Chapter 20 Roman
Chapter Twenty
Roman
You sure this is a good idea?
No. But Lola needs this.
- Conversation between Mase, age 25 and Roman, age 25, after the big bad thing
I turn my beer around in my hand, condensation making the bottle damp.
A low-level buzz is picking up around us in the Lagoon.
A local indie musician is setting up on the low stage area at the other end of the room and the retro lanterns cast the tables in a warm amber light.
Jarred’s best mate Cooper has the weekend off practice, so he invited me to join them and a few of Cooper’s teammates for a drink.
Despite not going to school with them, I know Jarred and Cooper pretty well.
At the end of every season the town hosts the Heart Home baseball game to raise money for the Heart Home Foundation.
The whole event is huge, taking over the school’s field as town locals play against professional MLB players.
Vendors set up stalls and I can already picture Lola there, selling her apple fries.
Mase and I still play for the rookie’s team with Jarred each year.
Cooper, on the other hand, became one of the few Black players scouted for the big leagues and is now pitcher for the Colorado Cascades.
The MLB season means he’s gone a lot this time of year and normally I like catching up with him when he’s around, but it feels wrong without Mase here.
He turned up at my house again earlier this afternoon, only this time he was already six drinks in. I got some aspirin down him and left him sleeping it off on my couch.
I almost called Jarred to cancel but all I was doing at home was either worrying about Mase or thinking about Lola. The Ford siblings are making a habit of messing with my head these days.
I should have called Lola already, but I wanted to talk to Mase about it before I did. A plan which is great on paper but too damn drunk and depressed in real life.
Cooper takes a swig of his beer and leans back into the cushions stacked against the wooden crates turned sofa seats. “So, how’s operation ‘my villas bring all the celebs to the yard’ going?” he asks Jarred.
Jarred grunts. “Well, we’re still not calling it that.”
I snort. “Happen to take any fly balls to the head recently, Coop?”
“Sadly, he’s always been like this.”
Cooper holds his palms out wide. “You got a better name?”
“We don’t need a name,” Jarred insists, putting his glass down on the low crate table in the middle of our little circle.
“The whole point is to keep it low key. I said you could share my name with a few of your friends so I can keep the revenue coming out of season. The last thing I want is a load of celebrities dragging their drama here.”
Cooper’s hand flies to his heart, his mouth agape. “Uh, offended.”
Jarred rolls his eyes. “Don’t be. You’re barely a celebrity.”
I run a hand over my short beard to hide my smile as Cooper melodramas the hell out of it. A year ago, Jarred might have been right, but the Colorado Cascades hired a new social media manager and Cooper’s become somewhat of a TikTok sensation.
“New business venture?” I ask Jarred, my interest piqued despite myself. I guess one thing my dad managed to instill in me is an eye for business and Jarred has one of the best entrepreneurial minds I’ve ever met.
Jarred’s dad and best friend built a series of beach houses down by Surfer’s Bay years ago now and when his dad died Jarred stepped up at only eighteen. No college. Nothing.
Jarred runs a hand through his scruffy blond locks.
He’s normally more together but nowadays he just looks tired.
“Not exactly. After what happened with Evie, I acquired a bunch of town flats for Heart Home to use as supported living accommodations for care leavers. The beach cabins cover the costs over the summer season but we’re not getting enough out-of-season tourists to keep them going over the winter. ”
“So, what’s the plan?” I ask.
Cooper grins. “It was totally my idea.”
Jarred shakes his head. “Sure, Coop.”
Cooper presses a palm to his chest. “I’m your muse.” He spreads himself out across the sofa seat, resting his elbow on Ben, his teammate’s, lap and laying his legs over Jarred’s. “Paint me like one of your French ladies.”
Jarred and Ben shove Cooper off but Jarred sticks his tongue in his cheek to stop from laughing.
Cooper falls to the floor grinning and dusts himself off.
The man’s always been a goof, but I have a feeling he’s playing it up more to try and get Jarred out of his own head.
