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“It’s before seven in the morning. Call me Reaper and knock off the ‘sir’ stuff until required,” Reaper said easily. “Did you start the coffee in here?”
“Not yet.”
“Ughhh…” he groaned, rolling his eyes – and thumped the switch to the ‘on’ position. “What are you up to, Sparky?”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“So, you thought you’d shop or email someone?”
“Yeah.”
“Anything special going on?”
“Just a friend and getting a few things for myself.”
“Ah… I see,” Reaper said quietly, smiling. “I thought I’d come email Sophie to start my day – and finish hers. I’m hoping she sent a photo of my son. She tries to send one every week, and he’s grown so much.”
“You miss them,” Austin said simply, not asking because it was easy to see as Reaper nodded.
“More than anything. Sometimes I wish things were different, but then again I wonder if that old adage, ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder’works well for us. I mean, I can be quite annoying and make her mad sometimes… but she seems to put up with me.”
“Sometimes we enjoy annoying or pressing buttons on the ones we care about,” Austin admitted, thinking of how he’d pressed Giselle into meeting him at the fence last night… and hesitated.
He cared – but as afriend.
It was going to be tough to even dabble with the idea of anything else, because she was right.
They were on different bases, different fields, and different teams. They could be the best of friends… but that blasted fence would certainly put a damper on anything else. I mean, it was hard to be interested in a girl when you couldn’t hold her hand or kiss her.
… And the tiniest voice whispered an intriguing idea in his mind.
What if there was no fence?
“Are you okay, Sparky?” Reaper asked bluntly, looking at him strangely.
“Huh? Yeah. Why?”
“Well, I was asking if you wanted to see the picture Sophie sent of my son and you never answered, combined with this weird look plastered over your face. I wasn’t sure if you were having a stroke or holding back a severe case of the runs…”
“Ughhhh… really?” Austin blurted out, making a face and drawing back physically.
“Whatever you were just thinking had you completely out of it and looking like you were quite bothered.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“Your friend?”
“Yeah… wait… how’d you know?” Austin hesitated, feeling stunned – only to see Reaper laugh softly.
“You just told me a second ago that you were buying stuff and emailing a friend. Are you sure you’re okay?” the man asked, smiling and watching him closely.
“Yeah. No. Yeah, I think so,” Austin admitted and then looked at him. “When things are new and you don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s a little unsettling. I’m sure you had the same issue with your wife.”
“I’m happy for you,” Reaper said quietly, nodding.
“I mean, it’s not like that,” Austin blurted out nervously. “We are friends and just talking right now, but she’s so pretty. I can’t stop thinking about her, and I know it’s crazy, but…”
“Whoa… whoa,” Reaper interrupted, smirking. “Being friends is a fantastic basis for a relationship – and that’s kind of how we started. I wanted to be friends, and she wanted to wring my neck.”
