On Deck Page 3

  “You okay there, Laila?” He stood up, patting her on her back as she tried to clear her throat.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I apologize for not recognizing you. I don’t watch a lot of baseball.”

  “Damn, and I thought I was being impressive, walking around shirtless in a kitchen eating the best pie I’ve ever put in my face.” Laila smiled, but didn’t have the courage to tell him he was right about that much, and she was pretty sure she was being absolutely obvious by now. They continued making small talk and sharing a polite amount of information with each other for about a half hour. Then Laila pushed up from the barstool, glancing at her watch.

  “It looks like it’s getting late. I need to head back to my place to start cooking dinner, and I’m guessing you’ve got a lot of unpacking to do. Let me know if you need anything?” She made her way to the front door and froze with her hand on the door handle when she heard his voice behind her.

  “I didn’t even get a chance to ask you if you’re single.” She didn’t look back, because Laila knew that she was going to find a reason to stay even longer despite her better judgment if she did.

  “Yeah, I’m single. What about you? Married? Seeing someone?” She turned the handle opening the door as he replied. “Divorced actually. I have a six-year-old son I get to see every other weekend, but most of the time he lives with his mom and her new husband near Detroit.” That time she stopped, turning to look back at him. She wouldn’t have been able to predict any of that just from looking at her new neighbor, and she had no idea why he felt comfortable enough to tell her all this now when they had just met. Laila paused and turned to face him.

  “I’m sorry to hear that Jeremy, really. Listen, I meant what I said. If you need anything — a cup of sugar or just someone to talk to, you know where to find me.” Laila tried to make her voice sound as sincere as she felt.

  “I’m probably going to take you up on that. I run out of sugar all the time.” Jeremy closed the distance between them, stopping when his hand rested on the edge of the door. It left him close enough for her to smell his cologne as he stopped a few inches away. She was absolutely intoxicated and second-guessing her decision to leave.

  She took a deep breath, drinking in his scent and hoping he didn’t notice. She was still trying to work up the courage to leave and could only manage a nod.

  “I’ve always got plenty of sugar.” She took one step backward and nearly tripped over the threshold as she made her way outside. “It was nice to meet you, Jeremy.”

  “The pleasure was all mine, Laila. Thank you for the pie.” She waved goodbye, turning to walk back to her own apartment when she heard the door close behind her.

  Laila spent the rest of her night second guessing everything she had said back in Jeremy’s apartment. She couldn’t even believe she ended it with ‘I’ve always got plenty of sugar.’ She wasn’t sure whether that sounded like she was trying to flirt or like she’d entirely lost her mind. If her purpose for going over there with a pie was to regain her dignity, she had blown it. She had no idea how she was going to live this one down.

  Chapter Four

  Jeremy

  Jeremy’s new job was turning out to be a lot harder than he’d expected, especially now that the season was basically over. Nothing was ever really over. The guys would be training and working out straight through the winter, but there weren’t really any organized practices. He was currently working with the guys on the team who needed more work on their batting practice one on one. That was a hell of a lot harder than just working with the entire team, especially since they were all so fond of telling him about how the last coach did things. He’d seriously gotten so tired of that, that he was ready to punch the next guy to tell him how he was doing it all wrong.

  The last guy must have been super old school and something like a hundred years old judging from the antiquated ways he did most things. All Jeremy could do was grumble and mumble under his breath about how this was the way things were going to be from now on every time one of the players had something to say about it. Every one of them needed some work though, and he supposed this was why they were still in the minor leagues and not in the big show he’d just left behind. None of them were going to get to that point without a lot of work, and he saw how hard the road ahead of him was going to be to prepare for spring.

  It didn’t help that his absolutely gorgeous twenty-five-year-old neighbor surprised him by showing up at his front door with the best apple pie he’d ever tasted in his life. Jeremy hated to admit that he’d eaten almost the entire thing himself in two days flat, everything except the single slice that Laila had barely touched when she’d been there. He had to admit that she’d been on his mind quite a bit after that.

  At least there were his weekends with Jesse to look forward to. They had spent their first weekend together here getting his room set up. They’d gone shopping and picked out a set of sheets with his favorite superhero and a set of posters covered in cartoon characters. It had been a lot more fun than his first week of work, that much was certain. Jesse was a great kid and had somehow managed to run across the parking lot on his first day there to introduce himself to everyone he saw — everyone including Laila. Jesse had been drawn to her like a magnet the moment he’d seen her.

  That had given Jeremy another excuse to talk to his neighbor. The way things had ended after their visit, he wasn’t sure if she wanted to see him ever again. He’d probably come on way too hard, and come to think of it, he’d sworn off dating anyone after things had ended with Stephanie. He owed his full attention to his son and not to whatever woman happened to attract his attention, but there was something about Laila he couldn’t stay away from, even if that meant that they were going to be just friends and nothing more.

