The Other Game: A Dean Carter Novel (The Perfect Game #4) (11 page)

With draft day for the major league right around the corner, our household had been far more tense than usual. Hell, our household wasn’t normally ever tense, to be honest.

We all seemed to walk on eggshells around Jack, worried about the level of pressure he must be under. His two agents, who couldn’t officially be his agents until he got drafted, called him almost daily with updates about the things they heard about him—what team was interested, what they were might offer, that sort of thing. Every phone call he got either gave him new information or contradicted what he’d been told the day before.

I knew they were only trying to keep Jack in the loop, but it seemed frustrating as hell on his end. But if he felt anything other than excitement and anticipation, he hid it well.

Gran and Gramps had been extra attentive toward him, following him around the house, asking if he needed anything. He endured their smothering in silence until he finally snapped one afternoon.

“I love you both, but you’re driving me fucking nuts right now. Just be normal!”

“Jack! Language!” was all Gran said before turning to finish cleaning the sink.

“Dean, come with me,” Jack called out as he grabbed his keys from the key organizer and pushed open the front door.

I ran to catch up to him. “Where are we going?”

“Shopping,” he shot back before hopping in his truck. He pulled out his phone, typed an address into a GPS app, and allowed it to guide us. “Do me a favor and call Melissa.”

I shot him a questioning look. “Why?”

“Just do it, damn it. I can’t talk while I’m driving. Just call her for me, please.”

Without asking again, I dialed her number.

“Hi!” she answered, her voice chipper.

“Hey. Jack asked me to call you, so . . .” I glanced at my brother, waiting for some direction.

“Ask her what kind of camera Cassie had,” he said, and understanding hit me.

“He wants to know what kind of camera Cassie had. Do you know?”

“Oh, hold on,” she said before I heard a door slam. “Sorry, she’s here in the apartment. Yeah, she had a Canon Rebel something or other.”

I laughed. “That’s helpful.”

“It is helpful. You’ll see when you get to the camera store.”

“Okay, I think that’s it.” I turned toward Jack, who stared straight ahead as he gave me a nod. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“‘Bye, Dean.”

Jack pulled into the shopping center parking lot we’d been directed to and stopped for a moment to look around. Once he spotted the store he was looking for, he made a beeline toward a parking space in front of it. I hadn’t realized that specialty camera stores even existed anymore. It seemed like everyone bought their digital cameras from megastores or online.

He hopped out of the truck without saying anything, and I knew better than to stay put. Jack was on a mission, and I was his partner in crime. I walked inside the overly air-conditioned store and was amazed at all the camera equipment that surrounded me. There were cameras of all types, tripods, cases, and lenses of all sizes. A store like this was probably something Cassie dreamed about nightly.

“How can I help you gentlemen today?” An older man stood behind the counter, his pants held up by striped suspenders.

“I need to get a camera for my girlfriend. Hers got stolen.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” the man said.

“Yeah, well, she had a . . .” He paused.

When Jack looked at me for help, I said, “Canon Rebel?”

The man stood up a little straighter, his eyes lighting up with recognition. “We have that in the newest model if you’d like to see,” he said with a smile, but Jack shook his head.

“No. What’s the next best thing? If you wanted to be a professional photographer and you were really, really good at it. What kind of camera would you want that would be good enough for now and for your future?”

Jack had clearly thought this out, and I was impressed. Cassie was going to blow a gasket.

“Most people upgrade from the Rebel to the Mark III. It’s a significantly better camera that gives you more options.”

“Perfect. I’ll take it.”

“Do you need just the body, or would you like a kit?” he asked Jack, and I stood there staring at him like he’d just spoken a foreign language.

“What’s the difference?” Jack asked, unfazed.

The man chuckled. “Oh. Sorry. The body is just the camera, but no lens. And the kit would include a lens.”

Jack shifted his weight. “Considering both her camera body and her lens got stolen, I guess I need the kit,” he said with a nod.

I laughed as the man disappeared into a back room. “Cassie’s gonna flip.” I patted him on the back, proud of what he was doing for her.

“I hope she likes it.” He suddenly looked nervous as the man returned, holding a large box.

“All right.” The man punched some numbers into his computer and read Jack the total, and I braced against the counter for support.

“Wow.” I let out a little whistle of surprise but Jack ignored me, handing over his credit card without hesitation.

“She’s worth it,” he said to me in a low voice. “And she deserves it. That money’s nothing in the grand scheme of things, okay?”

He was referring to his signing bonus. Granted, he hadn’t gotten it yet, but it would definitely be a hell of a lot more than three thousand dollars.

“I had no idea they could be that expensive, was all,” I said, trying to backpedal a little.

“It’s like buying a computer,” the man said as he handed Jack the receipt. “And the return you can make on this investment is well worth it.”

“Yeah, Dean. It’s well worth it,” Jack said to me with a little attitude before taking the box off the counter.

“Thanks for the business,” the man called out as we exited the store.

When we walked outside, it was like leaving an icebox and stepping into a sauna. The heat hit us and I groaned, not knowing which temperature I preferred.

“She’ll love it, right?” Jack asked, seeming suddenly unsure of his grand purchase.

“What’s not to love? It’s amazing, Jack. Really thoughtful.”

“Text Melissa and make sure.”

“Since when did you and Melissa become best friends?” I asked, my jealous bone tingling.

“Stop being a baby. She’s helpful. And it’s not my fault you can’t seal the deal with her,” he said before socking me in the arm.

