by Rhonda Shaw
“And you deserve them all,” Karen said with a sly smile at her fiancé, whose eyes visibly warmed in return.
Shannon smiled at their exchange. They were crazy about each other, even though they had both acted like fools the year before. Neither had wanted to admit their true feelings, insisting things between them were strictly casual, but eventually a hit to the head—literally in Jerry’s case—knocked some sense into them. Now they were inseparable when Jerry was in town, and Karen was on cloud nine, exactly where she deserved to be. Shannon was ecstatic that Karen finally found her “one,” even if it made her a teensy bit jealous. Who wouldn’t be?
Shannon cleared her throat loudly as she sat on one of the stools lining the island, toed off her heels and removed her black blazer, hanging it over the back of the chair. “Now, now. You have a guest. No getting hot and heavy, you lovebirds.”
“You heard her.” Karen shooed him away. “Let us girls chat. Go in the other room and stop distracting me.”
He leaned over and planted a loud kiss on her lips before heading toward the basement where he was the lord of his domain. “Let me know when dinner is ready. I’m starved.”
“When aren’t you?” Karen asked his departing back. She turned to Shannon with one hand on her hip and sighed. “I swear. I love to cook and all, but that man is going to wear me out with how much he eats. Where does he put it?”
“He must burn it off with all of the sex you guys have,” Shannon teased.
“Okay, but then why doesn’t that work for me? I’m an active participant too.”
“Who knows.” Shannon eyed her sister and, while she couldn’t put her finger on it, something stood out as changed. “What’s going on? You look different.”
Karen scowled as she stirred the soup. “Different? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “You just look…different. Maybe it’s your new bridal glow or something.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Karen muttered before she turned with a smile. “Tomorrow you try on your dress. They said they should be able to make any changes, if needed, in time, so we need to get there early.”
After the dash through the busy O’Hare airport followed by the stressful drive on the slick roads, Shannon needed some liquid assistance in order to relax before they dove into wedding planning. She stood and opened the fridge, pulling out a bottle of wine. She held it up to Karen with an arched brow in question.
“No, thank you,” Karen said. “I’m good.”
“You’re good? You’re turning down wine?” Shannon asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, I had some before you got here,” she replied as she kept her back to her, busying herself with wiping down the counter.
“Hmmm.” Shannon pulled down a crystal stemware from behind the plate glass cabinet. “Never stopped you before.”
“I’ll have some with dinner, probably,” Karen replied in a noncommittal tone as she turned her focus back to the soup.
Shannon took a sip and pondered this anomaly—her sister never refused a glass of wine—when it clicked. Karen had told her she and Jerry wanted to start a family, but Shannon hadn’t realized she meant so soon. Since Shannon didn’t want to ruin the surprise, she wouldn’t prod further. She’d let Karen spill the news in her own time, even though she was thrilled with the prospect of being an aunt.
“So, who am I walking down the aisle with exactly?” Shannon asked instead. “You mentioned it before, but I forgot. Jerry’s little brother? What’s his name? Nate?”
“Nick. His name is Nick.” Karen spun around and leaned against the counter. “See? This is why I say you work too damn much. You can’t even remember what his name is and you’ve met him at least a couple of times.” She gave Shannon a good big-sister stern stare, which made her shrink in shame. Karen didn’t let her say anything in her defense, however, as she pressed on. “But there’s been a change. You’re walking with Matt.”
Shannon’s heart tripped in her chest. If it was the Matt she was thinking of, things were about to get interesting. “And Matt is?” she asked hesitantly, almost afraid to hear it was Jerry’s thirteen-year-old cousin or something, rather than a gigantic step up from Jerry’s younger brother.
“You know Matt.” Karen frowned. “At least I thought you did. You’ve met him before, haven’t you? The catcher? Hot, Chris Evans lookalike?”