  In fact, they had been meeting up more times than he would have predicted. He did show up on her doorstep for that promised cup of sugar when he realized he was completely out. It was early, about 6:45 in the morning. He was in desperate need of a cup of coffee before he dared to try to make it through another day of ball practice. Laila’s lights had been on. He knew she was awake. She usually left a little after seven to head into work every morning, just like he did. They saw each other across the parking lot almost every day. He’d taken to waving at her as they both got into their cars and headed out of the lot before anyone else in the complex was even stirring.

  Instead of just giving him a cup of sugar, she’d invited him in to share a cup of her coffee. She’d sent him off with a plastic baggie filled with the sugar he’d gone over there to borrow in the first place. Things had just kind of happened naturally since then.

  They had run into each other out in the parking lot after work where he’d remembered that he still had her pie dish back at his place. She popped over to pick it up and wound up staying for dinner. The next week she’d invited him over to return the favor, and ever since then they had sort of a standing dinner date every Wednesday night, taking turns eating at either her place or his.

  Jeremy had been careful at keeping things between them casual, though he couldn’t help flirting with her a little from time to time. It was partly because he enjoyed how flustered Laila got when he did, and partly because it was just a habit he’d had for most of his adult life. Maybe it was a part of his personality, or maybe there was something deeper there with Laila. He really was attracted to her, even if he wasn’t acting on it right now. More than that, he just enjoyed spending time with her.

  It was hard making friends in a new place, and it looked like Laila was going to be his first new friend in Michigan all because she’d been startled enough by him to spill her coffee all over her slacks. It was funny how little things like that made a difference. If she’d just walked out of that front door five minutes later when he was already in the house, they might not have met for god only knows how long after that.

  Jeremy was just glad destiny had put Laila in his path that morning because she was quickly becoming the best fri
end he had. He could fight off feeling attracted to her as long as he had her as a part of his life. In fact, he was actively avoiding taking things to the next level, so he didn’t put the relationship they had built over the last few weeks at risk. There was no way he was putting that in jeopardy if he could avoid it.

  They’d talked in depth during those dinners they’d had together. It turned out she was a lot fresher off a long term relationship than even he was. Jeremy’s marriage had ended a little more than a year ago, but Laila’s relationship had ended only six months ago. When she explained the details it made him want to punch this Mike guy who had dumped her right in the face.

  At least he could explain away the end of his relationship with Stephanie when he thought about it. They had spent so little time together during the years they were married that there was no real surprise that they were two completely different people by the time he retired. She had grown accustomed to doing everything her own way, including parenting. The lack of attention from him combined with her control issues made for a toxic environment. There was no way he wanted his son growing up in that. Ending things between them had been entirely mutual.

  Laila’s relationship had been a different story entirely. Most of the last year that they were together had been spent discussing their future, life long dreams, and world views. It always came down to the hard realization that Michael very much wanted a wife, a commitment and security. Laila wanted some of those things too, but she wasn’t certain she was ready to be anybody’s wife.

  While many of her friends were getting married, she saw too many of them ending in the pain of divorce. It wasn’t until she saw her own parent’s marriage break up after 30 years that she began to think maybe marriage wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

  She knew she was stalling about giving Michael a clear answer as to a lifelong commitment. She thought surely he would give her enough time to consider such a big decision. Eventually, she realized this was a great guy to spend the rest of her life with and that she needed to put her fears aside.

  In the meantime, Michael’s best friend had been diagnosed with cancer. She knew he was going through something big as his friend fought for his life, so she didn’t press him on it. He hinted about “reassessing his life” and how he wanted to live it.

  So it was that fateful night six months ago, that they agreed to get together to have “the talk.” She assumed he was going to give her one last chance to accept his proposal, and she had already decided to accept it. She had felt excited, nervous and even terrified all at once. But the conversation had not gone at all as she’d expected.

  Michael told her that his friend’s life being altered gave him a new perspective. He didn’t want the boring life of being married to a kindergarten teacher, and that he certainly didn’t want to “settle, because there might be something more out there.” In other words, she was boring and he wanted to date other people.

  There was no dramatic breakup scene; no tears or disgruntled response. She just didn’t have that kind of drama in her. She told him her truth and then let him go. Despite all of their time together, she was done. Her heart felt done and she closed the door completely on that chapter of her life.

  Sharing their past relationships had certainly stirred up old feelings, but also created a bond between them. Jeremy wasn’t stupid enough not to realize he was kind of falling for Laila. He might not have been on any actual “dates” in the last ten years, but he wasn’t blind. He also wasn’t naiive enough to think that Laila was just going to let him ask her out without some kind of change in the dynamic of their friendship happening.

  For now, he would content himself with having a friend — the first real friend that he’d had in he didn’t know how long — and the first person who listened to everything he had to say and actually remembered it all. It was more than he’d had in another adult for most of his life. It was just going to have to be enough, at least for now.

