The Love Square (22 page)

Chapter 22

Dylan

Dylan sat at the stadium on Sunday night in awe of Alex, who stood at home plate living out the fantasy. Ever since they were kids, Dylan would sit with Alex’s Uncle Anthony and watch Alex play, first in Little League, then in Babe Ruth and high school, right into the minors. Dylan smiled, recalling the times they would sit on his porch, drinking orange soda and talking about this moment—guessing which team Alex would play on, who would be his teammates, when he would win his first World Series.

To Dylan, Alex always managed to come out on top. He’d suffered a lot as a kid, but here he was, doing what he’d always wanted to do. How many people could say the same? How many would have been able to deal with their mother walking away, watch their beloved uncle die, and still land on their feet?

Alex wasn’t an easy guy to love, but Dylan and Steve, and as Dylan came to realize, Jenna, loved him unconditionally. Whether he was hyped up, obnoxious, nervous, or whatever, they loved him, and they were the people sitting here, Sunday night, genuinely happy for him.

Dylan’s flight was delayed, so he’d met Jenna at the stadium after the game started, overnight bag in tow. She wore a baseball cap, her hair in a ponytail hanging through the back, a team shirt with jeans and flip-flops, and a smile the size of New York. He kissed her and couldn’t wait to get her alone.

But here they sat, watching Alex at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning. He worked the count into a walk, and the group clapped.

“He’s had some great at-bats,” Steve told Dylan. “He’s not slamming it out of the ballpark, but he’s been productive. Singles, sacrifices, bunts. I think he’s going to get noticed.”

“What do you mean?” Jenna asked.

“Maybe he’ll end up being a bargaining chip. Under Santiago, he’s not going anywhere with this team, but they can trade him to another major league team,” Steve said.

“Trade him? Where?” Jenna asked.

Dylan tugged her ponytail. “Don’t worry. It won’t happen tonight.”

She leaned closer to him, touching her lips to his ear. “Speaking of tonight,” she whispered. “Tonight’s going to be a long night. Isn’t baseball the slowest game ever?”

“It’s taking a million years for this game to end,” he said. She rested her chin on his shoulder, and he kissed her nose.

After the game, they pushed past the crowd down through the seats to the first row and waved Alex over. He reached over the barrier to the field and embraced Dylan.

“Amazing,” Dylan said.

“I didn’t do much,” Alex said.

“Are you kidding? You were great. Seeing you out there was one of my dreams come true too.”

“I have to go do some team stuff, but maybe you can meet me at Hank’s later?” Alex said.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “Call us when you get to Hank’s.”

“Thanks for coming, man,” Alex said.

“Wouldn’t miss it. I love you, brother.”

Dylan backed away to give Jenna the chance to talk to Alex, but she turned her back and walked away through the stands. He followed her out of the stadium, and they took the train back to the apartment. When they reached her building, they stepped into the elevator, and she pinned him against the wall, kissing him deeply.

“How long do we have?” he asked.

“A decent chunk of time. Last night, he wasn’t back until after one.”

The elevator dinged and they tumbled onto the sixth floor. “Oh no.” Dylan sighed. “I left my bag downstairs. I’ll meet you inside. You’re so distracting.”

He pinched her ass and she squealed, and then he ran down the stairs. He found his bag on the ground floor and darted back up the six flights.

She had left the door of the apartment cracked for him, so he pushed it open and dropped his bag. First, he saw her shirt on the floor, then a couple feet away, her jeans. After locking the door, he followed the clothes trail to the bedroom, where she waited in her bra and panties.
Her hair hung over her bare shoulders, and he reached out to touch it.

“You are gorgeous,” he said.

She smiled. “You are way too clothed.”

“I can take care of that,” he said.

***

Jenna rested her head on Dylan’s chest. “Making up for lost time is fun.”

He kissed the top of her head. “It’s almost like I never left. Why does it feel so right to be here with you? We barely know each other.”

“That’s not true,” she said. “We talk every night. We spent five days in this bed together.”

“Have we ever been on a date?” he asked.

“Well, yeah,” she said. “We went to the premiere, we had a picnic in the park, and tonight we went to a baseball game. Three dates.”

“I guess that’s true. I want to take you out, though,” he said. “Someplace fancy so you can get all dressed up and give me that look you do, and drive me insane and make me curse myself for ever wanting to leave the apartment.”

“That look I do?” Jenna asked, giggling.

“You know the one,” Dylan said. “It frazzles my mind. You’re like a sexy witch and I’m under your spell.”

“Is it this one?” Jenna asked as she contorted her face into a silly mess.

“Um. No. Not that one,” he said, smiling. She made a couple more faces, and he begged her to stop. “You’re freaking me out.”

While Jenna answered a text from Alex, Dylan reached for his phone. Nothing from Clare. She must have been busy with Lucas.
Why am I thinking about Clare now?

He stood and stretched, trying to clear his mind.

“Where are you going?” Jenna asked.

“I thought I’d take a shower. Want to join me?”

Jenna grinned.

“There it is,” he said. “The look. So sweet and so naughty at the same time. How do you do it?”

“I don’t do it on purpose, Dylan. It’s there because I’m looking at you. It’s pure lust.”

Dylan shook his head at her choice of words. “Lust,” he repeated. “Did you know I did an ad for Lust cologne?”

“No, but I can see why you got the job.”

“There’s this huge billboard of me on the freeway in LA holding a bottle of Lust. Clare actually calls me ‘Lusty’ because of it.”

Jenna stood up and wrapped her arms around Dylan. “Oh yeah? Well, Clare better keep her lusty thoughts about you to herself, or she’ll have to contend with me.”

“Jenna,” Dylan said, feigning shock. “So jealous. I like it.” He kissed her neck.

