Society Girls: Sierra (11 page)

“He said she looked nice, Zack. Calm down,”
Ainsley tells him.

“That’s very sweet of you to say, Joel,” my
mom says.

“Just telling the truth.”

“Seriously, man. Enough with the ass
kissing.”

“Shut it, Zacky,” I tell him, earning a
glare.

“Can we have one meal where you two don’t
try to antagonize each other?” my mom asks.

“No,” we both say in unison.

The hostess yells out Joel’s name right
then, so we drop it for now. Joel takes my hand and smiles down at
me as we walk to the table. “Você esta bonita.”

“Thank you. You look very nice, too.”

He’s got on a green polo shirt, dark jeans,
and combat boots. His hair is in its usual slicked back style, just
begging for me to run my fingers through it.

“I wanted to impress your mother.”

“Just tone it down before Zack loses
it.”

“Am I threatening his masculinity?” he asks,
pulling out my chair for me. “Does he need to be the alpha?”

“No, and yes. He’s very secure in his
masculinity, but he’s also very protective of me, my mom, and
Ainsley.”

“Got it. I’ll stop with the
compliments.”

“Thanks,” I tell him, leaning up to kiss his
cheek.

We all discuss the menu as we look it over,
debating on appetizers to share and deciding what we want. I’m
having trouble deciding between the enchiladas and the chimichanga,
although I know I want some empanadas, too.

“You get one, and I’ll get the other. We can
share,” Joel offers.

“I thought you wanted tamales.”

He shrugs. “I can take some home with
me.”

“Getting in all the good stuff before you
have to diet, huh?” Zack asks.

“Yep. I’ve been eating pretty healthy while
I’ve been out, but it’s back to only lean meats once Spring
Training starts.”

“It’s the one thing that sucks about being a
pro athlete, but it’s worth it.”

“Yeah, it totally is.”

“Sharing food is fun, too. Ains and I do it
all the time.”

I smile at my brother, silently thanking him
for being nice to Joel. He nods at me in response. We agree on what
to order and Zack signals the waitress over. She comes to the
table, but stands next to Joel instead of Zack.

She starts speaking to him in Spanish,
hitting on him. I know he speaks fluent Spanish because we’ve
compared the similarities and differences to Portuguese while he’s
been teaching me his language. He looks at me, winks, and then
turns to the waitress.

“I’m Brazilian, so my native language is
Portuguese. My girlfriend speaks Spanish, so maybe she can
translate what you said to me, and then I can give you my
answer.”

Her eyes go wide as she glances at me. “Oh,
um, no. That’s okay. I’ll speak in English. What would you like to
order?”

Once she walks away, Zack looks at Joel with
his head tilted. “You don’t speak Spanish?”

“I do.”

“She was hitting on him,” Ainsley
explains.

“With my sister sitting next to you? You
have your arm on her chair for fuck’s sake.”

“Women hit on you when you’re with Ainsley,”
I remind him.

“I don’t like it. Any of it.”

“Neither do we, but as long as you say no,
we can handle it. Right, Si?”

“Yep. I’ll never like it, but I can live
with it. Especially when my guy does things like he just did. That
was epic.”

“Nah. It was just the right thing to do,”
Joel says, closing his eyes as I lean over and kiss him. We’re
going to be okay.

* * *

Joel

I’ve been back on track, working and
training as hard as I can, but also giving Sierra the attention she
deserves. Our relationship just keeps getting better and better. I
still worry a little about what’s going to happen when I go on the
road, but she says she’s really going to be okay with it, and I
have to trust that our love will keep us going. I’m not the first
athlete to be in a relationship with someone who can’t go on the
road. Other people have done it, and we can do it, too.

Tonight, I’m going to hang out with the kids
from the high school team Miles coaches. I went out and watched
them play a few times last year, signing autographs and stuff, but
this time will be different. This time, they’re going to help me.
Batting in a cage is one thing, but it can’t account for the
variables a human would be throwing at me. These kids aren’t MLB
players, but they can still toss the ball with me, and his pitcher
is actually being heavily recruited, so he should have some good
heat.

