Page 18 of Scoring Chances
He nods and chews on the inside of cheek, lost in thought. I notice just how square his jaw-line is when he does that. And force myself to look back at Maddie.
She's drawing something in a unicorn notebook and Joshua reaches for the volume, playing soft country music as we drive.
“So this baby shower… it seems like a big deal to Keelan,” I say, looking out the window now.
“Yeah. Izzy’s his only sister. Ryker, Izzy’s fiancé, is Keelan’s best friend. They’re all really close. And ever since Izzy moved here from Cali, she and Rina have been nearly inseparable. Drives Landry crazy.”
“Oh… and who’s Rina?” I ask.
He looks at me and smacks his head. “Right. I forget you don’t know everyone. Rina Lopez, is the Heatwave’s PR manager. She’s shrewd and cutthroat and can make bad press disappear like it’s nobody’s business. She’s someone we all want on our side.”
“So why is Keelan so interested in showing up with a date? Were they a thing?”
“Uh… neither of them have admitted to it. But me and the guys have our speculations. Right now the conspiracy among us is that they were college sweethearts and Keelan did something dumb to ruin it. Therefore he’s forever been in her crosshairs since she came in to work for us.”
“But he won’t say for sure?”
“Landry?” he blows raspberries. “Nah. The guy’s a vault. You see him there all goofy and carefree… he probably knows every one of our deepest darkest secrets. And he won’t tell a soul. He'll bust our balls, but when it comes to the real deal stuff.” He pinches his thumb and forefinger together and mimics zipping his lips.
He looks so relaxed as he drives and chats. His wrist rests casually on the steering wheel. The other lightly holds the ball of the stick shift in his left hand.
“So what’s yours?” I ask him.
“My… what?”
“Your deep dark secret.”
He glances over at me. “You first.”
“I’m twenty. I haven’t lived long enough to have deep dark secrets.”
“Bullshit,” he says, with a grin. “We’ve all got at least one.”
“That’s a bad word,” Maddie says, yawning in the back seat.
“Thanks for the reminder, brat.” Then he says to me,”So?”
I wrack my brain for something juicy enough. “When my oldest sister got married last year… I may or may not have had a few shots with her before the wedding to help her calm her nerves.”
He smiles. “Cassidy, you bad, bad girl. Underage drinking is illegal in the state of Texas.”
I blush and say in a rush, “It was just that one time. I swear.”
He laughs, “Relax. I’m kidding. Everyone’s drank a little before they were legal. That’s not deep or dark enough. Try again.”
“Can I drink before I’m legal?” Maddie blurts out.
“Yeah. You can drink. Big Reds. And Sprites and Arnold Palmers to your heart’s content," Joshua says to her, eyeing her in the rearview mirror.
“Boring,” Maddie says.
He chuckles. “Back to your deep, dark secret,” he says to me.
I roll my eyes. “You first, I’m still thinking.”
He bites cheek again. “Ok… I was genuinely annoyed when Landry told me he asked you to come with him to the shower today.”
He looks over at me to catch my reaction. But I don’t know how I should react to it.