What You Do To Me (Unexpected Love) (8 page)

             
Ugh, I hate
d that he knew
me so d
amn well. I probably could choke
down wine, but I was still dealing with the lingering effects of the wine from last night. “Yes, you know me too well, I’ll probably just start wit
h a diet coke and figure out fro
m there what I will drink.”

             
The three of them decided on a pitcher of beer and once it was
delivered,
we put in our food order. My stomach was growling wh
ile
we were placing the order.

             
“I take it you are hung
ry
? That’s good
,
because they have the best pizza in town. Sam and I always come here when we are in town.”

             
“So do I, I love this place. I was planning on coming today before the game.” This got a big smile from Alex.

             
As Alex was pouring the beers
,
Derek couldn’t help but talk. “So why don’t we get started on getting the beer thing off your list.”  Without
thinking,
I kick
ed
him under the table. The list is a s
ecret, well not really, but it’s
private. It’s all the things I’ve wanted to do that David would
n’t let me
,
and the things I felt
I need
ed
to do to become a stronger person for me and the girls.

             
“What is the
list?
” Sam asked
with a hint of interest in her eyes.

             
“I was going to ask you earlier
,
I heard Derek bring it
up about the
concert,
” Alex said
,
eyeing me intensely.

             
I immediately
shot
Derek a
‘
you’re on my shit list
’
look before I
responded
to them. Probably sensing my
uneasiness on
the
topic, I felt
Alex’
s hand squeeze my knee and I could
feel the heat from
his
hand shoot all the way up my leg and
into my groin. I seriously
had
to fight back a moan.
Oh,
my god
, what in the hell was
happening to me.
I was not a
high school
girl who swoons over some
guy.
I looked up and met
Alex’s
eyes.
I hear
d
Derek
begin
to talk. “Well, it isn’t my place to talk a
b
out it.” No
shit,
really, you just now realized that fact
.

             
I look
ed away from Alex and ga
ve Derek another p
issed off look. Derek’s eyes sh
ot me
a
look
that said I’m sorry.
“You’re
right,
it isn’t your place, but your mouth just doesn’t know how to stop. So, now that
it’s
out
there, I have no choice.” I could
feel the bitterness coming off my tongue.

             
“Abby, you don’t have too. If
it’s
personal,
it’s
none of
our
business,
” Sam said
with sympathetic eyes.

             
“It’s
okay;
it really isn’t a big deal. The list is a list of things I feel I need to do. Not just need, but things I want to do or have always wanted to do, but never had the chance.”

             
“
Beer is on
that
list?” Alex
asked
with a smirk on his face.

             
I smiled back and thought how
silly it sounded to have
drinking beer
as
one of the
things I
wanted
to do
.
“Yes, beer is on my list. Ever
since high school,
because of
a keg and
a drinking
game, I was
never able to drink beer again. I’ve made it a goal to acquire a taste for
beer.” After saying
it,
I knew it sounded
stupid.

             
“Seeing an
Awakening
concert
a
lone
was on this list
,
too?” Alex a
lready knew
the answer
because of Derek’s big mouth earlier outside after my run.

             
“Yes, that was actually number two on my list.” Feeling my face g
o a bit red, I
should
have
just said yes.
“Most of the stuff on the list has to be done alone, with the exception of a few, like the beer drinking.”

             
“Number two, huh, well
what is number one?” Alex looked with
curiosity in his eyes.

             
I shot
Derek a,
don’t open your damn mouth look
, I look
ed
back at Alex and respond
ed
. “Well considering the list is supposed to be private and you know more than anyone, well exception of Derek and Lexi, I’d have to kill you if I told you.”

             
Alex placed
hi
s hand back on my
knee, leaned in,
an
d whispered
into my ear. “I
love a
challenge.” He immediately leaned back, but left
his hand on my knee.
I felt
my breathing hitch and pray
ed that
no one
noticed
. I look
ed
across the table to see Sam and Derek
staring at us
.