“Speaking of Clare, how was the art gallery?”

“It was fine.” He moved his lips down to her shoulder and planted little kisses on it. He fast-forwarded through the events of the night before, thought briefly about the alley, and then said between kisses, “Her fiancé showed up at the end.” He needed to remind himself more than he needed to relay that fact to Jenna.

“From Nebraska? That was nice. She must have been happy,” she said, bending her head down to find his lips.

“Um-hmm,” he sighed into them. “You are too much. I’m going to shower.”

The call from Alex came two hours later, just as Dylan’s eyes started to shut. He was at Hank’s with Steve and Penny. Scott and Dom were on their way, and Alex demanded Dylan and Jenna’s presence.

They dragged themselves out of bed. “I don’t want to go,” she whined.

“We have to,” he said. “Once-in-a-lifetime stuff here. We’ll go for an hour.”

She nodded. “Promise?”

“Promise.” As Dylan dressed, he asked, “Is something going on with you and Alex?”

She looked at him, eyes wide. “What do you mean?”

“I noticed a little attitude between you two at the ballpark.”

“Oh,” she said. “He annoyed me last night, that’s all. He’s always annoying me. I’ll be nice to him at Hank’s.”

“If he’s mean to you, you let me know. I’ll kick his ass,” Dylan said. “I’ve done it before.”

Jenna laughed and watched Dylan through the mirror. He stopped and stared at her.

“What?” she asked. She pulled on a short khaki skirt under her tight-fitting top and stepped into wedge-heeled sandals. “What?” she asked again as she twisted her hair up into some sort of ponytail.

“I like being here with you,” Dylan said.

“Me too.”

“Do you think this can work?”

Jenna walked to him and sat on his lap. She kissed him and touched his hair, pushing it back off his forehead. “I don’t know.” She leaned her forehead against his. “But I really like you, Dylan.”

“I really like you too, Jenna.”

***

Alex

Alex’s heart almost stopped when Jenna walked through the door to Hank’s holding Dylan’s hand. He remembered the night in that very bar when she’d asked him to be hers. Drenched from the rain, tired from rehearsal, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, offering the most beautiful words he’d ever heard. Even after he rejected her advances, she still loved him, and he knew he wasn’t worthy.

Tonight, she looked radiant. Her legs went on forever under her short skirt, and her top was so tight he thought he could see her ribcage. In her sandals, she was just about as tall as Dylan. Whenever he saw Jenna, he wondered how she could be so sexy yet seem so oblivious to it.
Fucking Barnes.

He poured Steve another beer from the pitcher and waved as Dylan looked around the bar. Jenna said something and Dylan leaned to whisper in her ear. Whatever he said must have shocked her, because her jaw dropped and she smacked him on the arm. Selfishly, he wished they had walked in fighting instead of goofing around like teenagers in love.

Finally, Jenna spotted Alex and held his gaze for half a second. She pointed him out to Dylan.

Jenna had been mad at him this morning, and he understood why. When he’d left her apartment in panic mode and saw the note from Yolanda, he knew her offer would help him calm his nerves and forget about Jenna for a moment. He’d never guessed Jenna would walk in on them in the morning, but he was glad she did. Even though she was mad, seeing her in the morning gave him a chance to hide his feelings, to push her away, before their friendship ended in pieces.

Still, he had the memory of that kiss. Her sweet, soft lips. Her flowery scent. Like an angel sent to him as a gift. In that one kiss, Alex had admitted he couldn’t love her any more than he did. He knew she’d get over the hurt he’d cause by pushing her away. She had to for their friendship to survive. For the moment, he was glad she had Dylan. She’d forget about last night and be with Dylan, and things would go back to the new normal.

His friends sat at the table, toasting him and reliving the last three nights. Scott relayed Alex’s stats to Dominic and answered his questions about the game as Penny poured drinks and Steve talked business with Alex.

When Steve asked Alex what he would do if he were traded somewhere, Alex felt Jenna’s gaze on him. She scowled when he told Steve he would go wherever he was wanted, then she stood and walked to the jukebox.

“What did you do to her?” Dylan asked.

“Huh?” he answered, watching her walk away.

“She said you annoyed her last night.”

“Did I? I do that so much, I can’t even keep track anymore. I better go talk to her.” He swallowed the rest of his drink and slammed his glass on the table. Then he stood and followed Jenna.

The glow from the jukebox lit her face as she examined its offerings, her back to the table. He leaned against the wall next to her, and she fake smiled.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” she said flatly to the jukebox. Not her usual “hey, you” that she said only to him. “Great game. Really, you should be proud of your performance this weekend.”

“Thanks.” She faked smiled again, so he called her out on it. “Why are you fake smiling at me?”

“What? I’m not fake smiling at you.”

“I can tell the difference, Jen.” They stood in silence, and Jenna put money into the machine. “Look, I’m sorry you walked in on me and Yo this morning. It was a little awkward, I guess.”

“Ya think?” She huffed as she punched buttons.

“What do you care anyway, Jen? You have Dylan now. It’s good to see you both together,” he said, knowing in his heart of hearts that was a lie.

“Really?” she asked, calling his bluff. He punched a number into the machine for a song he liked. Jenna snapped her head to look at him. “I’m glad it’s all that easy for you, Alex.”

“Last night was a mistake. It wasn’t ‘us.’”

“I was going to tell you the same thing this morning before I walked in on you and your girlfriend. Glad to see we are on the same page,” Jenna said.

Alex’s heart cracked a little. “Good.”

“Great,” she snapped.

He turned back to the table and shook his head as he stomped away. He’d tried to make things right and she’d jumped down his throat. Just as he was about to throw something, Dylan stood and embraced him.