The Best Mistake

by O'Gorman, Cookie

  “She’s right,” Mom said to me. “You did great today, Captain. Way to lead your team to victory.”

  “Couldn’t have done it without our great coach,” I said back.

  Mom smiled, then to Honor, she said, “Glad you came on a day when the Wolves played so well. I assume you and the guys are going to celebrate?”

  “We are,” Honor said, glancing at me, “though I have no idea what we’re doing.”

  “You’ll have fun, I think.” Coach/Mom threw me a scowl then. “Though not too much fun. Right, Archer?”

  “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll keep an eye on them, make sure nothing gets out of hand,” I said.

  “Oh, I know you will,” she said then leaned in to give me a hug. Whispering, she said, “I like her.”

  “You’re not the only one,” I mumbled before she drew back.

  “Well, alright.” Mom waved at someone who called her name, telling them she’d be right there, before turning back to us. “Again, good game, son. Honor, you’ll think over what I said?”

  Honor nodded, and as Mom walked away, it was finally just the two of us.

  “Do I want to know what that was about?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “You’ll see.”

  “Ah, so you and my Mom are keeping secrets now,” I said. “Never a good sign.”

  Honor bit her lip. “So, you won the bet—though as I hear, it wasn’t so much of a bet as a sure thing. That was a little sneaky of you.”

  My chin dipped as I looked her in the eye. “Slytherin, remember?”

  She shook her head. “So, what are we going to do?”

  “You’ll see,” I said, throwing her words back.

  “I hope there are no dungeons involved,” she joked.

  Not going to lie. That sent my brain right into the gutter, and an image of Honor dressed in leather went through my mind, but I quickly recovered.

  “Nope,” I said, “no dungeons.”

  “Okay then, Captain, lead the way.”

  Unlike with everyone else, my heart skipped when Honor called me that. I remembered what Baylor had told me, what I’d already admitted to myself if I was honest. Goner was a completely accurate description. Now, I just had to get Honor on the same page.

  “This is what you do after a win?”

  “What’d you expect?” I asked. “Loud music and beer pong?”

  “Something like that,” she said.

  “We’re in training.”

  “I know, but…” Honor laughed in delight. “This is just so not what I imagined. So different than the last time I was here.”

  I stared at her lips. They were red and smiling, so how could I not?

  “Hey, watch out,” she said, nodding toward the pan in my hand. “Those are looking a little done.”

  With a curse, I hurriedly got back to my task, flipping the bacon, removing four pancakes from the opposite pan and adding more batter. In the other pan, the eggs were still looking good—at least I’d remembered to turn those off—but cooking all that food at once required focus. Unfortunately, with Honor standing there, my attention was shot. Breakfast was the closest we could get to eating “unhealthy,” and honestly, some of the guys were drinking beer. We knew we’d have to work it all off at the next practice. But man, this was a celebration. It was good food with good people, and it was worth it.

  “Thanks,” I said, “I haven’t burned anything since I first learned how to cook.”

  “Really?” She sounded dubious as I flipped the pancakes over.

  “Really. My dad taught me to be vigilant.” I shot her a look. “You’re just distracting.”

  “Hey, that’s not fair,” she protested. “I’m not even doing anything.”

  I didn’t get a chance to tell her that she didn’t have to do anything. It was just her. Honor. She distracted me like nothing else by just being in the same room. It had been that way since day one.

  My teammate Shawn Reyes came up asking for more pancakes, so Honor put two on his plate while I cooked and asked about his little brother.

  “How’s Miles been getting along?” I said. “School any easier?”

  “Yeah, your baby bro really helped him,” Shawn said, adding syrup then taking a bite of his pancakes, eyes closing on a groan. A second later, he added, “He’s passing algebra now, says it’s his favorite class. Crazy, right?”

  “Finn’s good like that,” I said, thinking of my youngest brother. “He’s basically a genius, always been the smartest of all of us. You think your parents will let Miles come to a game now?”

  “Mom and Dad have been holding that over his head,” Shawn said. “But I think he’s all clear.”

  “Better keep playing like you did today then.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  As Shawn left, T.J. slid into his place.

  “Hey, I’m T.J. Can I get some bacon, eggs, and ketchup, please?” he said and threw Honor a grin.

  “You sure can,” she said, placing the bacon on his plate while I ladled eggs on next. “And the ketchup’s right there, T.J.”

  “Thanks a lot.”

  “What’s with the polite act?” I asked. T.J. was going to town with the ketchup—I could hardly see any yellow left on those eggs—but what bothered me was the way he kept eyeing Honor. “You’re never nice to a girl unless you’re trying to get her into bed.”

  T.J.’s face showed no shame as he shrugged. “First of all, I dispute that. I’m always nice. And second, I heard she was free. So I thought, maybe we could—”

  “You thought wrong.” My words came out more as a growl, but I couldn’t help it. “Honor’s my…she’s my…friend.”

  Even I knew it sounded weak.

  T.J. blinked. After a moment, he said, “And?”

  I crossed my arms, regaining some of my cool. “And if you want me to keep helping you with your swing, you’ll back off.”