             
The conversation returned to lighter topics
with Alex talking about the remaining eight weeks of the tour
,
and how they
stopped
in August so Steve
had
time to spend with his kids before school
started
. Sam talked about life on the road with
Alex,
and Derek filled Sam and Alex in on his life
as an attorney
in Pittsburgh. I interjected when needed, but sat back and
listened as
the conversation
flowed among
everyone. I couldn’t keep my eyes
off
Alex’s lips every time he talked and
I
couldn’t stop thinking how I wanted them on me.

             
After
all of us
ate, we sat around while they finished their second pitcher of beer. “
Well, Abbs,
I’m glad to see your appetite
is
back and that you
’
r
e
packing the pounds back on.”

             
“Seriously, did you plan on being such a
douche bag
or does it just come naturally to you
when you are around me
?”
I began getting
pissed
, especially when
remembering the comme
nts from earlier
about my body odor
and now he implied I was fat.

             
“Well, if I wasn’t a
douche bag
,
you wouldn’t love
me,
because clearly that is what you attract.” Ouch, knowing he
was
referring to David. “And it was a compliment, even though to most girls it isn’t.
You’re
the only girl I know who can out eat most guys I know. Plus, you got too skinny after everything
that happened
and force feeding you wasn’t my favorite activity of the days livi
ng
with you.”  This was
true;
if
it wasn
’t for
Derek,
I probably would have
gotten sick from not eating. When he showed
up,
I dropped to a whopping 115 pounds
,
which isn’t much for my 5’7” frame. Looking back
now,
I looked awful, but taking care of the girls was all I could manage to do. It took the
tough
love from Derek and Lexi to get me through and to realize
that
I needed to take care of myself or I was no good to the girls.

             
I sh
ot De
rek a smile that
showed my
love and appreciation for him. Derek and I
had
a connection where few
words
were needed
,
know
ing
each other’s thoughts. I always felt this was our sibling
connection,
even though we
wer
en’t related.

             
Sam let us know the car was out front and asked if everyone was
ready t
o head to the game. Derek offered to pay, but Alex wouldn’t hear of it and
he
paid for the lunch. Derek thanked him and followed
Sam down the stairs. I turn
ed to thank
Alex, and
he
took
my hand again and leaned
into my ear again, “I wasn’t
kidding.
I love a challenge and you made it my goal to find out your number one
goal
on the list.”

             
His
breath
on my ear warmed my whole body. It took
all my self-control not
to
grab his head and force his
mouth onto mine. 
Instead,
I could
only
reply,
“I’ve had tougher men try and not break me, game on.”

             
Alex then smiled and let
out a chuckle. “I’m look
ing forward to it.”  He squeezed my hand and led
me out
to the car. There were
people waiting and snapping pictures
of him. I climb
ed
into the car
as he signed
autographs for his fans. I look
ed
up at Sam, “Is it always like this?”

             
“Worse,
we’re
lucky today. Since it wasn’t a planned
outing
, there wasn’t time for the restaurant to leak that he would be here.”

             
“Are we
even
going to be able to watch the game or
are
people going to be hounding him
the entire time
?”
Derek asked
.
I knew he only asked because he wanted
to watch the game and
it would
distract him.

             
“Don’t worry, the game is
set.
Nobody
will bother us
once we make it into the field
.”

Finally,
after dozens of autographs later, Alex ma
de it back into the limo. We dro
ve into Comerica
Park
,
not
just a parking lot, but into a special
entrance. Once we ca
me t
o a
stop,
a man with a suit opened the door for us and Alex got out and shook
the man’s hand. Sam, Der
ek and I
,
exited
behind him and mad
e our way
down a long hall. The man
took
us to a
set of elevators and we pile
d
in
to it
. The man reache
d
in, hit a button,
and told
Alex a man named James
would
meet us when we
exited
.