Summer Swing (17 page)

“What are you wearing right now?”

“What? Just
Gage’s t-shirt
and
some
shorts
from my car
. I’m not wearing
that
to the event today.”

She clicked her tongue. “That’s not what I was leading up to.”

“You mean you wanted to know if I was just walking around the house in my bra and underwear?”

“Ambrielle Christine.”

“Well your worry seems a little silly. You think I’d be doing that in a house full of guys?”

“Yes, about that.
I don’t like the idea of you staying the night at a house with four boys in it.”

“But Dawn can do it and you don’t have a problem with it?”

She paused for a few seconds. “Dawn is at a different stage in her relationship with Wyatt. And no, I don’t approve, so I don’t want to talk about what your sister is doing; this is about you and the good choices I want
you
to make. Why should Gage have to buy the cow if he gets the milk for free?” she had to add.

Wow, like I hadn’t heard that one
before
.

“Well I’m keeping my udders fully clothed, so you don’t have to worry about
my free milk.”

I heard someone choke from the kitchen and I whipped my head around to see Tyse sitting at the counter eating a bowl of cereal. He was coughing and trying not to laugh at the same time.

“
Ambri
—”

“Uh, I gotta go, M
om. Love
you
.”

I hung up and watched Tyse take a drink of orange juice, and as I made my way into the kitchen, he followed me with his eyes as he continued to drink. I leaned against the opposite counter with my arms folded across my chest just as he finished the last drop.

“How much of that conversation did you hear?” I asked, feigning a sweet smile.

He cleared his throat and smiled back. “Uh, I believe all of it. There are four guys in the house that could appear at any
time, you know.”

Yes, I should have been aware of that.

“But I’m sure no one would mind if you walked around in your bra and underwear,” he added. “Don’t think you’d get much of an objection for that one.” He was trying to hide a smile when he took another bite of cereal.

“Well I’m sure Gage would mind. Uh, that you guys were here, I mean.”

“I’m sure he probably would. No
fun letting everyone else eye
the merchandise, right?
I’d feel the same way.
”

I didn’t respond at first, but I decided to just roll with it and not let it embarrass me.

“Yeah, my mom had
to give me the ol’ ‘buy the cow/
milk for free’ analogy,” I said, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard. I sat down next to Tyse and poured myself some of the cereal that was in front of him. “She thinks I’m still a teenager, I guess. I don’t know, maybe because I hardly spent any
time with my mom when I
was
a teenager. Apparently she’s trying to make up for it now.”

Tyse took a bite of cereal as I poured the milk. After a few seconds he said, “Well at least she cares.
I’m sure if she can save you from one bad mistake or heartache when it comes to, you know, that kind of stuff, she feels like she’s doing her job.”

“Well
it’s a little late for that;
I’ve learned my lesson.”

He didn’t reply as he finished up the last of his cereal. When he stood up to rinse his bowl in the sink he said, “Hate to break it to you, but every
relationship
is different. Just because you think you’ve learned what might have gone wrong the last time, it doesn’t mean it’s
gonna
be something that will help you out the next time. Sure we feel a little more knowledgeable and feel like we can be prepared for the next time around, but it could be an entirely different thing.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what he was getting at, so I slowly took
a bite of cereal and spent
the
time
think
ing about it
. Was he saying that my experience with Tim didn’t matter
? Yeah, I understood that everybody was different and every relationship would be different, but at least now I knew what the signs were for a guy that was an inconsiderate jerk. How wouldn’t that be helpful?

“I see your point, but why wouldn’t learning what I learned before be beneficial now? Even though I didn’t see it at the time, I think I can know the difference between guys that want a meaningful relationship and guys that just want to get lucky.”

He studied me for a moment. “Well in case you missed the memo,
all
guys want to get lucky.
Some of us really would prefer the meaningful relationship first
, but eventually the other comes up soon enough.
”

“
Well
Gage is very respectful
. That’s what makes him so easy to be with. And because of my last experience, I can tell that he’ll be very considerate of my feelings.”

“That you want to wait?” he asked outright.

I didn’t reply at first. I had no idea how I ended up talking about this with Tyse, but I guess I had my mother to thank for that.

“
Well
I know I deserve to take all the time I need.”

“
Yes
, I
completely
agree
.” He opened the dishwasher to load his bowl and asked, “
Does Gage know that?”

“Does Gage know what?” he asked, entering the kitchen.

As he stopped and looked at both
of us I replied, “Uh, that my mom was upset for me staying here last night.”

He slightly nodded and glanced at Tyse. “I’m on her mom’s bad list.”

While Gage grabbed himself a bowl
,
Tyse took the opportunity to watch me for a few seconds. I wasn’t sure what it meant so I only returned his gaze. It was weird to be staring at each other from across the kitchen with Gage moving in between us, but Tyse finally looked away as he walked by me.

“Hey, w
hat do I owe you?” I asked
,
referring to the food I’d helped myself to.

