18. CADE
CHAPTER 18
CADE
“ G o, go, go, go!” Garcia motions with her hands like she’s the base coach and we’re runners to home.
The three of us climb into my truck with the same intensity and I only slow down to make sure everyone’s seatbelts are fastened before peeling out the parking lot. The rearview mirror shows a clear coast, like the guy hasn’t realized quite yet that his date bailed on him while he was distracted getting our autographs and selfies.
I grip my steering wheel tighter as we merge into traffic. “Where to? Home?”
“No,” Garcia grouches and from the corner of my eye I catch her fold her arms tight like she does when she’s upset. “To the greasiest food joint we can possibly find.”
“Pizza?” Lucky and I ask at the same time.
“No,” Kim cuts in from the backseat. “You didn’t earn it.”
“Dude.” I sigh in exasperation. “I literally only let one more run through after the grand slam. Pretty sure I deserve pizza for that too.”
“A deal is a deal and you didn’t uphold your end.”
“I don’t know what the hell you all are talking about but I’d really love a pizza right now,” Garcia says.
Since traffic is light, I jerk us to make a quick U turn.
“Starr.” Kim’s voice comes out like a growl. “Where are you taking us?”
“The lady wants pizza. Who am I to deny her request after she just had a bad date?”
“Good boy,” she says, and since I’m driving I can’t fend her off when she stretches over to mess my hair. Not that I would have, anyway. She deserves her revenge.
The difference, though, is that I don’t bother fixing my hair after that. I probably look like I put my finger in an electric socket as I lead us into my favorite pizza place.
It works out great because what I like about it is that it isn’t fancy at all. A bunch of bored college kids are at the counter, the kind that don’t care about sports and would rather spend their time studying—and I’m not stereotyping, dude literally has a chunky physics textbook open by the register. And so, every time I come here I’m ignored and left to eat my greasy pizza in peace and quiet. It’s perfect.
Someone shoves me with enough force that I have no choice but to step aside, and Garcia bursts through. She turns back to us, oblivious to how the college kid ogles her like she’s the single hottest entity he’s ever witnessed IRL. “Everyone okay with a meat lovers?” she asks.
“Oh yeah,” Lucky responds.
Kim sighs. “Fine. But I’m not buying because Starr doesn’t deserve it.”
“I’ll buy it.” Rolling my eyes, I reach for my wallet in my back pocket and add, “Make it stuffed crust, though.”
She turns back to the kid. “Extra large stuffed crust meat lovers. One large Coke, two large unsweet iced teas, and one medium sweet iced tea.”
“Um, um. Yes. Will that be all?” He blinks hard.
“And a brownie.” Garcia nods more to herself than to the kid and stomps away to a table by the window.
The kid is still staring at her as he says, “That’ll be thirty seven and fifty two cents.”
I slap a fifty on the counter and say, “Hey kid, you do know she’s way out of your league right?”
“Oh yeah…” He drags the last word until he manages to snap himself out of his stupor.
As I head over to the table, I contemplate whether I should tell her what just happened, so she can clinically understand that her problem with dating isn’t her. But as I take the last free chair across from her, I realize there’s no way anyone’s getting a headway in right now.
“Can you believe that?” she’s saying, angrily waving her hands around. “Like I get that he’s probably chatting up a bunch of women at the same time, but he couldn’t even have the curtesy of rereading our chat to refresh his mind, instead of asking me something he was supposed to already know? Way to make a girl feel special.”
Beside her, Kim sits ramrod straight, eyes wide as he glances first at Lucky across him, and then at me.
Lucky’s also uncharacteristically quiet. I don’t dare to move to see what he’s doing, in case that attracting her attention will remind her that I’m male and therefore also guilty of the shitty things other men have done to her.
“And then!” Her voice shakes. “He had the cojones of ordering for me! Which already pissed me the hell off, but that’s nothing compared to what I felt when it turned out to be oysters—which I hate—and he got them just so he could be a creep. Like, made me eat one and then started making comments about how sexy that was and that it’s an aphrodisiac. Can you believe that shit?”
I slam the table and jump to my feet. The guys do the same, our chairs making an ugly scraping sound.
