe I could pick someone up tonight. Forget the online crap. The guys were right. Time to go old fashioned.
As I walked out of the locker room, April stepped out of her office. Her red hair was half-up and wavy. She’d changed out of her work uniform and into a yellow flowery dress that hugged her curves. Curves that were ingrained in my brain. She looked spectacular.
What Jake suggested ran through my mind.
No one knew of our history, except Kev. But we’d moved on from that, and besides, it was still complicated.
That would be off-limits for a bet and if it went to shit, I couldn’t risk it.
I recalled the devastation on her face when she told me about her guy breaking up with her.
Even if we were both in a dating dumpster fire right now, she was worth more than that.
She deserved more than me using her to win a game.