Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Caleb

The day of the football fundraiser was about as perfect an August Saturday as one could wish for in Mount Hope, sunny with a warm breeze without being sweltering, ideal weather for the charity game, followed by the fundraising dinner and silent auction. I'd worked with other committee members assembling tents, hanging decor, laying out mementos of past teams, and arranging food deliveries the past few days. Accordingly, watching everything come together for a sellout crowd was almost as big a rush as pulling off a rescue on shift.

My adrenaline was nothing compared to Scotty and the rest of the high school team, who predictably had prevailed in a game of touch football with the alumni. The game had been raucous and loosely refereed with the focus on entertaining the crowd. My own entertainment came from watching Tony coach the kids. He radiated positive vibes the whole time, celebrating their successes more than any miscues. And after winning, the team was in a celebratory mood as they heaped their plates full of food from the buffet.

"That's what I call a win." Scotty was hyped, and it was fun to see him so enthusiastic.

"Victory, but they made you work for it?" I teased as I refilled a tray of romaine lettuce.

"Exactly." Cosmo was extra-earnest as he filled his plate with nearly half the salad I'd set out. Scotty and John ambled down the buffet line to the barbeque brisket and pork options. "We let the old-timers have their moments, but we also showed what we're made of."

"It certainly left people excited for the season." I gestured at the crowd, many of whom were wearing the school colors of red and black. Angel had the idea of offering a select number of season tickets with guaranteed good bleacher seats, which were nearly sold out.

"That's ‘cause Scotty and John are an unstoppable combo." Cosmo finally finished filling his plate right as his mother wandered over from the ticket sales table.

"Don't forget to mingle and encourage bidders on the silent auction items after you eat." Angel stole a breadstick off Cosmo's heaped plate.

"Make sure you bid on the private Pinball Pizza party." Cosmo made pleading eyes at his mother, who merely sighed.

"Already done." She jerked her head toward Tony, who was also filling a plate. "Make your uncle bid on something too. There are a ton of dinner-for-two options."

"Quit meddling in my love life, Angel," Tony grumbled as my back muscles tightened. In a perfect world, he'd bid on said dinners for us, not some random person Angel was dying to set him up with.

"Thou would have to have a love life for me to meddle in it." Angel gave an arch smile before she and Tony both meandered toward one of the many tables set up for attendees to eat at.

I finished restocking the buffet before making my way to where Scotty was sitting, finishing his dinner. Our mother had come over from Portland for the fundraiser, and she was making one last pass through the silent auction items. Figuring she'd eventually make her way back to Scotty's table, I took a seat next to Scotty but not before glancing over at the table with Tony, Angel, Cosmo, and the rest of the huge Capo family, which included two other sisters and a bunch of nieces and nephews.

I carefully turned my attention back to Scotty. "Was there something you wanted me to bid on for you?"

"Dude, you're hopeless." Scotty cocked his head in the direction of Tony's table, but I chose to ignore his implication.

"So that's a no. You don't want anything from the auction?"

"You know what I meant." Scotty gave me a pointed look. "And Mom has guilt-bid on plenty of stuff."

"Hey, at least she seems to be having a good time. And all the moms have been outbidding each other." I worked to not let my eyes wander back in Tony's direction. Instead, my gaze landed on the table with Eric, who'd brought all his teens along with Jonas. Even Maren was there, likely in town to check on her friend again. She'd seemed to be around a lot more since the hiking accident. "Mom does feel bad she's not seeing you every day anymore. Be gentle with her."

"I'm trying." Scotty twisted his lips. Channeling Tony's good advice, I let the subject drop. Scotty was allowed to have feelings about our parents, and I couldn't solve every issue for him, no matter how much I wanted.

"You should make sure you say goodbye before she leaves for Portland. She's got an open house tomorrow, so she doesn't want to wait too late to drive back."

"And so you can have the place to yourself." Scotty's eyes danced, warning more teasing was incoming.

"After today? I'm exhausted." I made a show of yawning and stretching. "No wild parties. Heck, I doubt I even have the energy to read or watch a movie."

"You might be alone, but you wish you had plans. You've got a C-R-U-S-H on your new BFF." Scotty didn't have to look over at Tony for me to know exactly who he meant.

"He's a friend. Acquaintance. Coworker. Whatever." I bungled through a denial, only to give up and make a frustrated noise. "Scotty, go mingle with Mom."

"Yep. You've got it bad." Laughing, Scotty pushed away from the table, taking his empty plate with him. "Luckily for you, I don't think he has a clue."

And with one last laugh at my expense, Scotty went off to join our mom. He wasn't wrong. I might be the one catching unwanted feelings, but I doubted Tony had an inkling despite all our sneaky sex. I suppressed a sigh as I scanned the room. Tony was now standing with a group of fellow football alumni, laughing and steering various friends toward the silent auction tables. He was a smooth operator and probably responsible for the biggest percentage of donations.

Watching Tony work a room was even more of a turn-on than watching him coach. His competence made heat rise in my chest, a strange mixture of pride and pleasure. Scotty was right. I had another hopeless crush despite my best efforts to prevent it. Or, more accurately, my marginal efforts, seeing as I couldn't keep my hands or mind off the guy.

Later in the evening, we carted away the buffet tables to make room for dancing to a local country cover band that had donated its time to the fundraiser. Eric and the younger teens departed around that time, but Maren dragged Jonas onto the dancefloor for a silly line dance number. I walked my mom to her car, wishing her a safe drive back to Portland, before returning to lurk along the back edge of the event tent. I'd agreed to help with cleanup, so I couldn't exactly leave, but watching happy pairs spin in time to the music was hardly my idea of fun.

Right then, almost as if I'd summoned him, Tony came up alongside me.

"Angel's about to close the silent auction bidding and says we're on track for even more donations than we hoped for."

"That's awesome." My voice came out flatter than I intended, and Tony frowned.

"You okay? You look tense."

"Nah. Long day. That's all." I offered him some approximation of a smile. "Congrats on the win."

"Eh. That was all the kids. My main job was keeping them from running up the score."

I chuckled. "Gotta keep the opponents happy enough to open their wallets after the game."

"For sure." Tony reached a hand toward my shoulder, only to abruptly drop it. "Fuck. I hate this."

"The sneaking around is pretty awful." I tried not to sound too whiny. It was what it was, and it wasn't his fault I was starting to chafe at the rules I'd helped create.

"Trying to be discreet sucks, especially when all I want to do is touch you." Tony gave me a sad, crooked smile that hit me square in the gut. He'd said over and over that he wasn't into relationships, but I wasn't sure I bought that. He deserved something open where he could casually touch his partner, dance, and be a couple publicly. As long as we were coworkers, that wasn't going to be us, and that was what truly sucked.

However, I didn't want to spend the night lamenting what we couldn't have. I forced myself to give him a quick, heated look and flirty smile. "Hey, discretion has its perks too. We've got a naughty secret to look forward to later."

"Yup." Tony glanced away as Angel walked toward us.

"Tony, come dance." She grabbed his hand and looked over her shoulder at me. "You too, Caleb. This is a fun song."

And so, I, with my two left feet, ended up shuffling and swaying near but not with Tony and Angel. Tony, naturally, was an amazing dancer who seemed to take pleasure in something I often found excruciating. Yet, I'd happily try for him, and lord, how I wanted the chance to slow dance with him. Our gazes met across the dancefloor, and his eyes echoed that same wish.

"Later," he mouthed at me. That would have to be enough, our personal after-party for two.