I pull up to the field and smile when I see
Sierra and her friends already in the stands. Kendrick and Waverly
are here, too. Kendrick’s been taking care of my medical progress
ever since I started getting help from Waverly. That wasn’t part of
my original deal with Reina, but she signed off on it when he told
her it would help with whatever research he does for the
Foundation.

My smile goes wider when Sierra holds up a
sign with sparkly letters on it, proclaiming her love for me. She’s
got her hair in ponytails, and fuuuckk, she’s wearing a tight
sweater and a cheerleading skirt. How the hell am I supposed to
play when she’s looking like that? Having a hard on is not going to
be comfortable. At least I have compression shorts on under my cut
off sweats, so it may not be so evident.

“Nice wood,” Matisse yells when I go up to
bat. I turn to her and she smirks as Sierra dissolves into a fit of
giggles. Okay, so yeah, it’s definitely evident.

I turn back to the pitcher and nod. He
throws me a good pitch, and it’s game on. I hit, run, throw, and
slide into bases for the next two hours, and it feels fucking
fantastic. It’s been years since I’ve just played to play and not
to win. I thank all the kids and go get my girl.

I pick Sierra up and spin her around,
kissing the hell out of her. I don’t care that the kids can see us,
or that her friends and mine are telling us to get a room. I only
care that this amazing woman came here to cheer me on—literally.
She’s a wet dream come true, and she’s all mine.

“Sorry to break this up, but the guys want
to know if you’re going to the pizza place with us,” Miles
says.

“Oh, umm…”

“Yeah, we are,” Sierra answers, smiling at
me. “I just have to change, and then we’ll meet you there.”

“You don’t have to change,” Landon Wilson
says. He’s the pitcher, and his dad, Zane, is a good friend of
Miles.

His dad comes over and smacks the back of
his head. “Not appropriate.”

“All I did was say that she didn’t need to
change.”

“Why doesn’t she need to change?” Zane asks
him.

“Because…well, shit. Don’t tell Mom,
okay?”

“Apologize, and I’ll consider it.”

“I’m sorry,” he grumbles.

“You’re Zane Wilson,” Matisse says suddenly.
She looks absolutely star-struck. She’s covered in ink, and I’ve
heard he’s a pretty famous tattoo artist, so I guess that’s
why.

“Uh, yeah. Hi.”

“I’m Matisse,” she tells him, sticking out
her hand. “We have an appointment on Monday. My friend Stella set
it up.”

“Oh yeah, hey, it’s nice to meet you. Stella
said you did an apprenticeship at a shop in D.C.”

“It wasn’t anything like you do, but I
learned some stuff. Thanks for letting me shadow you.”

“No problem. Some of the guys from the shop
are meeting us for pizza if you want to come. My wife will be
there, too.”

“I’d love to meet Quinn, but I have
plans.”

“Go on ahead, Matisse,” Kendrick says,
shocking the hell out of me, and pretty much everyone else. “I can
help you study tomorrow.”

“Are you sure? I know you made room in your
schedule for me today.”

“I’ll figure it out. Have a good night.”

He starts to walk away, but she stops him.
“Kendrick, wait. I don’t want to re-schedule.” She turns back to
Zane. “I’m sorry I can’t make it tonight, but I’m really looking
forward to meeting everyone.”

“No worries. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Wait a minute,” Sierra says. “How come you
didn’t offer to help me study, Kendrick? I’m struggling a little in
Science, you know.”

“I didn’t know, actually. Maybe we could
include you.”

“No. We can’t. Sierra was just kidding.”

She practically drags Kendrick away, putting
her hand behind her back to flip Sierra off. “That was
interesting,” I say.

“Yes, it was,” Waverly answers, looking at
Kendrick and Matisse like she’s trying to figure out a puzzle.

“You coming with us, Waverly?” Jenysis asks
her.

“Sure, if that’s okay.”

“Of course it is,” Sierra tells her, and I
smile again because of her. This time it’s not because of how hot
she looks, but because of how good of a person she is. She’s the
whole package, and I’m pretty damn lucky to have her in my
life.

Joel

“I’ll put the cheerleader outfit back on
once we’re home, so stop pouting,” Sierra tells me as we pull up to
the pizza place.

“I’m not pouting. I’m sulking,” I tell her
with a laugh. “You look great in your sweater and jeans, too, by
the way.”

