She should have seen it, should have known.
At least now she did.
It was over.
GAVIN WAS SUCH AN ASSHOLE. HE’D STOOD THERE AND listened to Mick make those accusations against Elizabeth and hadn’t said a goddamned word.
So f**king typical, wasn’t it? Mick, the big brother, who always knew what was best, right?
Only maybe this time he was right.
Gavin wasn’t ready to go back to the game yet. Mom needed him. So did Dad. And Elizabeth was probably anxious about Gavin missing so many games. She had his professional interests in mind, not his personal ones.
Didn’t she?
Mick had just stood there and stared at him after Elizabeth ran inside, then said, “You know I’m right about this. Open your eyes and see her for who she really is before she hurts you.”
Then he’d gone inside, leaving Gavin alone out there with his thoughts.
All his thoughts.
Only he wasn’t sure which thoughts were the right ones.
“Gavin, what happened?”
His mother stepped outside, a dish towel in her hand.
Gavin bent his head over the grill and scrubbed. “Nothing.”
“Elizabeth ran out of here, and I’m pretty sure she was crying. That doesn’t seem like nothing.”
He shrugged. “I’ll handle it.”
“Did Michael say something to her?”
“Probably nothing that wasn’t the truth.”
She took a seat on the chair. “Expand on that.”
“She wanted me to go back to the game.”
“And?”
“Mick accused her of selfish interests. That she’s only concerned I’ll be replaced.”
“And you said what to that?”
He lifted his gaze to his mother. “I said nothing.”
“So basically you allowed your brother to insult the woman you love, and you didn’t say a word.”
He frowned. “I don’t love her.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re sure about that? Because from what I’ve seen of the two of you together, it seems to me you do love her.”
“Don’t tell me how I feel, Mom. We’ve had some fun together. That’s all it is.”
His mom tilted her head and gave him her trademark bullshit look. “You’re so good at denying how you feel.”
He didn’t respond.
“But she’s also your agent. It’s her job to look out for your career.”
“True.”
“And her doing so means she should be lambasted by your brother just because he carries a grudge?”
“That’s his issue to deal with.”
“And you let him continue to do so, with a woman you’ve been seeing and should at least care enough about to defend. I raised you better than that, Gavin.”
He inhaled, let it out, closed the grill, and jammed his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. This is all so complicated. It wasn’t supposed to be complicated.”
He sat in the chair next to hers. She smiled at him and took his hand. “Relationships are always complicated, Gavin.”
“It’s not what I set out to have with Lizzie. It was just supposed to be something fun.”
“Have you been having fun with her?”
“Yes.”
“So what happened?”
“No clue. I guess somewhere along the way something happened.”
“Something like . . . love?”
He’d never wanted that to enter the picture. Not with Elizabeth. But maybe it had, and he just hadn’t realized it. He sure as hell didn’t want to talk about it with his mother. “I don’t know, Mom. Honestly, I don’t know. I feel something for her. I don’t know what it is.”
“Maybe it’s time you stop running away from it and figure it out.”
“I don’t know if I want to. Elizabeth isn’t easy.”
She laughed. “Neither, my sweet boy, are you.”
THE SECOND GAME WAS WELL UNDER WAY BY THE TIME Gavin joined his dad in the living room.
They sat in silence and watched for a while. Mick and Tara had gone home, and Jenna was at the bar.
The Rivers were behind one run in the seventh inning. The middle of the order was up to bat.
“Your replacement is two for three so far in this game. Stole a base in the third, and drove in a run in the fifth.”
“That’s good. Let’s hope we can win.”
More silence while one player hit a grounder to third for the first out, and the second batter popped out to right field.
Stallings was up next. Gavin leaned forward to study the kid. Decent batting stance; wasn’t afraid of the pitcher’s curveball or his fastball. Wasn’t fooled easily as he took two balls and one strike. When a pitch came sailing over the plate, he launched it over the left field fence for a home run.
Shit. The kid was good.
“Too bad there wasn’t anyone on base,” his dad said.
“Yeah. Too bad.”
Gavin leaned back.
“Saw Elizabeth hightailing it out of here earlier. You piss her off?”
“No. Mick did.”
“About?”
“Don’t worry about it, Dad. You just need to rest.”
His dad leaned forward. “Stop treating me like an invalid. I never had high blood pressure so it’s not like I’m going to explode over here.”
Gavin glanced over to his mother, who was sitting in her chair sewing something by hand. She didn’t look concerned or give him a warning look. In fact, she didn’t look up at all.
“Well?”
“Elizabeth suggested I get back to the game. Mick accused her of trying to manipulate me for her own personal gain.”
His dad snorted. “Your brother isn’t thinking clearly where Elizabeth is concerned, and it’s damn time he got over it already. And didn’t I tell you the same thing? That kid is looking like a hotshot at first base. I’ll bet he makes a damn site less than you do, too.”
Gavin sank into the chair and didn’t say anything. The Rivers were out as the next batter swung on a good pitch.
“So what did you say while Mick was reading the riot act to Elizabeth?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re dating her, and you didn’t defend her?”
Gavin felt like he was eight years old again. Getting a lecture from his dad had never felt good then, and it didn’t now. “No.”
“Because you think she’s manipulating you, that she only cares about your career and not you?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“And here I thought I raised smart boys. Right now I’m thinking you’re both dumber than dirt.”
Right now that’s about how Gavin felt.
TWENTY-ONE
IF ELIZABETH WOULD HAVE HAD HER WITS ABOUT HER, she could have gone toe-to-toe with Mick. She never let athletes knock her on her ass. If they got in her face, she got right back in theirs. So why had she let Mick do that to her? She should have stood up to him and told him exactly how he was wrong in his thinking. And then told him to stick his opinions about her up his ass once and for all, because she was tired of hearing them.