  Chapter Five

  Laila

  It was the end of another school day, and Laila was walking around gathering up the random debris on the floor of her classroom. Crayons, pencils, pieces of paper and glue sticks were scattered around the room in spite of her best efforts to keep things organized for their little art project this afternoon. It didn’t help that all of the kids were pretty hyped up about the fact that it was supposed to snow tonight — the first really big snow of the year. It always got the kids into a complete frenzy. They weren’t going to learn anything new today, so having them make their own paper snowflakes was one of her tried and trusted ways to at least keep them more or less in their seats for the afternoon.

  By the time she’d rounded up the last of the colored pencils from under the tiny tables and chairs that furnished the room, the clock above the board read 3:30. It was well past time for her to leave, and the rest of the teachers were either already out of the building or doing the same thing she was. The day before a snow day usually saw the teachers with kids take off as soon as they could to make sure they got everything organized at home for the next day. Those that didn’t have a family to go home to would stay behind and organize their classroom to be ready when the class would be back in session, even though that was going to be a few days away.

  “Don’t you have somewhere better to be this time of day?” The voice from the doorway was Alicia’s. She was standing out in the hallway looking into the room with her tote bag draped over one shoulder.

  “You mean the supermarket to pick up the prerequisite bread and milk for the coming snowpocalypse? I’ll have you know I picked up my bread and milk yesterday in anticipation of the coming blizzard.” Laila laughed, shaking her head.

  “Well, no I didn’t mean that, but now that you mention it, I’m going to have to go without milk and sandwiches for the remainder of the snow storm since it’s far too late to pick up either of those things by now. Every supermarket in a seventy-five-mile radius is going to be sold out until the end of the snow.” Alicia was now standing in the doorway waiting for Laila to join her. She had seen that look on her face dozens of times by now. It was her friend’s way of telling her it was time to go. Alicia knew that Laila would stay until well into the evening if she had nothing else going on at home.

  However, recently, she’d had occasion to leave in the evenings to get ready for her nights with Jeremy. Their Wednesday night dinners were a popular topic of conversation on Thursday mornings around the teacher’s lounge. She figured that Alicia was hinting around about the fact that tonight was their standing weekly dinner date, even though it was about the farthest thing from a date she’d ever experienced in her life. Laila was pretty sure that Jeremy looked at her more like a little sister than anything else.

  “Well, you’re going to have to make actual food to get you through the however many days off of school this is going to turn into. Whatever are you going to do? You’ll practically starve.” Hopefully, Alicia was going to take the hint about changing the topic and not push it any farther, but she was usually pretty bad at taking a hint. In fact, Laila was sure she was ignoring them on purpose half the time. Her friend loved nothing more than giving Laila a hard time about this guy she clearly had a crush on. Luckily the two of them hadn’t had the chance to meet, though Alicia had snuck a peek at him from the window across the parking lot a time or two when she’d come over to visit. The general reaction every time was that Laila needed to “climb that man like a tree while she had the chance.”

  “You know what I’m talking about, Laila. Don’t be ridiculous. It’s Wednesday, even if it is supposed to be snowing. I’m guessing the two of you are still supposed to be eating together tonight.” Alicia raised an eyebrow, pausing in their walk down the hall to turn to her friend with an expectant look on her face.

  All Laila could do was shrug. They hadn’t actually discussed dinner tonight, though they never really did. At this point, it was just sort of assumed that one of them was going to show up at the other’s house arou
nd five in the evening and they would figure out what to eat as the night wore on. Sometimes they ordered out. Other times, one of them would just randomly start cooking during the middle of their conversation. Mostly, their nights together were all about the conversation.

  “I really don’t know what the plans are for tonight, but it doesn’t matter. We’re just friends, either way.” Laila paused to hold the door open for her friend, but she was really hoping for a change of topic. There was just no way that Alicia was going to let it go, at least not until Laila was about to get into her car and leave.

  “You keep saying that, but then I see the way you look when you talk about him. I just think there’s something there, and Jeremy would be an idiot to turn you down if you decided to tell him the truth.”

  Laila paused after throwing her bag in the backseat of her car and leaned on the door frame.

  “I wish it was that easy, Alicia. He’s gorgeous. I’d have to be blind not to see that, but he’s way out of my league. Not to mention that he’s still getting over his ex-wife. I just don’t think he’s ready for an actual relationship. So, as long as I can have him be a part of my life, I’m going to keep him there, even if it means that we’re just good friends.”

  Alicia shook her head, taking a step back and looked directly into her friend’s eyes. “I just think you’re missing a golden opportunity. And I’m going to be the first one to tell you so when this ends up with the two of you all over each other. Remember that.” Alicia’s tone was light-hearted, but Laila knew she meant what she was saying.

  “I think you’re eager for me to get on with it because you want to live vicariously through me. You know I’ll tell you all the juicy details if it ever happens!” Alicia smiled and had to admit that what Laila was saying was true. All teasing aside, she really wanted what was best for her friend.