Late Night Calls
Brody
Five Years Ago
“Imiss you,” I said, whispering into the phone.
We were in Seattle for an away game, and I hadn’t seen Maggie since our date the night before. I was pretty sure I was going through withdrawals.
Liam was sleeping in the bed beside me, so I made sure to keep my voice low, because I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him wake up to me murmuring softly over the phone to his sister.
“You saw me last night.” I heard the eye roll, even through the phone.
I was getting good at reading her. I could practically see her face now, imagine her expressions from just the sound of her voice.
“But that was yesterday,” I said. “I need to see you at least once a day for proper functioning.”
“Poor baby,” she cooed sarcastically. “I think you’ll survive.”
But I heard her smile, and I knew what that meant.
She missed me too.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t even be entertaining this conversation.
I noticed that about her. If she wasn’t interested in someone, it was as if they weren’t even there. She wouldn’t grant them a fraction of her attention, even when they begged.
And oh, how they begged.
Not verbally, usually. But with their eyes, their flirtatious grins, their pleas for attention.
I couldn’t blame them. Maggie was the most beautiful girl in any room. The most beautiful girl in Boston, as far as I was concerned. And I’d been one of those helpless guys once, just desperate for her to look my way even for a moment.
I didn’t know if it was only me being friends with Liam that gave me the upper hand, but I didn’t even care—even if that was cheating.
She picked me.
I was the guy, out of all of them, who she was having midnight phone calls with.
And I was the one making her smile on the other end of the line, even if she’d rather die than admit it.
“When I come home, we’re going to a Red Sox game before the season ends.”
“How did you know I like the Red Sox?” she asked suspiciously.
“Because you’re a girl who grew up in Boston?” I offered bashfully.
“Or?” she said, calling me out on my bullshit.
“Or I may have asked Liam for a few ways to win some brownie points with you,” I admitted, grateful that no one was around to see the way my face reddened in the darkness of the hotel room.
“How sneaky of you, asking my brother what I like so you can weasel your way into my heart.”
“Is it working?”
“Maybe,” she said.
My heart soared.
“But only if you buy me a hot dog.”
“I’ll buy you anything you want,” I told her.
“And sing ‘Sweet Caroline’ when it plays,” she added.
“That’s a given.”
“And you have to promise you’ll say hi to Wally if we see him.”
“The Green Monster himself?” I laughed, louder than I should’ve considering my sleeping roommate. “It would be an honor.”
“Fine,” she agreed. “Then it’s a date.”
“It’s a date,” I confirmed.
I fell asleep that night with the image of Maggie on my mind and a smile on my lips, only because of her.
The future was bright.