Shannon stopped herself before she threw up a thank-you to the heavens. “Um, yeah. I met him once a long time ago. He does sort of look like Chris Evans. Bigger though,” she said casually as if they weren’t talking about the same man who’d played a starring role in all of her fantasies since meeting him.
“Oh, yeah. The guys are always teasing him, especially when people who don’t know Rockets’ baseball ask him if he’s Captain America. I think they’re just jealous,” Karen said with a chuckle. “Anyway, when he finally let Jerry know he’d be his Best Man along with Chase, we switched things around. So, we put you and Matt together, because obviously we’re going to keep Maddie and Chase together,” Karen said of her best friend and her new husband, Jerry’s teammate and former roommate. “It should be good since Matt’s tall. You won’t have to worry about having heels on and towering over the guy, like I know you always do.”
Shannon tried to play cool even though internally she was doing handstands and back flips. “Okay, sounds good.”
“He’s a nice guy, too,” Karen went on, apparently still believing she needed to justify things. “I don’t know him that well, but from what I do know, he seems real sweet. He and Jerry are pretty close, so that should give some indication as to what his personality is like. You’ll meet him at the rehearsal dinner Friday night.” She clapped her hands. “We have so much to talk about and we even have tomorrow night, since Jerry will be gone for his bachelor party.”
“Sounds good.” Shannon took another drink of her wine, tuning out her sister as she visualized Matt and his crystal blue eyes. She shivered, recalling how they had trapped her, as if seeing right through her, causing her skin to tingle and flush. Perhaps the festivities were not going to be as bad as she originally feared. She’d pretty much planned to have to endure one well-meaning family member after another asking when she was next. When she would settle down and have some kids, particularly since everyone had believed only she would ever get married, considering Karen’s aversion to the possibility for the longest time. But Shannon’s life was work, no more, no less. She didn’t have room in her life for anything else. She didn’t question her decisions, but she did get tired of defending them constantly. No one understood, except for her father. She envisioned the look of pride on his face as she filled him in on everything related to her work, and a glow of pleasure washed over her foreseeing his approval. She enjoyed that they shared a common interest and that he was proud of her.
She was going to have to find some way to ignore the comments and not let them get to her. Her life was the way she wanted; she had no reason to be ashamed.
And if she could manage to hang around a hot guy for the night, then perhaps some good could come out of the Wedding of the Century for her after all.
Chapter 3
Heavy bass throbbed throughout the dark room while strobe lights flickered and pulsed, casting scantily clad women in and out of darkness as they gyrated on a pole and ground against the raised floor. An upscale club with trendy and sleek décor, Pink’s boasted having the sexiest, most desirable women in the metro-Detroit area and for a hefty price, exclusive party rooms were available for private groups, giving the occupants a bird’s eye view of the dancers while separating them from the rest of the crowd. It was in one of these rooms that Jerry and his best buds gathered for his bachelor party.
A petite woman with long blond hair—and boobs so big he wondered how she could remain upright—strutted by with a tray of shots, and Matt reached out to grab one. She stopped short when she spotted him and her mouth dropped open.
“Omigod!
Are you—?”
He interrupted her before she could finish. “No, I’m not.”
She flipped her hair, giving him a slow, promising smile as her tongue darted out to wet her pouty red gloss-drenched lips. “You could totally be him. He’s so fucking hot as Captain America,” she purred as she sidled closer to him.
“Thanks, I think.” Matt slammed the shot before turning his back to her. He hadn’t missed her invitation; he simply wasn’t interested. He grew weary of the girls who offered themselves up because he played ball or because he supposedly resembled some actor.
His blue eyes watered and he cringed at the burn of Jäger racing down his throat, but he smiled when Jerry let out a hoot from across the room where he stood joking around with a group of guys. Jerry Smutton was getting married. Matt couldn’t believe it. Jerry was the last person Matt would have believed to be hitched before him, but here they were. A few days before the wedding and it was really happening.
