“You want something?” I heard Hunter say.
I turned to him with confusion written all over my face. “Hmm?”
“You didn’t hear one word I said, did you?”
“I heard you.”
“Yeah? What did I ask?”
“You asked if I wanted something.”
“Before that.”
“Oh.”
He smirked and leaned in. “Thinking about what I said earlier in the car, aren’t you?”
“I am not.”
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“How old are you? Because you sound like you’re seven.”
Hunter stood. “What do you want to eat? Because if you let me decide, I’m buying you a hot dog to watch you eat it.”
“I’m not hungry.” It wasn’t until my eyes followed Hunter down the bleachers that I even noticed the game had stopped. It was half-time, and I’d dazed for most of the first part of the game.
Hunter returned with a brown box holding pretzels and two ridiculously large sodas. He handed one to me. “So, what did you decide?”
“I guess I’m having a pretzel since you bought it for me already.”
“I meant regarding my proposal you’ve been fantasizing about for the last half hour.”
“I wasn’t...” I thought better of protesting again, which would lead to another round of immature am not, are toos, and instead, I came clean. Rolling my eyes, I said, “I’ve been going over the pros and cons in my head.”
He set his pretzel down, dusted off his hands, and turned in his seat to give me his full attention. “Lay ’em on me.”
“What? No.”
“Why not?”
“Well, for starters, this isn’t the appropriate place for it.” I looked to my left and right. Although no one seemed to be paying attention, I’d certainly eavesdrop on this conversation if I heard it in the stands.
“Okay. Then where is?”
“Somewhere more private.”
“My place after the game today.”
“No.”
“Why not? Can’t trust yourself?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll have Izzy, and I told her we would go shopping later this afternoon after the game.”
“Tomorrow, then?”
“Date with Marcus.”
Hunter made a face.
“When I told you I was going over the pros and cons in my head, I didn’t mean I wanted your assistance. I was just being honest.”
“Fine. But if you’re going to go over the pros and cons without me, I want to plead my case first.”
My brows raised. “Plead your case?”
“Yep. You might be missing some critical factors that would sway your decision.”
“Oh yeah?” I laughed. “Like what?”
“Well, you should know I’m extremely good at it.”
“Every man thinks he’s good at it, Hunter.”
He ignored me. “And I’m well endowed.”
“Show me a man who pleads his case by saying ‘I have a tiny penis’.”
“I believe sex without going down on a woman first is bad manners.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
One of the women sitting two rows ahead of us turned and leaned up. “If she says no, I’ll give you my number.”
My face turned crimson, while Hunter, being Hunter, dazzled her with a smile and wink. “And I haven’t even gotten to my best selling points yet.”
Luckily, the ref blew the whistle calling the game back to start, and the persistent man sitting next to me redirected his focus. I, on the other hand, stared straight ahead, struggling to follow a bouncing ball. All I could think was God, I like a man with good manners.
***
“Could we go to the mall tomorrow before going to Sunday night dinner?” Izzy asked from the back of Hunter’s rental car. We were almost back to the city after getting stuck in construction traffic.
I turned. “I have plans tomorrow in the afternoon.”
“Oh. That’s right. The ugly guy.”
From the corner of my eye, I caught Hunter smirking.
“Marcus isn’t ugly. Besides, I thought you needed to go to the mall today for some new practice shorts.”
Izzy shrugged. “I can use the ones I have for a while longer.”
There was a reason if she was giving up a trip to the mall. “Okay. So if we skip the mall this afternoon, do you want to do something else?”
She looked away. “I kind of want to go to Beacon to watch the boys basketball game.”
“The boys basketball game?”
“For technique,” she responded, selling it way too hard. “It’s good to watch other players for form and technique, right, Hunter?”