“Why thank you.”

I open her car door for her and take her
hand in mine. When we get inside, the team calls me over to sit
with them. I hesitate, but Sierra tells me to go ahead and sit with
them. I kiss her cheek and join the guys while she sits with her
girls.

A few minutes after we order, I see a guy in
a suit approach Sierra’s table. “Daniel!” she yells, jumping out of
her chair. “Oh my God! What are you doing here?” she asks as she
hugs him.

“I had a delivery for a client. I was going
to give you a call tomorrow,” he tells her, keeping his hands on
her hips when they move apart.

I’m waiting for her to move his hands off of
her, or at least step back. She doesn’t. She lets him keep his
hands on her. She lets him lean in and kiss her cheek. I can
objectively say that he’s handsome, and he’s probably never had a
speck of dirt on him in his life.

“I miss all of you so much. I’m so glad to
see you. It’s like seeing a little piece of home.”

“You can always come back. You know
that.”

“Thanks, but I’m loving my new job.”

“Are you going to introduce me to your
friends?’

“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” she says, turning so that
his hands are finally dislodged. They end up holding hers, and she
doesn’t stop that either. “These are my co-workers Jenysis, Harlow,
Neveah, Kalilia, Camari, Waverly, Rose, and Rhieve. Everyone, this
is Daniel. We worked together in Seattle.”

“We did more than work together. We were a
couple.”

“Yeah, we were,” she says, blushing.

“Come sit with me?”

“Sure. I’ll be back in a few,” she tells her
friends, sliding into a booth with him. He sits next to her instead
of across from her, and I almost lose it right then and there. I
force myself to stay calm and trust that she’ll call me over.

I wait another couple of minutes, giving her
a chance to introduce me. Wanting to give her the benefit of the
doubt. It doesn’t happen, though. He keeps touching her, and she
keeps letting him. All while either pretending I’m not in the room
or forgetting about me. Maybe both.

“I gotta go,” I tell Miles, who nods. I try
to hand him some money, but he just waves me off.

I stand and walk past Sierra and the guy,
Daniel, but she doesn’t even notice me. Jenysis does and she gives
me a sad smile. I can’t believe this is happening. She said she
forgave me when I screwed up, but now she’s ignoring me for some
guy in a suit, who she apparently used to date. We haven’t talked a
lot about our pasts, so she doesn’t know that if I hadn’t found
baseball, I’d be a guy in a suit, too. I guess now she’ll probably
never know.

* * *

Sierra

“It was great catching up, but I should get
back to my friends,” I tell Daniel.

I was caught up in seeing him again because
he was a part of the life I left behind, but after ten minutes of
talking with him, I now remember why I broke up with him. He’s only
interested in himself and what he’s doing. He touts all of his
charity donations, but would never actually help out somewhere. The
sex with him was good, so I stayed longer than I should have, but I
was right to end things.

“I’m sure they won’t mind if I keep you for
the rest of the night,” he says, rubbing my arm. “It’s not like you
have a boyfriend or anything.”

“What?”

“If you had a boyfriend, you wouldn’t be
letting me touch you like this.”

“I thought you were just being friendly. You
touch all of the women in our group like this.”

“Yeah, but think how it would look if you
were with someone.”

“I am with someone.”

I crane my neck around to see that Joel
isn’t at the table with the players any longer. Miles is glaring at
me, and when I turn my head, Jen is staring at me like I’m
insane.

“Where is your mystery guy?” Daniel asks,
pulling me to him.

“He’s not a mystery,” I say, pulling away.
“Have a safe flight back.”

I get out of the booth as he sputters. I
don’t care about him right now. I need to find Joel. He’s still not
at his table, but I walk over there to talk to Miles.

“Where’s Joel?”

“He left, Sierra.”

“What do you mean he left? We came
together.”

“Didn’t look like it,” one of the kids tells
me. “That other guy was all over you.”

“He’s just friendly like that.”

“You could’ve introduced him to Joel,”
another kid tells me.

I get the unspoken message.
I
should’ve
introduced them. I can’t even imagine how it looked to Joel,
especially when I go back to my table and none of the girls will
look at me.