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“You invited my ex on our date?” she asked.
Ryan nodded. “Do you want peanuts? I meant to ask earlier but forgot. I mean, they can be messy and make you thirsty. But there is something magical about the whole peanuts-and-crackerjacks thing at the ballpark.”
She stared at him, slack-jawed and a little impressed that he was this devoted.
“You know what?” Ryan continued when she hadn’t spoken in at least a minute. “Hold my beer. I’ll get both and you can try them and see what you think.”
She watched the beer pass in front of her as he handed it to André. Then he stepped over his bleacher chair going up, made a sharp left, and bounded up the stairs.
“He’s very attentive.”
Her mouth grew small and her jaw clenched as she swiveled back the way she’d come.
André didn’t look at her though. His eyes were on the field as he drank his own beer.
“Seriously, man. What are you doing here?” She leaned toward him and hissed, “I am on adate.”
He nodded, still watching the field. “Yes, you are.”
“And not with you,” she pointed out.
He pressed his lips together but she caught the little tremble that said he wanted to smile.
“I am well aware.” He glanced her way briefly. “For the record, I didn’t know. Ryan invited me and I accepted.”
She reared back. “Since when do you know Ryan?”
André hummed in the back of his throat. “We met that night at your house.”
“Wait.” She shook her head as if that would help. “What are you saying?”
André swallowed and turned to face her. “After Asa kicked us out that night, Ryan offered me your ticket to the ballgame. I’d never been to a professional baseball game and I thought it sounded fun.”
She squinted one eye at him, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “You went on mydate?”
He thought for a moment and nodded. “I suppose that’s accurate.”
“And now you two are besties?” she asked.
André lifted one shoulder. “He’s a nice guy. A little obsessed with baseball, but not a bad person to spend an evening with.”
Her left eye twitched.
This wasn’t happening.
Why was this happening?
Was this actually happening?
Maybe she should go back to the hospital and have them reevaluate her for a concussion.
Maybe she’d been injured very badly in the car accident and she was in a coma and this was a nightmare.
Yes. That one made the most sense. None of this was real and she was just stuck in a nightmare loop somewhere in a hospital room. Hopefully someone would call her mom and let her know where she was.
André was speaking again and she had to blink to focus on his mouth and the words that were coming out of it.
“I’m really not trying to drive you crazy––”
