Christian laughed. “You guys going to be around here?”
“Actually,” I said, “I have some friends up in the owner’s box. Why don’t you meet us there?”
He nodded. “Will do.”
***
Forty-five minutes later, Christian strolled into the owner’s box carrying three pizzas. He winked at me. “Thought you might be hungry.”
I shook my head with a smile. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
He grinned. “Probably not.”
Miller and his boyfriend walked over, with Travis in tow. I could see the stars in their eyes, so I made the introductions. “Christian, this is my friend Miller, his boyfriend, Trent, and Trent’s brother, Travis.”
Christian shook everyone’s hand.
“I’m a huge fan,” Miller said.
“Yes, huge fan.” I rolled my eyes. “He asked me what inning we were in earlier.”
Christian chuckled. “Well, at least they stock these things with alcohol and food.”
Miller leaned down and picked up a serving dish full of hors d’oeuvres. “Not just food. Caviar and champagne. If I had known this is how games were, I might have tried out for the football team instead of the badminton team.”
“Um…you didn’t actually try out for the badminton team,” I reminded him. “You were the water boy because you had the hots for the twenty-five-year-old coach.”
Miller waved me off. “We don’t need to be all technical now…”
I took the pizza boxes from Christian with a laugh. “What can I get you to drink?”
“Whatever you’re having is fine.”
“She drinks Mike’s Hard Lemonade,” Miller said. “I had to smuggle them into the stadium. I figured they didn’t stock them in their fancy wine fridges up here.”
Christian looked amused. “I don’t think I’ve had one of those things since high school. But I’ll take one.”
Travis turned his head and sneezed. He was five feet away from me and covered his mouth, yet I held my breath and started to count anyway. Miller caught what I was doing and smirked, while Christian glanced back and forth between us.
“What am I missing here?” he said.
I pointed to Miller since I hadn’t reached fifteen yet.
He rocked back and forth on his heels. “She holds her breath for fifteen seconds after people sneeze.”
Christian’s smile was crooked. “Why?”
“Germs.”
Christian chuckled, but didn’t pursue it further.
For the next half hour, my guests pretty much formed a circle around Christian. If he minded, no one would ever have known it. He was gracious as could be. At one point, he excused himself to go to the bathroom, and when he came out, I was packing up my things.
“Did you drive here?” he asked, rolling up the sleeves on his white dress shirt.
My eyes snagged on his muscular forearms, and by the time I tore them away, I’d completely forgotten what we were talking about. “Umm... I’m sorry. What did you ask?”
The corner of his lip twitched. “I asked if you drove here.”
“No, I actually don’t drive. I came with Miller.”
He looked over at the three men now talking with Coach. “Double date?”
“No… Well, at least not that I was aware of. Though I think Miller might’ve had other ideas.”
“Can I drop you home then? We can take Coach first.”
“I actually live in the City.”
“So do I.”
“Oh. Then I guess yeah, sure.” I smiled, but felt a bit nervous. “I need to let Miller know.”
Miller was still standing with Trent and Travis when I walked over. “Hey,” I said. “I’m going to go with Christian to drop off my grandfather. He’ll give me a ride home after.”
Miller’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and I noticed Travis’s smile wilt a bit. When I went out to the seating area to double-check that I hadn’t left anything behind, Travis joined me.
“Hey.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Do you think maybe I could get your phone number? Take you out to dinner sometime?”
I always felt terrible saying no when a guy asked me out, especially when he was nice. In fact, I’d gone on a few dates solely because I’d felt bad declining. At least this time I had a reason to give him, not that I needed one.
“I’m sorry. I recently started seeing someone I used to work with, and I have so much going on at work these days, I just don’t think it’s the right time.”
Travis forced a smile. “Oh, yeah. Of course.”
“But it was really nice meeting you.”
“Sure. You, too. Thanks for having me today. I had a great time.”
When Travis turned away, I noticed Christian watching me through the glass. Unlike when most people get caught staring, he didn’t look away. Instead, he smirked and kept his eyes trained on me as I approached the door and opened it.
“Broke his heart, huh?” His grin widened as I walked through.
“How do you know what Travis and I talked about out there?”
“I know the look of defeat.”
“Oh really? So a lot of women turn you down?”