I hate him.
“You’re such a pleasure to be around,” I say just as I hear my name being called out.
I turn to see my girl running toward me, her gown flapping in the wind and her hand clutched to her cap. Her hair is curled, and she has slightly more makeup on than I’ve seen before. Same gorgeous smile with irresistible dimples, same passionate sparkle in her eyes.
“Ahh, we did it.” She jumps into my arms and her legs wrap around my waist as I grab her. She presses her lips against mine and then pulls back, joy pouring out of her. “Oh, you look hot in your gown.”
“Ah, this old thing,” I say, pulling on the collar. “Just pulled it out of the closet this morning.”
“Jesus Christ, you’re lame.” Jason drags a hand over his face as Milly climbs down my body. She walks over to Jason and pulls him into a hug as well.
“Congratulations, Jason. You look very handsome too.”
The motherfucker that he is, he holds on to her tight and doesn’t let go. Instead he looks over at me and says, “Did you hear that? Your girlfriend is hitting on me.” They part a foot but he keeps his arms on her shoulders and asks, “Want to go back to the locker room with me, Milly?”
Before she can even answer, I tug on her hand and pull her into my arms. “You can leave now.”
“What? Now that your girl is here? You don’t need me to hold your hand?” He turns to Milly. “Did you know he’s really nervous to meet your family?”
“Dude.”
“Like he cried to me last night, hoping he doesn’t make a bad impression on them. It was weird but I took care of your boy, told him he would be great and to not act like himself at all.”
Milly glances up at me. “You’re nervous?” She tugs on my gown, concern growing in her eyes. “My family is so chill. They’re excited to meet you.”
“He’s afraid they won’t approve of his mediocre talent.”
“You can leave now,” I snap at Jason, who laughs and starts to walk away, but not before gripping my shoulder with one hand.
“You’re going to do just fine. They’d be stupid not to like you.” And just because he’s an asshat, he grips my cheeks and plants a kiss on my lips before taking off.
“What did I tell you about that shit?” I call out as he laughs like a hyena, making his way back to the parking lot. “Christ.” I wipe my mouth as I catch Milly’s surprised expression.
“Is that not the first time he’s done that?”
I shake my head. “Unfortunately, no. He’s the guy who loves getting a reaction out of people so he’ll do the most ridiculous shit, like standing on top of a counter and making you announce your pickle choice . . . and kissing his best friends on the lips with no warning.”
She chuckles and looks back at the retreating Jason. “I like him. He’s going to rock some lucky girl’s world one day.”
“Or they’re going to rock his world and put him in place.”
She grips my hand tightly. “Oh, that would be even better.”
Together we walk to the front of the stadium where Milly’s family is waiting. It was an easy meeting place since everyone is milling around the events center and trying to take pictures in front of the stone Brentwood University sign. Milly said she’d rather take a picture in front of the stadium where some of her best memories were created.
“Are you really nervous?”
“I mean, it’s your family, and since I like you sooooo much,” I say with a teasing tone, “I want to make sure they like me too. What if they thought I was a piece of trash, what would you do?”
“Easy, dump you and move on to one of Cory’s teammates.”
I halt immediately and she flies in front of me, our hand connection being the only thing that stops her. When she yo-yos back to me, she’s laughing—a little too hard for my liking.
“Excuse me?”
Through her laughter, she says, “You know I’m kidding.”
“Uh, you answered that question way too quickly, as if you’ve been thinking about it, and that scares me.”
“Please, we all know the single guys on the Storm don’t have good enough stats for me to even consider them.”
My jaw works side to side.
“This isn’t fucking funny.”
But her boisterous laugh tells me otherwise.
“Stop it. My family will like you because I like you. My dad and brothers will be thrilled you play baseball, and my mom will die over your blue eyes and probably say something really inappropriate like . . . ‘you two will have the cutest babies.’ So be ready for that. She’s said it to every one of my brothers’ girlfriends. It’s mortifying, so there’s your heads-up.”
“Cute babies, huh?” We start walking again.
“Drop it. We are not talking about that.”
“But I mean, you want kids, right?”
“Carson, we’ve been dating for a few weeks, we just graduated, why would you—”
“You want kids, right, Milly?” I’m serious.
Her face softens and she sighs. “Of course I want kids, but that’s grown-up stuff I don’t want to talk about yet. Which reminds me, my brothers don’t know about the proposal for their facility, so please don’t mention it.”
I bring her hand to my lips and press a sweet kiss across her knuckles. “Wouldn’t dream of it. That’s your story to tell, but, back to the kids thing. How many?”
“Carson,” she groans as we turn the corner and spot a group of guys standing together with an older but spitting image of Milly directly in the middle. Milly is her mom’s twin, while her brothers and dad all tower over her.
“Cory?” Milly whispers, just before she releases my hand and takes off running. That’s when I spot him, Cory Potter, in a pair of blue Dockers and a light blue button-up shirt, sleeves folded to his elbows. With his hair styled short and to the side, his expensive watch and polished loafers, he looks like one of the classiest motherfuckers I’ve ever seen.
I glance down at my worn-out dress shoes and feel embarrassed immediately. Shit, I should have bought something nice to wear.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Milly says when she releases herself from her brother. “I thought you have a game tonight.”
“Coach gave me the night off. I just have to be back in time for the first pitch,” his deep, refined voice says.
“This is the best surprise ever.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen Milly this excited. She really does have a special connection with Cory.
“What are we, chopped liver?” one of her other brothers says before pulling her in for a hug.
From a distance, like the outsider I am, I watch Milly receive love and praise from her family including her mom and dad, who are probably overjoyed to have their last child out of college and gearing up for the real world.
And even though I know my circumstances are different, I can’t help but feel a little pang of hurt from not having the same with my family. It’s just my dad and me, and even though I know he loves me unconditionally, I don’t think he’s ever hugged me like Mr. and Mrs. Potter hug Milly, nor have I ever seen him smile as wide like when her parents saw her approach.