  “Okay, okay,” T.J. said, holding a palm out. “Let’s not get crazy. I just saw a hot chick and thought I’d take a shot. No offense, Honor.”

  “None taken,” she said, though it sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

  “But I didn’t know she was yours,” T.J. added, looking to me. “No harm, no foul. Right, Captain? I’ll just be on my way.”

  “Hey,” I said, catching his arm before he could leave. Looking him in the eye, I said, “I meant to ask, how’s your grandma doing?”

  T.J.’s voice lost its fun edge real quick. “She’s okay, got released from the hospital last week. They say her red counts are back up, so that’s good.”

  I nodded. “It is. The team signed a card for her. It’s in my bag by the door. Don’t forget to take it.”

  “I won’t.”

  “We’re all here for you, you know,” I said quietly. “We got your back.”

  “I do know,” he said with a nod. “Thanks, Captain.”

  I shook my head. “No thanks necessary.”

  T.J. shot a look over my shoulder, and suddenly his smile was back.

  “Well, I’ll just get going. Leave you to spend some quality time with your…friend.”

  I didn’t miss the emphasis he put on the word or the wink he threw Honor before he walked away, but the guy was gone before I could say anything. T.J. had always been a smartass. As I turned to scoop up the remaining pancakes, I could feel Honor looking at me.

  “Do you do that with all of them?” she asked.

  “What?” I said.

  “Check in, make sure they’re okay, ask about their families.”

  Shrugging, I switched off the burner and picked up a towel to wipe my hands.

  Honor continued to stare up into my eyes. “It’s sweet,” she said. “How you look out for them.”

  “I don’t look out for—” From the corner of my eye, I saw Baylor stealthily trying to grab another beer from the fridge and called him out. “Hey! You know the rules. One and done.”

  He stopped with his hand on the bottle, turned to me with wide eyes, f
iguratively caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “But Arch, I was just…”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you already had your one beer for tonight. Right, Bay?”

  “Yeah, but…”

  Hands on hips, I stared him down, waiting for his explanation.

  “Fine, geez,” he said and shut the fridge door. “But lighten up. It’s not like one more Corona would’ve killed me.”

  “It wouldn’t have made you any quicker either,” I said. “June was right. You need to get faster if you want to go pro.”

  Baylor gave a sober nod but then ruined it with a salute. “Okay, Cap. Whatever you say, Cap.”

  As he went back to rejoin some of the girls from the game, the ones who’d all been dressed alike, and took a sip of one of their beers, I just shook my head. Baylor threw me a grin in response.

  “He seems like a lot to handle,” Honor commented.

  “He is,” I said. “They all are.”

  “But it’s obvious you love them.”

  I looked around and tried to imagine what it was like to come into this place filled with baseball players, friends and superfans, how it all looked to her. Some of the guys had pulled up a game in the living room. Others were lounging around, digging into their second and third plates of breakfast. A few were playing video games in the room next door. Several were getting their flirt on like Baylor. Everything seemed chill, relaxed. I didn’t know if this was Honor’s scene, but it was definitely mine.

  I shrugged. “They’re my family.”

  “Gotta say”—she smiled as my eyes met hers—”this is a far cry from what I’d imagined ‘celebrating a win’ would be like. I was worried it would be like the last party.”

  “You mean, when you came here looking to score with my brother?”

  She winced. “Ugh, please don’t remind me.”

  After serving the last of the food, I leaned back against the counter.

  “What was that all about anyway?” I said.

  Honor’s eyes widened. “Are we seriously talking about this?”

  “Figured it’s what friends do.”

  “But why?” she said. “You were there. It was a disaster. You know I tried to seduce you thinking you were—”

  Honor suddenly cut herself off, and we both looked to Baylor as he let out a loud laugh. Two of my other teammates had gotten up from the couch and were headed this way, looking to grab more food, no doubt, though it was already gone.

  “Hey, follow me.”

  The instant I took her hand a sensation of warmth ran through me. Honor drew in a breath.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “This is an important talk,” I said, walking toward the stairs, leading her up them and down the hall. I kept hold of her hand the whole way. “I thought we could use some privacy.”

  “Yeah…but your room? What if someone needs you downstairs?”

  Opening the door, I walked inside first, and Honor followed. “They can do without me for a few minutes.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure…”

  Honor’s head was down, looking at our hands, studying them.

  “Your hands are really rough,” she murmured.

  It took me a second to respond. Her thumb had just brushed against mine, trailing down to the inside of my palm. My whole body was focused on that one area. What had she just said? Something about my hands?

  “Must be all the baseball,” she added a second later.

  “Yeah,” I said gruffly.

  Her thumb was now doing these intoxicating little circles on my skin. They were driving me slowly insane, but I never wanted her to stop. Seeming to realize what she was doing, her hand slipped from mine a moment later. Honor walked over to the desk and sat in the chair there—even though I noticed her eyes kept going to the bed. Each time this happened, her face flushed a bit more.

  Interesting.

  I closed the door and leaned my back against it.

  “So friend,” I prompted, “picking up where we left off. The party? Why exactly were you there?”

  “I told you. I was there to…” she trailed off, her cheeks flaming.

