Something in the Way (Something in the Way #1)(58)

Dick. I had a feeling he’d been waiting to call me out like that ever since I’d asked him for seconds the day before. I owed him for making us dinner, but if I didn’t I’d have told him to fuck off.

“Meatballs, I guess?” Tiffany said with a smile to egg him on. “What else is there?”

“Anything you want, gorgeous. Mushrooms, eggplant, roasted pepper, chicken . . .”

“You mind calling her by her name?” I asked. “We’re on a date here.”

Tiffany’s eyes twinkled. “I’ll take some wine if you have it,” she said to him. “Otherwise, whatever you made is fine.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Bucky sucked his teeth and returned to the kitchen.

“You’re . . .” She shook her head. “Not like anyone I’ve dated.”

“Same for you.”

“Is that a good thing?” she asked.

“I don’t know, Tiff. Most girls, I tell them something once and they listen, not three times. Even if Bucky flies to Italy and brings us back a bottle, I already told you, we’re not drinking wine.”

I prepared for her to argue, but instead she heaved a sigh. “I know. I’m just nervous.”

“No you’re not.”

She smiled, looking up at me from under her lashes. “Yes I am. Usually when I’m alone with a guy, we’re either drinking or smoking or there are people in the other room. It feels weird to just be out here in the middle of nowhere on a real date.”

Huh. That was something we pretty much had in common. When I brought a girl home, it was probably after a drink or four at my local spot. “Bad weird?”

“No . . .” She picked at nothing on the tablecloth. “Just different. Why’d you ask if I was seeing anyone else?”

For a conversation like this, I needed a fucking cigarette. I guessed that’s what Tiffany was talking about, getting too intense without something to take the edge off. “Maybe it’s too early for that.”

“Yeah.” She unfolded her napkin into her lap. “Maybe.”

“When I’m with a girl, she won’t be sleeping with anyone else. Understand?”

“No. You don’t want me for yourself, but you don’t want me with anyone else?”

My stomach grumbled. “I guess. I mean . . . it sounds fucked up. What do you want?”

“I haven’t been in a serious relationship since high school. And even then, it was . . .” She shrugged.

It wasn’t really an answer, but she didn’t say anything else, just twirled a saltshaker on the table.

Maybe she really was nervous. I put my hand over hers to stop her fidgeting, and I think it surprised us both a little. She flipped her palm up and flexed her fingers, lacing them with mine. Tiffany sat in front of me, but she wasn’t quite the brazen girl I’d seen until now.

“Your hands are rough,” she said. “Is that from work?”

“Pretty much. It’s definitely not from baseball.”

She giggled. “I guess not.”

Corbin had left camp, but not before he’d beat my ass on the diamond. I’d had to sit through nine innings of baseball against him this evening. I’d played a little in high school, so I’d been picked to coach the opposing team. Corbin had been in and out of baseball camp all summer and obliterated us while Tiffany and Lake had watched from the grass. Smug satisfaction sat on Corbin’s face as we shook hands after the game but disappeared completely as soon as Lake came around.

I released Tiffany’s hand. “What’s the deal with him?” I asked. “Corbin.”

She folded her arms on the table. “He’s a good guy, comes from a good family. Kind of a heartbreaker.”

“So he’s a little shit.”

She laughed. “No. He doesn’t do it on purpose. That’s why I was worried about Lake. Like, if Corbin had a crush on me and thought he could get close to me through her or maybe that Lake was, like, a substitute for me, then I’d worry he might hurt her. But he wouldn’t do it on purpose, you know? He’s not like that. He’s just a boy thinking with his . . . you know.”

Brave, bold Tiffany couldn’t come out and say what she wanted. It made me smile. Part of me wanted to hear it, just to tease her, but there was a bigger part of me that wanted to know about Corbin. “So do you think he’s a problem?”

She cocked her head. “How?”

Did I want him to be a problem? Maybe a little. That way I’d have an excuse to keep him away. “I don’t know. Will he try pressuring your sister into anything?”

“He’s not like that.” She rolled her eyes. “But maybe he should.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding. Of course I don’t want Lake to do anything before she’s ready, and she won’t. She’s too uptight. I swear she’s the youngest sixteen-year-old I know.”

“Meaning?”

“When it comes to boys, she acts like she’s twelve, but she isn’t. When I was her age, I wasn’t so na?ve about these things. None of my friends were.”

I shifted in my seat. It was just like on the horse earlier, Lake trying to convince me she was older while I wanted to keep her innocent. “Maybe you were like that and you just forgot what it’s like to be that age.”