I zero in on the mean looking catcher. “Can you fight?”
“Damn right, I can.” He cracks his knuckles.
“I hope that bastard is still there,” Lucky says, followed by a string of words in Spanish that I can’t comprehend but don’t sound friendly at all.
Garcia takes a deep breath and barks, “Sit down. Now.”
We freeze for a single second—then scramble to take our seats again.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but none of you are going to jeopardize your careers for me.”
I run a hand through my hair. “I’m sorry, Garcia. I thought he looked the most normal out of the other ones.”
With her elbows on the table, she drops her face in her hands and grunts. “Ugh. I think walking up to a circus and asking out the nearest clown would be better than this.”
“Excuse me,” the college kid says and she leans away from the table, tossing her head back with a pained expression like she has lost the strength to even hold her head up. Unfortunately that reveals a bit too much skin for the employee and he trips on his feet, almost spilling all the drinks on her.
I jump to catch the glasses right in time. Meanwhile, Kim does the same—except he’s not reaching for the drinks. Instead, he’s using his hands to obscure the view of Garcia’s chest from the horny yet barely adult employee. Kim’s glare sends him scrambling back to the counter.
Huffing, Garcia lifts her head back up and Kim and I settle down like nothing just happened. Beside me, Lucky stuffs his fist against his mouth to stop himself from laughing.
“I think I’m just going to give up,” she declares all of a sudden.
“You’re well within your right,” Kim says, taking one of the large unsweet teas.
Lucky grabs the Coke, staring at Garcia’s hand reaching for the last unsweet tea and leaving the medium sweet tea for me. “Wait a second, how did you know our drink orders?”
“I know what all of you eat and drink.” Her entire face is scrunched up in annoyance as she sips from her tea.
“Never mind that. What about Friendsgiving?” I ask, reminding her of her own goal.
She groans, her shoulders dropping in even more defeat. The sound unfortunately gets the attention of the employee again. I lean to the side so I can pin him with a very clear glare. It means keep looking at her like she’s food and I will screw you over . He confirms my initial guess of him being smart by stabbing his eyes back down on his textbook.
“You’re right, I can’t give up. But what am I going to do?”
Kim stretches his arm behind her and rests it on the back of her chair. “It seems to me like dating apps aren’t working though. Why don’t you try something else?”
“Like what?” She lifts her face to him. I don’t know if she realizes how close that puts them together.
“Meeting old school.” He shrugs, his leather jacket almost gleaming under the white halogen lights. “At the grocery store, or at a game, or through friends. Something like that.”
“I’m doomed.” She turns back to me. “I don’t have time to waste loitering at the store, waiting for someone to pick me up. And all my friends are at work, where I spend basically my every waking moment.”
The employee comes by with the massive pie. To his credit, he pivots away before his beady eyes can find Garcia’s chest again.
I rub my chin, pondering her words while Lucky’s the first to tuck into the pizza. Kim grabs a handful of napkins from the side and hands them all over to Garcia, and to my shock, this earns him a smile.
My entire body grows as stiff as a plank at the realization. The answer has been there all along.
It’s not the first time I catch her acting out of character in front of Logan Kim. Maybe the old school way he’s suggesting is precisely this, for Garcia to simply date someone from the team or staff. And it seems like he’s the one who catches her attention.
“Aren’t you eating?”
It takes me two tries to tear my eyes away from the little smile on her face, and from Kim taking a slice to place it on her plate. More romantic than her date, already.
Slowly, I look over at Lucky. “What?” His cheeks look like a chipmunk that has stuffed a bit too many nuts, so instead of using his vocal cords he just lifts his half eaten slice in response. “Right, right.”
I grab one for myself and take a bite, but it doesn’t taste that great tonight.
*
I’m quiet as I drive us back to the Wild training facilities where the others left their vehicles. Garcia, Kim, and Lucky chat about who knows what, no words filter into my brain. My left elbow is propped against the window and I rub my chin, thinking about how I even am going to make this happen. Will Garcia kill me or thank me when she finds out?
I stop by the security gate and lower the window to swipe my badge. I spot Kim’s Ducati first but keep driving. Then there’s Lucky’s Escalade, a couple other cars from people who must be working really late, and farther is Garcia’s yellow Jeep.
