Chapter 9 #2
August doesn’t answer; he flips him off.
“Last year,” Dex replies to Jase. He nods.
“People will expect more if you’d act a little different, August. You have their attention with the team; it depends on what kind of attention that you are looking to attract.
And by attention, of course I mean the random parade of ladies that come walking out of your bedroom. ”
“What makes you think he waits until they are in his bedroom?” Danny adds.
“I don’t need to take them home. Like Barney Stinson, I only have one rule,” he says, chuckling but not finishing his sentence.
“Let me guess, never take them home?” Dex asks him.
“Bingo!” August points at him, shoveling in the rest of his pizza.
“Or you could admit that some girl hurt you and you can’t move on,” Mac challenges him, leveling him with her stare. We all stare at August, and he shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
“Yeah, that’s not what’s wrong with me, Mac.
But good try.” He takes a pull of his beer.
“You and I both know you mean your friend over there.” He uses his bottle to gesture towards Hendrix who is lounging on the couch, glaring at him.
“But unfortunately for you, I’m not that deep and it’s not simple. ”
“Whatever,” Mac replies, shaking her head.
I see Hendrix tense. Her face falls and she stares at the carpet like it’s the most interesting thing she’s ever seen.
Cassie must see the same thing because she quickly changes the subject. “So, is there a game on or something?”
“I’m not sure.” Dex picks up the remote from where he found a seat on the floor. The TV volume is turned back up, and he looks for something to watch. There’s a baseball game on; the Marlins are playing.
“Oh, look at that, you can see if big brother is going to be on the TV,” Dex tells August.
He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, the camera loves him.”
Dex catches me staring at him and winks at me. I mouth, “Thank you.” He returns a nod.
The rest of the night is spent with some light conversation while we all watch the game.
The game seems to drag on, with the Marlins pulling out a win with a huge hit in the last inning. Finally, Danny says, “It’s getting late, I better take the Mrs. Home.” He pulls Mac to her feet.
“Yes, there are some people here who have an early practice,” Jase stands and also pulls Cassie from the couch.
“And I hear there will be health checks tomorrow, so I have to prepare myself for all the whining,” Dex says, switching off the TV.
“Are you kidding me? We already did those,” Hendrix whines.
“Oh look, it’s started early!” Dex says, his voice laced with good-natured sarcasm.
“He has to.” August’s tone is stern. “He wasn’t left with much and I told him that he got to do whatever he wanted as far as checkups go. So, now that we have a full-time trainer, let’s please let him get a baseline.”
“Sir, yes sir.” I salute August and he grins warmly at me.
The group heads out the door, and I follow, bidding them all good night. I turn around to the living room and see that Dex is gathering up crumpled napkins and paper plates.
“You don’t have to do that,” I tell him, rushing over to help him.
“Why wouldn’t I clean up? I’m not a dick.”
I chuckle. “No, you’re not. I mean that I can do it too.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can, peach. But I am not going to make you do this all alone.”
“Thanks,” I mutter to his back as he heads into the kitchen with some empty bottles and plates.
I stare at him retreating back, wondering why he chose the name peach for me. But I don’t get the chance to ask him.
“Are you gonna just stand there or are you going to help me?”
“Oh yeah, sure, let me get some of these pizza boxes.” I move quickly to grab them.
Dex laughs at me. “Relax, I’d do the whole thing if you would like to go to bed.”
I nod and we finish in silence. The clean-up takes less than five minutes, and I’m left standing in the entry way of the kitchen.
“Well, I’m going to hit the hay,” he says, walking past me. I continue standing there, not sure what to say, when he turns to me. “Thanks for letting me hang with you all. I know I know August, but I appreciate you letting me fit in here so nicely with you and your friends. They are good people.”
“Yeah, they sure are.” I smile, glad that he likes my friends and that he’s starting to feel like maybe this could be his home. For me, that was the hardest part, making this place feel like home.
Dex turns and heads into his bedroom, closing the door with a quiet click.
I sigh, staring at the closed door. And uneasy feeling settles in my stomach.
Tonight was fun with everyone. I like it when they come over, but it would have been nice if I had the evening with just Dex.
I’m not sure why that sounds more appealing than the night we had. But it does.
“You’re tired,” I tell myself as I make my way down the hall.
Dex’s door pops open, “Were you talking to me?”
I can see only from his chest up, but it’s bare. I swallow once, twice and then I answer. My voice shakes as I say, “No, uh, sorry, I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to myself.”
“Okay, well, good night.” The door softly closes and I’m alone again. But not completely, I remind myself. My little conversations that I have with myself out loud should probably stop so he doesn’t think I’m crazy.
“Yeah, night.” I say to his closed door.
I finish the trek to my room and softly close the door.
“Yep, definitely just tired,” I say to myself as I ready for bed.
I have an early morning, and I decide that it’s the late night and all the wine that’s messing with my head.
Not the fact that I got a peek at his bare chest and from what I could see, his pecs are defined.
I slip into bed and drift off to sleep wondering if he is just a sculpted everywhere else.