  I decided to help her out. “Get laid, hookup, have sex?”

  Rolling her eyes at herself, she said, “Yes. I was trying to be wild and sexy for once which I’m terrible at if you didn’t notice.”

  “I don’t know about that,” I said, remembering the way the movements of her thumb had made me feel a second ago.

  “Oh come on, Archer,” she said. “All I wanted was a fling, and it ended horribly.”

  My eyebrows went up at that. “If I remember correctly, it wasn’t all bad.”

  Honor’s lips twitched. “I guess not,” she said, and I knew by the way her eyes dropped to my lips before jerking back up to meet mine that she meant it.

  “So, why Baylor?” I asked.

  “Do we really have to go there?”

  “Please, humor me. I’ve been thinking about this a lot”—only like every day since it happened—”and it’s the thing that really bothers me. I have to know. Why did you choose him?”

  She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I don’t know. I’d heard some rumors, knew he was a player, and I guess I just wanted to experience what it was like.”

  Tension roiled in the pit of my stomach, but I had to ask. “Being with Baylor?”

  “Not him,” she said, and I felt my shoulders relax, “it could’ve been anybody really. And please know, I feel like a total douchenozzle for ever having thought about using your brother like that.”

  “He would’ve gladly let you do it.” The mere thought of them together made my teeth clench. “Baylor isn’t real selective. And even if he was, I can’t see him turning you down.”

  “I just wanted to know what it feels like,” Honor said. “To be wanted, to be desired like that. My romantic knowledge and experience is sorely lacking. I wanted something light with no strings attached before I left college.”

  “Do you still want that?” I asked.

  She looked to me, must’ve read something in my expression that wasn’t there, because she covered her face a moment later. “Oh my God, that sounds awful, doesn’t it? You probably think I’m a terrible person. Heck, even I think that.”

  Actually, I thought she was pretty great, but we’d come back to that later.

  Walking to the desk, I bent down and pulled her hands away, so I could see her eyes.

  “Do you still want that?” I repeated and then waited for her answer.

  Because it mattered, because she mattered, and because this could change everything.

  My heart was pounding.

  And all Archer was doing was holding my hand.

  Gah. It wasn’t even a sexy place on the body to be touched. In my head, I knew this, but the reality was more complex. The feeling of his thumb as it swept against my pulse point sent a shiver straight through me. It felt like there was some kind of magic tether between his hand and mine, one that ran to the center of my being, making it feel like he had a direct line to my heart.

  Who knew such an innocent touch could light me up like this?

  It was a sign, I thought.

  A sign that I should be running for the hills, away from the room and away from him as fast I could. Self-preservation was a real thing. I should get out now while I had the chance.

  The problem was I didn’t actually want to do any of that.

  Especially not with Archer looking at me this way. His gray eyes were intense yet warm as he waited for my answer.

  Do you still want that? he’d asked.

  “Yes,” I said then swallowed. “I still want it.”

  Archer’s eyes were on me. “With Baylor?”

  I shook my head. “No, not with him.”

  Archer let out a breath and dropped his head. After nodding to himself, his gaze captured mine once more. “Then I think you should let me kiss you again.”

  “What?” I said.

  “Well, as yo
ur friend, I feel like I should be the one you experiment with. And if you want to increase your romantic experience, I figure now’s as good a time as any to start.”

  I caught my breath as his hand moved to my cheek. “But I…I’ve been kissed before. You kissed me, remember?”

  “Yeah,” he said, “but at the time, you thought I was someone else. Now, you know who you’re kissing. It might make a difference.”

  Oh, it definitely would, I thought. Having been around Archer, knowing him better, seeing how he treated his family and his team downstairs, I’d fallen a little more. Knowing I was kissing Archer O’Brien would make it that much more powerful.

  “Wait,” I said as he leaned in, hoping to talk some sense into one of us. He stopped a breath away from my lips. “This is crazy. No strings attached? No offense, Archer, but you don’t seem like that kind of guy.”

  “None taken,” he said.

  “And despite what I said, I’m definitely not that kind of girl,” I added, looking deep into his eyes. “I seriously have zero experience. Romance is not my thing. I’m sure I’ll be bad at it. The confidence and sexiness, the red dress and heels, that was all Charlie.”

  “You looked great in those heels,” he cut in, “even if they did try to kill you.”

  “But don’t you see? That’s not really me. Charlie gave me the clothes, even coached me on how to get a guy. I came here looking to hook up that night, but…I don’t know if I’m ready.” I took a deep breath. “So, if that’s what you’re after, if that’s why you’re offering, I just want to be honest. I’m not sure it’ll ever get to that point.”

  After a moment, Archer’s lips twitched, and I noticed his eyes were smiling—which made me frown. I’d just poured my heart out, revealed my innermost thoughts, and he seemed…amused?

  “What’s that look for?” I asked. “Are you laughing at me?”

  “No,” he said—but a second later a real life smile broke through, and I pointed to his face.

  “Yes, you are! I can’t believe you!”

  I was trying my best not to be affected. But if Archer’s frown was sexy-as-hell, his smile was something else entirely. It made my heart ache to see it, even as I struggled to hold onto my indignation.