Was he right? Was it my fault that we weren’t dating? I certainly didn’t think so. Melissa had been running hot and cold ever since Jack and Cassie had gotten together. I wanted to believe that she flirted with me because she was interested, but I honestly couldn’t tell.

At least she wasn’t dating anyone else. I wasn’t sure I could handle that.

“Where’d you two run off to?” Gramps asked when we walked through the front door.

“Jack bought Cassie a camera,” I announced before remembering that they didn’t know hers had been stolen.

“That was awful nice of you, Jack. What’s wrong with Cassie’s other camera?” Gramps asked, and I mouthed
sorry
to my brother as he glared at me.

“Nothing. This one’s just better, and I wanted her to have the best,” he answered easily with a smile.

Gran emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. “That’s really sweet of you. She’ll love it. When are you going to give it to her?”

“I think I’ll give it to her the morning of the draft. That way we’ll both be one step closer to our dream careers.”

Gramps let out a little whoop. “This is so exciting. I get to see Kitten in action.”

I chuckled. Hearing Gramps call Cassie “Kitten” made me laugh every time.

• • •

By the time draft day rolled around, the excitement level in our house had reached a fever pitch.

Early that morning, I woke up to the sound of Jack’s alarm blaring from his room, which was pretty damn loud in my room too since we shared a wall. Glancing at my nightstand, I noted my alarm clock read 6:42 a.m. Why the hell was Jack waking up so early?

I had rolled over and covered my head, tossing and turning, willing my brain to shut off so I could go back to sleep, when Jack walked into my room.

“Morning, little brother.” The mattress dipped deeply as he sat down on my bed, making me roll toward him.

“Ugh.” I opened one bleary eye. “Why are you awake already?”

“Big day,” he said, running his hand through his hair.

“Are you nervous?”

He smirked. “Nah. Not really. I’m more excited than anything else.”

“You gonna give Cassie her present today?”

The smirk widened into a full-on smile. “Yeah. I can’t wait for that either.”

“Great,” I grumbled. “Now, go away so I can sleep.”

• • •

Later that morning at a more decent hour, Gran walked into my room, looking more dressed up than I’d seen her in a long time. The last time I remembered seeing her in a dress like this one was at my high school graduation.

“You look really pretty, Gran.”

She smiled. “Thank you. I wanted to make sure you put on something nice as well.”

“What’s Gramps wearing?” I asked, assuming that he’d be in his typical ratty blue jeans and bowling shirt, which wasn’t exactly dressy.

“He’s wearing slacks and a button-down shirt. Dress nice, Dean.”

“Can’t I wear shorts? I have lots of nice shorts.” I was actually half serious. I wanted to be comfortable, and I hated dressing up for no reason.

“No shorts,” she said, giving me a pointed look before leaving me alone.

What the hell was wrong with shorts? I groaned before searching through my closet for something decent to wear.

Eventually the three of us gathered in the kitchen as we waited for Jack and Cassie to arrive.

“He’d better get here before everyone else does, or that will be awkward,” I said, and then noticed both Gran and Gramps were both uncharacteristically quiet. “Are you two okay?”

“I’m just nervous is all,” Gran said, tugging at the waistline of her dress.

Gramps gave me a wink. “I just want it to be over with so the cameras will leave and we can really celebrate.”

I gave him the side eye. “The cameras aren’t even here yet.”

“But they will be. And they’ll make us uncomfortable,” he insisted.

To be honest, I hadn’t given the cameras a second thought, assuming they’d be solely focused on Jack and not really on us. Was I being naive?

“I’ll be right back.” I hopped up from my chair and jogged to my room to look myself over one last time.

If the cameras ended up on me at all today, I wanted to look good. Looking in the mirror, I realized that I looked tired.
Damn Jack and his stupid alarm clock
. I was splashing water on my face when I heard Jack come home.

“Gran? Gramps? We’re here!”

Loud cheers and congratulations filled the house as I entered the kitchen. I walked in just as Gramps said, “That’s great, dear. Oh, that’s just great news.”

Cassie was beaming, and Jack was smiling at her as if he couldn’t be more proud.

“You got the internship, sis?” I guessed before glancing at both my brother and his girlfriend.

She looked beautiful, but my eyes widened a little when I saw she was wearing shorts. I opened my mouth to ask Gran if I could go change, but I stopped myself when I caught her casting a
don’t even think about it
look my way. I’d swear that woman could read minds.

“I just found out. I wasn’t going to take it, but now I can.” She looked at Jack before I lifted her off her feet in a giant bear hug.

“Congratulations. That’s awesome.”

A quick rap at the front door pulled us out of our mini celebration. The laughter died and I glanced at Jack, anticipation stretching my nerves taut.

Unfazed, Jack pulled the curtain back and peered toward the porch. “It’s just Marc and Ryan.”

Jack left to greet his agents, and I followed. The men came in all smiles, loaded down with stacks of paperwork, a bottle of champagne, and a box filled with baseballs.

“How you feeling, champ?” Marc asked.

“Good, thanks,” Jack said before relieving him of the box of balls.

“Hey, Dean. How you doing?”

I smiled as Marc playfully punched at me, but I ducked and weaved, pretending to be some awesome boxer as I jabbed at him in response. We stopped after he almost dropped the champagne.

The two men introduced themselves to Cassie, who had followed us into the living room, and she handled herself like a champ, very friendly and not seeming nervous at all.

“Jack, you held back on how good-looking your girl is.” Ryan winked at my brother with a chuckle and I tensed, knowing how jealous Jack could be when it came to Cass.

“Settle down. I haven’t signed any agreements with you two yet.” He smirked before wrapping his arm possessively around her waist.