He was happy for his friend—really happy. He liked Karen. She was perfect for Jerry, but it still amazed him that all his buddies were settling down before him—the one who actually wanted to be married. Even though everyone always teased him for being the romantic of the group, Matt couldn’t seem to shake off his single status.
He wasn’t going to deny it. Right behind baseball as the absolute love of his life, was love and he loved being in love. He wanted what his parents had—a loving relationship, a wonderful marriage and a perfect-sized family. Whenever the “she” part of the equation decided to show up, he was more than ready.
And sometimes because he wanted to settle down, he progressed relationships quicker than he should, but he couldn’t fault himself for trying. How did he know for sure if he didn’t try? But the situation with Natalie had rocked him and now his interest in meeting anyone had waned.
He sighed, eyeing the empty shot glass in his hand before tossing it onto the table and dropping his big frame down in a chair. Things with her had exploded from being mildly uncomfortable to right out bat-shit crazy, and he still didn’t know what to do, resulting in his downer attitude despite the occasion. The night was Jerry’s, however, and being one of his best friends, Matt wouldn’t be anywhere else.
The chair next to him pulled out and Chase Patton, one of the pitchers on the team, sat next to him.
“You’re quiet over here tonight, Bucky. You not liking the scenery?” he asked, his dark eyes sparkling in amusement.
“Yeah,” Matt said with a shrug. “Just not feeling it I guess.”
Chase’s expression turned serious. “Everything all right?”
Matt caught the glint of a spotlight bouncing off the platinum wedding band on Chase’s left ring finger and tried not to let the reminder of his own unmarried status bother him along with everything else. “Yeah, no, everything’s fine. Just tired or something.”
“What the fuck are you two boring asses doing sitting down over here?” Jerry lumbered toward them, the numerous shots that he’d taken obviously already taking effect. “Get up and enjoy the party, man! I’m not going to be single for much longer!”
Matt laughed as Jerry hooked his arms under his armpits, attempting to haul him up. Jerry wasn’t small himself, but Matt had some pounds on him and, adding alcohol to the mix, it was proving difficult for Jerry.
“Stand up, you fat ass,” Jerry grimaced.
“And do what?” Matt asked calmly, ignoring Jerry’s huffing and puffing. “You’re going to end up hurting your arm and Coach will kill me.”
“My arm is fine, don’t you worry about that. Get up so you don’t look like a boring old man, even though you are.”
“Fine.” Matt stood right as Jerry tried another mighty heave, which sent Jerry sprawling back, landing on his ass in the middle of the group. He glared up at Matt for a second before they all started roaring with laughter. Matt leaned down and grabbed Jerry’s shoulders, hauling him back up.
“Get off the floor, you idiot.”
A big, goofy smile spread on Jerry’s face as he threw his arm around his catcher. “I’m so glad you’re here, man.”
“I know you are.”
“No, really. You’re more to me than just my catcher. I mean that,” he said as his words started to slur, but his grin never fell.
Matt chuckled as he listened to his drunken friend ramble. “You’re drunk and you’re an asshole.”
Jerry just laughed. “Yes, I am.” He straightened up suddenly, looking over Matt’s shoulder. “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Who ordered a private dance? I can’t have any of that, boys. My baby will kill me if there’s any touching or sitting on Mr. Happy…”
Matt turned to see what had caught Jerry’s attention and his heart thudded with dread.
No, no, no! Not now. He shot away from Jerry and rushed to her side, pulling her out the door she’d just come through.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he hissed with his teeth clenched together.
“Ow! You’re hurting me,” Natalie whined as she tried to tug free from his grasp, but he wouldn’t loosen his grip.
Ignoring her protests, Matt dragged her out of the private room and across the club until they emerged outside, where he let go with a little shove. So much anger pulsed through him that he didn’t even notice the cold as the snow fell around them. He spotted her car in the parking lot, not far from the door, and stalked over to the small compact, waiting for her to follow. When her soft footsteps fell in behind him, he spun around.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he repeated.
