“Beats me,” I say, handing the phone back to him.

“It’s Cass. And Rowe, I bet. Those two better be sure they’re ready. I’m going to rock this ballerina shit! And when I get Cookie back, I’m going to pay them back so hard.”

He can’t see me laughing behind him, but my brother is dead serious. To see a twenty-two year old deliver a message so earnestly—and utter the word cookie in the same breath—is something only Ty Preeter can pull off and still look like a man. Barely—but still like a man.

I trail behind him a few more steps so I can check my message from Rowe.

Rowe: Sex?

I wince at first, but then grin.

Me: Is that an offer?

Rowe: No, dumbass! It’s the very last word you said to my father.

Me: Yeah…about that.

Rowe: You were free and clear! What the hell happened?

Me: Do you think he noticed?

Rowe: Let me play the scene out for you after you walked away. Dad: Did he just say sex? Me: Uh, I don’t think so. Mom: No, I’m pretty sure he did. He said sex. Dad: Yeah, that’s what I thought I heard, too, but I wasn’t sure. I’m glad you heard it. Me: *dying, looking under seats, hoping there is enough room for my body.* Mom: I can see where you could make that mistake. Six, sex, six, sex, six-sex. Yeah, it’s a tricky slip… shall I go on?

Me: Sorry.

She doesn’t write back right away this time, and now I start to feel like an even bigger ass**le. I am single-handedly self-destructing this whole damn thing—I’ll be lucky to make it to dinner. Ty and I exit the elevator and head to our room when I feel my phone buzz in my pocket and I pull it back out, hoping like hell it’s Rowe with some witty comeback.

Rowe: Waiting.

Huh?

It buzzes again, this time with a photo, and I can tell she’s not wearing anything because I can see her bare shoulders, the smooth skin of her neck and her lips, which are seriously sucking on her finger? Oh. Hell.

“Hey, I’m gonna go hang with Rowe instead,” I say, turning away from Ty without even looking.

“Dude! I’m hungry!” he says.

“Then go eat,” I say, knowing my brother would do the same damn thing to me in this situation.

Thank god for baseball. I’m sure I’m not the first to think those very words, but I truly mean it right now because for the last thirty minutes, I have been absorbed in an intense baseball discussion with Rowe’s father, and he seems to be rapt by everything I say. If I can just stay on the topic of baseball for the rest of their time here, I should be able to come through this thing with Tom Stanton having a good opinion of me—despite my very serious attempts at self-sabotage.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing how you all handle LSU tomorrow. We should be able to watch most of the game before we have to leave,” Tom says. I feel Rowe’s hand squeeze mine under the table, and when I turn to her, she smiles—that soft, reassuring, proud kind. I’ve somehow come back out on top. “Curious why you didn’t decide to attend LSU…being from Louisiana and all?”

“I almost did,” I admit, and I feel Rowe’s hand tense up against mine. It’s amazing how close I was to not coming to McConnell, and then I never would have met Rowe. “But I was really interested in finding a good fit for both me and my brother. Ty, well…he’s my best friend really. We don’t act like it sometimes…”

“Oh no, you definitely act like best friends,” Rowe inserts with a laugh, and I reciprocate.

“Yeah, most of the time we do,” I say with a fond smile. “Ty’s always been there for me. He’s my number-one guy. We sort of have this crazy fantasy of being in business together—baseball of course. If things go just right, he’ll be my agent. Or if I don’t make it…”

“You’re going to make it,” Rowe interrupts, and I love her—the way she looks at me. Like I really am something special.

“But if I don’t make it,” I smile, “we sort of have this crazy dream of going into sports management on our own. Preeter Brothers Sports Management, or something like that. I don’t know…it just sounds like pipe dreams when I say it out loud. But Ty—he’s so smart, a real head for the business side of things. Me, I’m more of the PR, the talking-to-people part.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Rowe says with a laugh.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I say. For a brief second, I forget we’re here with her parents, and I lean in and kiss her cheek quickly. When I sit back, I realize what I just did and my eyes flash wide and I mouth sorry to her.