I don’t know the full details of what went down with Evie and Jarred’s brother Felix, but the man’s been fighting demons and the court system ever since.
Jarred picks up his NA beer and hides the smile Cooper dragged out of him.
“He’s not entirely wrong. A few years back, Cooper’s team started renting one of our villas once the baseball season was over.
The players like it because Pine Rock is quiet.
They’re just looking for a place to escape so they don’t care that it’s not beach weather every day.
Cooper figured there might be other celebrities out there looking for the same thing.
” He shrugs. “It’s worth a shot but I’m going to have to vet clients beforehand.
I don’t want to bring a shit load of paparazzi down on us.
The Heart Home kids have had enough drama. ”
“It’s a good idea,” I say, clinking my bottle against Jarred’s. We both take a swig. The cold beer washes down, and a thought occurs to me. “You know, if any of your VIP renters ever need security, might be worth giving Mase a call.”
Jarred looks at me over his beer but doesn’t ask for an explanation, just dips his head. “Noted.”
Mase may not have a plan B, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find him one.
Jarred’s phone vibrates against the slats of the crate. He turns it over and frowns at the screen. “How are things going with Lola, by the way?”
I pause, my bottle half raised to my lips. “Fine, why?”
“Because she’s calling me.”
My grip on my beer turns lethal, a surge of jealousy twisting inside of me. Why the fuck is Lola calling Jarred?
He slips off the bench and answers the call a few feet away.
I glower at him, bracing my boots against the worn wooden floor.
Cooper tunes out of whatever his teammates are chatting about and eyes me. “He won’t do anything if she’s yours. He’s got this whole honorable thing going for him.”
I work my jaw. “She’s not exactly mine,” I say, staring at Jarred as his brow creases.
When Cooper doesn’t say anything, I glance over at him. He nods to the death grip I have on my beer. “You sure about that?”
Fuck it. Lola is definitely mine, but apparently, she doesn’t know that yet.
Jarred strolls back over to our table.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“She’s fine. Mostly.”
I stiffen.
“She lost her contractor, and she needs help with the coffee shop. I’m going to head over and give her a hand.”
Yeah, that’s not happening. “I’ll go,” I say, grabbing my keys off the table and standing up.
Jarred sits back down, a slight smirk on his lips. “She’s going to be pissed when you show up instead of me.”
“She’ll get over it,” I growl. The damn woman’s going to have other things to worry about as soon as I get my hands on her. She barely knows Jarred and yet she’s calling him for help instead of me? I don’t think so.
“You alright to drive?” Jarred asks.
“I’ve only had half a beer.” Couldn’t bring myself to drink much when Mase is still sleeping it off on my couch.
Jarred nods, his eyes sparking with amusement. “Have fun.”
“Get laid!” Cooper calls, a grin across his goofy face.
I hold up my middle finger as I walk away and Cooper’s laughter follows me to the bar. I take out some cash and add it to the tip jar and Kelsey looks over from where she’s pulling a pint. “Where you off to?”
I raise a brow at her but Kelsey just grins and says, “About damn time.” Because apparently everyone in this town knows I’m already halfway in love with Lola Ford. She brings the pint over to a man with his cap pulled low. “Go get your girl Roman, Lola’s been waiting long enough.”
Kelsey puts down the pint but the guy tenses. He pushes away from the bar, leaving his drink untouched and barging into my shoulder as he heads for the door. Kelsey and I blink after him.
She shrugs. “Well okay then, you want a free beer?”
I smirk as I walk backwards to the door. “Sorry, gotta go get my girl.”
I don’t even try to fight the pull to go to Lola. It doesn’t matter that she’s Mase’s little sister, it doesn’t matter that she’s barely twenty-four. It doesn’t matter that she could do so much better than me.
The second she called Jarred instead of me my inner caveman took over. Possessiveness surged through me, knocking down the remainders of the walls I’d built to hold myself back.
The need to be with Lola thrums in my veins. It pulses through me, pulling me towards her and urging me to make sure she knows that the next time she calls a man for help, it better damn well be me.