She let out a huff, which showed as a puff of white in the air. “I had to talk to you, Matt.”
He rolled his eyes. He’d heard it all before. “There is nothing to talk about. We’re done. We’re over. Please get that through your thick skull.”
Natalie shook her head, her dark wavy hair bouncing around her face as her eyes quickly filled. “Please, no. Don’t say that. We can fix this.”
Matt hated to be so mean and cold to her, but she’d pushed him to this. He’d tried to be patient and understanding, and even talk to her when she’d asked, but everything had gone on for too long and he was done. “There is nothing to fix, Natalie. I don’t love you. I don’t want to be with you. That’s it.”
“No, don’t say that,” she pleaded.
“You need to move on.”
“I don’t understand what happened, what changed.” Big, fat tears fell down her cheeks.
“Nothing happened, nothing changed. We just grew apart. That’s it. End of story. There is no more us. You seriously need to get past this.”
“There’s someone else, isn’t there?” she hissed as her tears quickly dried and a hard edge replaced them. “There’s some other slut.”
Matt rubbed a hand over his hair in frustration, tired of going through the same thing over and over again. “No, there is no one else.”
“One of the girls in there.” Natalie jerked her head in the direction of the club.
“Jesus Christ.” He closed his eyes. “You need to go, okay? I have a party I need to be at and you just need to go.”
“You can’t make me go! This is a public place.”
“Natalie, please. You’re making this worse than it needs to be. Please go before you cause a bigger scene than you already have.”
Her small rosebud mouth pursed as she glared at him. “Fine,” she sniffed as she moved over to her car door. Before climbing in, she rested a mitten on the top of the frame and a beautiful smile broke out on her face. “I’ll see you later and we’ll talk, okay? Miss you and love you. Bye!”
Matt stared in disbelief as she climbed in and drove out, and he remained frozen in place even after she’d driven down the street. The girl was insane. No other explanation worked. He put his head back toward the dark winter sky, took in a deep breath and let it out, watching the white cloud of air dissipate. He let the soft snowfall lightly kiss his skin, making no move to wipe the moisture off.
; He had to do something. He couldn’t keep going on like this, looking over his shoulder all the time, wondering when she would show up with her crazy. He didn’t want to have to take drastic legal measures, but if he wanted her to stop, it had to be done.
His phone rang in his pocket and his blood froze, thinking it was her calling him, even though she shouldn’t have the new number—at least he hoped. He pulled his phone out, trepidation coursing through him, but let out a sigh in relief that it was his best bud, Jason.
“Hey, man. What’s up?” Matt said as he answered.
“You hear the news?” Jason said without preamble. “You’re talking to your newest shortstop.”
“No, shit. That’s fucking awesome!”
It was no secret the Rockets were in talks with Jason and his agent since his contract with the Seattle Sea Dogs ended, but Matt had no idea things had progressed that far so quickly. One of the best shortstops in the league, Jason Kirby played the position better than anyone Matt had ever seen, and he was Matt’s longest and oldest childhood friend. He couldn’t believe they’d be playing on the same team again as they hadn’t played together since college.
“Yep. We’re finally back on the same team.”
“I can’t wait to tell everyone.”
“When are you coming to Arizona?” Jason asked. “I thought you’d be home by now.”
“Smutton’s getting married, so I’m stuck here in cold-ass Michigan until the wedding is over. I need to see the sun, though. It seems like I haven’t seen it since the beginning of October. Does it still exist?”
Jason chuckled. “Get your ass home and you’d see it. Where are you? You sound like you’re near a freeway or something.”
“Yeah, I’m outside this strip joint right by the freeway.”
“Why the hell are you outside? Last time I checked, all the action is inside.”
“I know, I know. I had to take care of something, that’s all.”
Jason sighed loudly. “She showed up there, didn’t she?”
