What You Do To Me (Unexpected Love) (7 page)

             
“Yeah, why don’t you tell her at the game?
I’m thinking
we could all go to the game together. It would be fun.”

             
“I don’t
know. It’s
up to
Derek.
He came all this way to spend time with me.”

             
Alex
turned
his
eyes to Derek, but my eyes couldn’t
seem to leave Alex
’s
face. I hear
d Derek’s
response
, “I think it would be
fun.
The
more people
,
the merrier.”

             
“Great,
Abby,
I’ll call you with the details, unless you guys would like to meet in an hour for lu
nch before the game.”

             
“Sounds great,
Abbs. Is
that enough time for you to wash the stench off?”

             
I punched
Derek in the shoulder for that
comment.
I quickly
responded
to the question. “Yes, but I want at l
east an hour and a half. I won’t
be doing anything
until
I get coffee in this body.
I
’ll
need to hit
Starbucks first
.
Plus, I
need to call the girls. I haven’t talked to them since I left yesterday morning.
”

             
“Sounds great, I’ll go check in, unless you’re going to let me stay with you tonight in your room?”  Derek h
ad
a hopeful smile on his face.

             
“No, go check in, I’m sure all my stinky running clothes will make my room smell like a locker room. I’ll c
all you when I’m ready.”  I took
a quick glance at Alex who seemed
to have a relieved look on his face.

             
“
Okay
, see you in a bit.”

             
Alex looked at me and told me to meet him down in the lobby in an hour and a half. He would
arrange for
a car to take us to lunch and then the game.

             
Walking off the elevator an hour and a half later, I walk
ed into the lobby and I
didn’t
see anyone. I exit
ed the doors in
the valet area and notice
d
a black limo. The door to the limo
opened and I saw
Sam waving me over with
a big smile on her face. She was
wearing designer jeans, a cute fitted long sleeve top,
and
stilettos
with
amazing accessories. I start
ed
to
second-guess
my choice of jeans, Tigers baseball
shirt.
My
shoulder length brown hair was in a loose
ponytail
, and
I was
wearing
running shoes and
car
ry
ing my baseball hat. I wasn’t sure how the sun would be on the field.

             
I
went
to the
limo, climbed in,
a
nd sa
t down. My eyes immediately fix
ed on Alex
,
who was seated on the side bench. He was
wearing a pair of worn dark jeans, a Tigers shirt with a Tigers track jacket over
top
,
and a worn
pair of navy converse. He looked so
sexy;
he smiled
at me
while
running a hand throug
h his
jet-black
hair. The motion gave
his hair the
just fucked look and how
I
wished
it wa
s me who gave it to him
.

             
“So, where is Derek?” Not even thinking about Derek, I start
ed
to feel a little guilty.

             
“I’m not
sure.
He
said that he
would meet us down here.”

             
Sam
smiled at me and responded
, “I’m sure he is
coming. We
are a little early.”

             
“I can send him a text if you
want.
He
might need the push to get here
on time. H
e likes to primp a bit. I usually tell him
to
be someplace twenty minutes before
I really want him there,
so I know he
will be
on time.”

             
“No, it’s
okay
;
gives
us more time to
talk,
” Alex said
with a smile
on his face
. “So, how
did
you and Derek
become
friends?”

             
Not sure, but I felt like there was
desperation in his voice to know this answer. “I met Derek through
David, my husband.” Should I have
said late
husband?
I never
knew
how to talk about David to others anymore. “They went to school toget
her. They fell out of touch
and one night at their class reunion, David went and
socialized.
I sat at a table alone,
because
I was pregnant
with
my oldest. Derek came over and introduced himself.
He sat down and started
talking
about the high school times with
David, as well as filling me
in on everyone around the room.
You know, the usual stuff you talk about at a class reunion, like who
they were, what they did,
what
they were
like
in high school,
and
if they
had
changed. We
hung out at the table
and
laughed most the night.” Alex listened so intently it reminded
me of
last night. Maybe he really did
care about what I
was
saying.

             
“Anyway, David and Derek got back in touch, and stayed in touch
that
time, mainly because of me.  Whenever we went back to
Pittsburgh,
we would do dinner, a baseball game or
clubbing,
and
Derek was my partner in crime
. We have always stayed in touch and
we have actually
talked more than David and him. He’s like the brother I always wanted.
” At my last
comment,
Alex broke out
into a wide smile. “He moved in with the girls and
me
for a few weeks after David’s death. If it
wasn’t
for him and
Lexi,
I’d still be in bed and my parents would have swooped in and
dragged
my
butt back
to their house.” I couldn’
t help
spilling
all this information with him. I didn’t want to, but
som
ething about those eyes made me think he truly cared
.

             
“Is that him?” I hear
d
Sam say, bu
t I was
sti
ll staring at Alex. Alex managed
to break the gaze and answered Sam. Sam climbed
out of the car and
yelled
to Derek to
join us at the car. Derek slid in wearing his full
Pirates attire.

             
“Seriously, you look like a Pirates store
just
threw
up on you
.” I was a bit harsh, but I owe
d him for his comments from the
morning
about how bad I smelled
.

             
“Someone needs to
represent,
since you are now swearing off Pittsburgh sports.”

             
“I’m not swearing them
off.
I will always love the Steelers
,
as long as Suisham remains the
kicker.
Seriously,
he does things to me, but you know my feeling towards t
he Pirates. Ever since they traded Freddy Sanchez,
I divorced them
,
and I will never like
hockey,
so the Penguins will never be liked.”

             
“Thanks for holding
back.
Seriously,
I never understood the Suisham thing. You could at least fall for someone who doesn’t make league
minimum. You should really
set some higher standards for yourself.”

             
“It’s not about the
money;
it’s about the moves.” At that comment, we both start
ed
laughing
. I turn
ed
away from Derek
and
noticed that
Al
ex and Sam
were
looking at us. I began to blush and felt
rude. “I’m sorry,
Sam,
this is
Derek.
Derek,
this is
Sam.
Sam is Alex’s sister f
irst
,
and
his
assistant second.” That
got a smile from Sam.

             
Derek and Sam exchange
d greetings as we mad
e our way to Greektown. We pull
ed
up in front of Pizza Papalis. I absolutely love
d this place. Every time I was
in this town
, I
would come
here
to eat their pizza. My mouth was
already watering.  We walk
ed in and the restaurant was
crazy busy. At
first,
nobody look
ed
at us, but then someone
recognized Alex and I felt
the makin
g of a very long day. People were
turning to stare at us,
well him,
but nobody had
approached him
yet for an autograph. Sam talked
to the
hostess and she
took
us upstairs. Sam followed
the hostess with Derek behind. I start
ed to follow, but Alex
took
my hand and started
walking next to me. I look
ed up at him, but he kept
his eyes forward. We head
ed
up the stairs, which I notice
d was empty. I did
n
’t unders
tand why
,
since the restaurant was so busy downstairs. As we go
t to our
seats,
I hear
d
the hostess talk to Sam and
she
explain
ed this was
the most private they could do on such a
short notice of time. Sam told her it was
perfect
and we would be fine
.

             
We all took
our seats at a round table
. Derek and Alex
were
at my side and Sam sat
across from me. The waiter came
t
o take our drink order. Sam asked
me if I want
ed
to share a bottle of wine with her. Not sure if it was the look on my face or the
fact,
Derek knows me so well,
but he laughed
. I immediately blush
ed
and shove
d him. “What?” was all I could
say to Derek.

             
“From how shitty you looked this morning and how you smelled when I got
here;
I’m guessing wine is out for at least two to three days. Isn’t that right Ms. Abby Porter?”