Chapter 1
April
“Carrie?” the man asks.
I shake my head, already over this game he’s playing.
“Katherine?”
Again, I smile but shake my head. It’s a small smile. I don’t want to encourage him, but I also don’t want to hurt his feelings. I’d been at the bar, sitting at a table close to the entrance for less than five minutes when the man introduced himself as Thomas and sat down next to me. He’s nice enough and friendly in a funny way. But I’m not interested. I know I shouldn’t judge a man by what he looks like. Heck, I hate it when a man looks at my curves and I see the judgment on his face. Which is why I’m being nice. But the truth is, I like a man that is big. Bigger than me with broad shoulders, a wide chest, and a big, thick body. Thomas is not any of those things. Plus, he looks like he’s barely old enough to be here.
I can’t help laughing, though, and I look at him skeptically. “Do I really look like a Katherine?”
He tilts his head to the side as if really considering my question. “Nope, not Katherine. Rachel?”
I blow out a breath. What am I doing? Well, I know what I want to be doing, but it’s not looking good. When I delivered cupcakes to Violet at Red’s Diner today, she invited me and the rest of the girls from Sugar Glaze to come out tonight. Violet’s husband is the running back for the Jasper Eagles. Their season ended, and they were all coming out to get together before some of their teammates leave to go out of town. I guess the team doesn’t get back together for training until spring, so they’ll have a few months off.
When she invited me, I knew I had to come. First of all, it’s in Jasper, which is thirty minutes away from our small town of Whiskey Run. And I’m not cutting on my small hometown, but the picking for men is dwindling fast. Plus, for what I have in mind, it’s better here in Jasper. If I wanted a man, a white picket fence, and two point five kids, I’d be fine in Whiskey Run. But I don’t want forever. No, I’m just looking for one night. I just want to blow off some steam and then I’ll be back to my regular, independent self. And I can’t do that in Whiskey Run without the whole town knowing about it.
“Not Rachel either,” I mutter, looking around the bar. It’s filling up fast, and I’m pretty sure it’s because word has gotten around that players from the Jasper Eagles are going to be here. I’m looking for Violet or even her husband, Josh. He’d be easy to spot because I’m sure there would be a crowd around him. Too bad Emery, Becca, and Tara didn’t come with me. We all work at the bakery together, and we spend a lot of time together outside of work. Emery had a date tonight, but I don’t know why she even bothers. Every one she goes on, she finds something wrong with the guy. I think she’s still hooked on her ex-husband, even though she denies it. And then Becca was at home, refusing to go out. She’s still recovering from her breakup with the two-timer, and even though the other girls and I agreed to give her time, I think her time is almost up. She needs to get back out there. And then Tara had plans with her new boyfriend.
“Jennifer?” Thomas asks, leaning across the table.
I lean back. “Nope. Not Jennifer either. I’m sorry, Thomas, but really, my boyfriend should be here any minute.”
He doesn’t believe me. It’s obvious he doesn’t by the way his eyes widen and he stares at me without blinking. I don’t give myself away, though. I keep my face unguarded and smile at him. Damn, I really don’t want to hurt his feelings, but he’s not taking a hint at all.
“Okay, well, I’ll just hang out here and make sure you’re okay until he gets here. I’ll keep you safe.”
I start to stutter. “Thank you but...” My phone starts to ring, and Violet’s picture shows up on the caller ID. “Sorry, I need to get this,” I tell Thomas and put the phone up to my ear.
“Hey, Vi!” I answer.
“Ugh, don’t kill me...”
“What’s wrong?” I ask her as Thomas perks up next to me.
“Our babysitter fell through. I’m so sorry, April.”
I’m bummed, but I don’t want her to feel guilty. “No, don’t apologize, I completely understand. Really, I promise.”
“Look, I’m going to have Josh call his friend that is going to be there and he’s going to find you and make sure you make it out to your car safely, so stay put, don’t move.”
“No, that’s not necessary. I’m fine.”
“No!” she all but screams into the phone.
I don’t know if it’s because the noise in the background here or what, but it seems really important to her that I don’t move. “Violet, this is Jasper...”
She interrupts me before I can get it all out. “Yeah, and it’s not safe. Just do this for me. Okay?”
I roll my eyes even though I’m not really mad about it. This is how Violet is. She tries to take care of everybody. “Fine. I’ll stay put.”
Thomas smiles and nods his head. I know he can’t hear Violet on the phone, but he can hear what I’m saying. Grrr, I’m going to have to be rude and ask him to leave me alone.
“I really am sorry, April. I hate that you drove all the way there. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
“It’s fine. Really. I completely understand. These things happen,” I tell her, and before I can hang up, she asks me, “What are you wearing?”
Oh my goodness, are we really doing this? I think. Surely I can walk the thirty steps from the door to my car. But I know Violet, and I know there’s no sense in arguing with her. “Yellow shirt.” I look around the almost full bar. “Honestly, I think I’m the only one not wearing black. Was there a theme?”
She snorts into the phone. “No, there wasn’t a theme.”
I nod, looking around. Seriously, almost everyone is wearing black or dark clothing. I know it’s slimming or whatever, but I guess I don’t worry about things like that. I have curves, and I’ve learned to love them.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later,” Violet says before hanging up the phone.
I barely get it into my pocket and Thomas says excitedly with a snap of his fingers, “Cassie?”
I grunt and shake my head. “No, not Cassie. Really, Thomas, my boyfriend will be here any minute, and he probably won’t like me talking to someone else.”
He shrugs like it’s not a big deal, and all I can think is he doesn’t believe me. He doesn’t believe I have a boyfriend. Maybe I’m not very convincing, I don’t know, but instead of arguing with him, I sit here and let him keep guessing my name. I mean, it could be worse. Even though he is too young for me, at least he’s nice.
Chapter 2
Matt
I’m at the front entrance of the bar when my cell phone starts to ring. I step out of the line of people going in and stop next to the door. It’s Josh’s name on the caller ID. “Hey, bud, I’m about to walk in.”
“I need a favor,” he starts.
I don’t even hesitate. I was new to the Jasper Eagles this season, and Josh was the first one to welcome me and to help me fit in with the rest of the team. If he needs something, I’ll do it. No problem. “Sure thing, what’s up?”