He gave me a smirk as he
left the kitchen. “Nothing. For you my milk is
free.”

I paused in mid-bite, but when Gage gave me a funny look, I put the spoon down and explained the pizza night and the “free” Pepsi. It made sense, so Gage didn’t think anything of it.

Chapter Ten

I did make it to Gage’s game on Tuesday night.
I had actually missed watching baseball if you can believe that. But I guess I’d grown used to be
ing
around the ballpark, so it was becoming a normal habit of mine.

I was talking to the parents of
our third baseman
when a body sat down next to me and asked, “What the bloody hell happened to you this time?”

I turned with a smile and said, “Hey, Harlan.”

“Is this becoming a regular thing?” he asked, motioning to the cast on my hand. “If you’re starving for attention there are better ways to handle it, you know.”

I rolled my eyes
but said,
“Another parking lot incident.”

“Did you punch some sorry bloke?”

I laughed. “No, but I should have. Someone beat me to it
, though
.” I smiled at the thought of Tyse hitting that guy in the face.

“Another parking lot incident,
hmm
? What happened?”

I explained the story and he ended up shaking his head. “And I didn’t even get to mend you. I’m very disappointed.”

“I was kind of cranky anyway, so it wouldn’t have been enjoyable.”

“But I enjoy all of your cran
ky moments.
You have a different side to you?”

I nudged him playfully with my elbow.

“So how have you been?” he asked. “Well
,
besides the general nonsense of getting yourself into trouble and such.”

“I’ve been pretty good. Busy at work, busy after work…no rest for the weary.”

He pretended to look me over. “I think you’re right. The
dark circles
under your
beautiful
eyes
give it away. Maybe the doctor should tell your boyfriend not to expect so much of you.”

“Doctor’s orders, huh? I don’t
believe
he’d think much of it coming from you.”

With a smile he said, “I’m sure I could convince a colleague to do it for me.”

“Gage doesn’t force me to be busy. I do that all on my own.”

“Perhaps you should slow down a little. You may be warned with another parking lot incident.”

“Warned
? Is that what getting hit with things is supposed to do? Warn me?”

“Perhaps. And the next time might be a little more severe. I really wouldn’t want to see you on bed rest for
hypoadrenia or somnolence.”
The gleam in his eye was pretty funny.

“What?” I laughed.

With a smile he shook his head. “Never mind. So it appears that Gage’s pitching is really whooping my little brother’s team right now. How about you go down th
ere and tell him to stop
it
?”

“Sorry, I rather like seeing him whoop some butt right now.”

“Does he have plans to continue on with baseball?”

“
No, not really.
He’s got one more year at Eastern Oregon first.
He got a pretty good baseball scholarship to play there.
He plans on working for his dad after he graduates.”

“And in what field is that?”

“Civil Engineering.”
 

“Ah, I see. So not just a dumb jock,
eh
?”

I scowled at him playfully. “Is that really what you think of him?”

“No,” he chuckled. “I’m just being unfair. He does seem like
a
very educated young man.”

I rolled my eyes. “Coming from the distinguished
older
gentleman.”

He laughed. “Is that really what you think of me?”

“Yes.”

He laughed again and then shrugged. “I can lose the accent if that’s what is making me sound old and stuffy.” He actually did speak without it, and I wouldn’t have been able to tell he was British had I known otherwise.

“Nah, old and stuffy kind of suits you,” I replied.

“I’m twenty-five and you have the nerve to call m
e ‘old.’ You just wait.
When you’re twenty-five I’m going to call you ‘Grandma.’ ”

With
a laugh I said, “Chronological age
is not my issue
. Maybe it
is
the accent. Some women like the ‘mature’ sound of an English accent, but I guess I do associate it with
stuffiness. May
be I am labeling you unfairly, b
ut h
ow can I help it when you use words li
ke ‘knackered,’ or ‘trousers’? Mum
?
Lad? Lass
? Oh, and when you said ‘dual carriageway’ for the
freeway I almost peed my pants
.”

He laughed and said,
“
I should have said
‘motorway.’ I’m not sure why I said carriageway.
My
mum’s
influence, I guess.
But
I’m glad
that you get such a kick out
of my vocabulary.
I’ll remember not to hold back any more.”

“Do you really hold back?”

“No, not deliberately. I’ve been in the states for
over
a year; I think it’s improving my stuffy language.
”

I studied him briefly to make sure I hadn’t offended him, but he seemed to be hiding a smile. That
happy
gleam in his eye had returned.

“There’s nothing wrong with your language,” I admitted honestly. “I jus
t like giving you a hard time. A
nd it really is funny. You know, some of the different words and stuff.”

“I had no idea what in the world
‘tic-tac-toe’ meant.
We call it ‘
noughts
and crosses.’
Or the first time I heard ‘bathing suit’ when I was a lad? I really thought people over here didn’t bathe
starkers
.”