Dammit.
It was because of Gavin. Okay, and also because she didn’t want to cause World War III at his parents’ house. Not with his dad recovering. She’d never do anything to upset him.
She pulled into the parking lot at Riley’s bar, not sure what the hell she was doing here. Hadn’t she had enough Rileys for a while? Did she need to get her ass kicked by yet another one?
Maybe she was a glutton for punishment. After all, Jenna hadn’t read her the riot act yet. Might as well let her have a turn.
It was mid-week, so a quiet night. She found Jenna at the bar tending to a few customers who seemed to be regulars. Jenna, dressed in a black tank top and jeans, was talking up her customers, so Elizabeth took a seat at the end of the bar. Jenna made her way over.
“Someone kick your puppy?”
“Your brothers suck.”
She snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know. What would you like?”
“A decent glass of wine. You choose.”
“You got it.”
Jenna poured a glass of red and set it down in front of Elizabeth. “Okay, I can give you a long list of why I think my brothers are assholes, but this isn’t my party. You tell my why you think so.”
She took a sip of the wine. “This is excellent.”
“Of course it is. It’s what I do. Now spill.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to take their side?”
Jenna leaned against the bar and cocked a grin. “Rarely.”
“Gavin’s been restless since your dad’s surgery. Watching the game today, I could tell seeing that first baseman they brought up bothered him. The kid is talented, and I know Gavin feels threatened. Since your dad is recovering so well, I told him maybe he should go back to work. And Mick jumped all over me saying I had ulterior motives.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Isn’t he over that yet?”
“Apparently not. The worst part was that Gavin stood by and didn’t say a word while Mick was reading me the riot act about how I was only interested in lining my own pockets at Gavin’s expense.”
Jenna looked livid. “What a dick. You’re right. They both suck.”
Elizabeth laughed, raised her glass, and tilted it toward Jenna before taking another sip. “And here I thought I might be making a mistake by coming here and venting to you, since you’re their sister.”
“Hey, I’ll defend my brothers to the death when they’re right. Problem is, they rarely are. They’re men; therefore, they have the testosterone disadvantage. Screws them every time.”
“I hope that’s not a mark against everyone in my gender.”
Elizabeth swiveled on her barstool and grinned at Ty Anderson. “Hey, Ty. What brings you here?”
“Stopping in for a drink and spotted you right off. Can I sit down or is this a male-bashing party?”
Elizabeth looked at Jenna, who shrugged. “It’s your male-bashing party, Liz. They’re just my brothers, and I’m always happy to play along.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Ty, this is Jenna Riley, Gavin’s sister. Jenna, this is Tyler Anderson. He plays hockey for the Ice.”
“Ah. Nice to meet you, Jenna.”
Jenna studied Ty, then sighed. “Another sports jock. My heart goes pitter-patter.”
He grinned. “A fan, huh?”
“Yeah, you know it.”
Elizabeth laughed and turned to Ty. “I think she gets bombarded with all the players here because of Mick and Gavin.”
“Uh-huh. So I’m damned before I even start, huh?”
“Afraid so, cowboy. What’ll it be?”
“I’ll have a beer. Bottled. Not light.”
“Careful there, Ty,” Jenna said as she popped the top off and slid the bottle to him. “Don’t want to put on too much weight, or you’ll have trouble holding your stick.”
He grabbed the bottle and held it to his lips. “Never had any complaints about my abilities with my stick so far.”
Jenna arched a brow. “And you’re here alone? With that charm? Shocking.”
While Jenna went off to tend to one of her customers, Ty turned to Elizabeth. “Who pissed in her corn flakes?”
“She’s always tough on the guys in here. It comes from having famous brothers and fending off all the jocks, plus coming from a family that lives for sports. I don’t think guys like you are her type.”
Ty took a long pull from the bottle, his gaze trained on Jenna as she worked the bar. “Fine with me since she isn’t my type, either.”
“Is that right?” Elizabeth studied Jenna’s short dark hair, slender body, tattoos, and multiple ear piercings. She thought Jenna was sexy and adorable. “What about her isn’t your type?”
“I like them with big tits.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. From the way Ty hadn’t once taken his eyes off Jenna, she figured Ty was full of shit and just hadn’t enjoyed getting shot down.
“I think I’ll go try my luck with darts. See you later, Elizabeth.”
“Later, Ty.”
Elizabeth emptied her wineglass, and Jenna was there to refill.
“Another egocentric jock. Just what Riley’s needs.”
“Huh? Oh, you mean Ty?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s actually a pretty nice guy once you give him a chance.”
“One of yours?”
“Yes.”
“Not my type.”
Grateful to be discussing something other than herself and her miserable relationship with Gavin, Elizabeth asked, “Oh, really. And what is your type, Jenna?”
She laid her palms against the bar. “I like them cerebral. Poetic. Book smart. Lyrical. Musical. And interested in anything other than sports. Growing up with sports and being surrounded by them in this bar, I prefer to be with a man whose focus is on anything but.”
“I can understand that. So you go for the office types or the teacher types. Or maybe a lawyer.”
“I don’t care what he does for a living as long as we don’t have to talk about sports when we’re together.”
But Jenna’s gaze strayed to Ty while she wiped down the surface of the bar. Elizabeth turned and watched Ty, now involved in a game of pool with a few other guys. His jeans stretched across his mighty fine ass as he leaned across the table to take a shot. His tight T-shirt showed off his bulging biceps, and Jenna would have to be dead not to notice.