“Tonight’s been interesting,” Lucky says, unbuckling himself. “Are we doing it again?”
“Hopefully not. No offense.” Beside me, she also removes her seatbelt. She reaches into her hair, rummaging for a good moment until I realize what she’s doing.
“Just give it to me tomorrow,” I say.
“Thanks. There are just too many bobby pins.” She shows me a whole pile already in her hand before opening her purse to dump them in. As she searches for something else, she mumbles, “Thank you, guys. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”
I turn to look at the window, clamping my mouth shut tight.
“Any time, Garcia,” Lucky responds instead.
“Yeah, and if you need to have someone beat up, just call us.” Kim grunts.
“Good night, then.” I hear her door open, the slide of her dress and skin off the seat, and then the door shuts.
Behind me, the guys open their doors and I spring to action. Jumping out of my truck, I grab a handful of Kim’s leather jacket to hold him back.
“What the?—”
“We need to talk.”
His face twists. “What about?”
Lucky rounds my truck and finds us there. He does a double take at my grip on Kim’s clothes. “Dare I ask?”
“No.” I wave my free hand away. “We need to talk battery shit. Go.”
“Gladly.” Lucky pretends to wipe sweat off his forehead and heads over toward his vehicle.
I release Kim just so I can reach into my truck to turn it off. Meanwhile, the yellow Jeep drives by and the Escalade lights come on at a distance.
“This is starting to creep me out, Starr. Why do we need to be alone to talk about battery business?”
“Because that was bullshit. This isn’t about work.” Slamming my truck door shut, I stuff my hands in the pockets of my jeans and lean back. “This is personal.”
Kim spreads his feet apart and folds his arms. “Is that so?”
Bobbing my head, I blurt out, “Are you single?”
For a long moment, the only thing that breaks the silence is Lucky’s Escalade driving away with his stereo blaring some reggaeton that makes the ground vibrate.
Kim clears his throat. “What, are you interested?”
Slowly, I draw in a big breath and release it. “Listen, I know I like women with long hair, but just because you have long hair it doesn’t mean that I confuse you for one.”
“Oh, so this is about Garcia.”
My eyebrows rise. “How did you guess?”
“Your question made me think two things. One, you were into me—thank heavens that’s not the case. Or two, this is somehow related to this whole whacky night with Garcia. What’s the deal, then?”
My fists tighten in my pockets. I have a short moment of hesitation. Am I doing the right thing here? Coaching her on how to act during dates is one thing, but this is entirely different. This is getting into her business. And yet, I can’t help thinking that it’s the best thing I can do for her. Like maybe it’s not a bad idea, even though the pizza is rioting in my stomach.
“I hate it to admit it, but you’re the most gentlemanly dude I know,” I start with, speaking through my teeth. Kim’s eyebrows rise and his eyes narrow, the picture of disbelief. “And it seems to me like you care about her to some degree. Enough to tag along tonight.”
“Are you suggesting…”
“Yeah, you should go out on a date with her.” Wow, saying it aloud is even worse than keeping it in my head.
“Hmm.” Kim tilts his head as if that gives him a better angle to observe me. I stay still because I have no idea what he’s looking for. I’m not joking here, I really think he’s the best candidate for her.
I shrug. “Wouldn’t that be the old school way you were talking about earlier?”
“Right.” He tucks his tongue against his cheek. “Well, it’s true that I care about Garcia. She’s pretty cool and she deserves to be treated right.”
I nod, unable to produce even one word while I wait for the verdict.
“So… sure. I can date her.”
My eye twitches. Dating her is different from what I suggested, which is taking her out on a date. But I guess that would ultimately be an even better result. With the way she looks at him sometimes, I’m sure she’d love to show him off at Friendsgiving this year and beyond.
“Cool, I’ll arrange it,” I say, my voice sounding all kinds of weird.
Kim rightfully guesses this conversation to be over. Without further ado, he walks over to his bike and I climb back into my truck.
I sit there long after Kim has left the premises, wondering just what in the actual hell I have just done. Even more, wondering why I feel like I’m gonna barf all over the dashboard.