Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Cole

Ty and I walk down the hallway towards the living room. We just finished packing up his “man cave,” but really it’s just his home office.

“Thanks for coming over to help. Heather wants to get moved in asap.” Ty says.

“What are little brothers for?” I ask with a chuckle.

“To help their big brothers when they need it.” he replies as he smacks me on the back of my head.

Oh, hell no! Shoulder checking Ty into the wall, he tries to come back and put me in a headlock. But hearing my stomach growl, I toss my hands up to say I surrender. We are both laughing at one another.

“What are we having for lunch today? Wait, don’t answer that. Can we get piz..” running into Ty’s back, I stop my question. Seeing that his wife, Heather, is sitting on the couch with a woman. They both turn to face us.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I forgot you had your interviews today.” Ty apologizes to her.

“It’s okay, babe. This is Adriana. We were just getting started.” Heather smiles at her husband.

These two are so in love that neither of them can do no wrong. Yeah, I know I sound jealous. Maybe I’m just a little.

“I’m Tyler, but you can call me Ty and this loud mouth is my brother Cole.” Ty introduces us.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Adriana says with a shy smile.

Being able to really look at her, I’m knocked on my ass. She is beyond gorgeous. She has the prettiest caramel colored eyes. Her pink button up and black blazer make her tan skin glow naturally. I feel like I could stare at her with that smile for days. Wait, what? No, I haven’t even spoken to her. I need to stop this train before it leaves the station.

“Hey, let’s go grab lunch so we can get out of Heather’s way. We can bring it back and all eat together.” The words fall out of my mouth before I can stop myself.. “What are you ladies up for?”

My brother looks at me with crazy eyes and Adriana looks like a deer caught in headlights. She looks over at Heather for a hint as to what to do or say. She doesn’t disappoint me either, in her response. I’ve always thought she was the best sister-in-law, but today just confirmed it.

She lifts her eyebrows when she looks over at me and says, “Well, Adriana, it seems like you have the approval of my brother-in-law and husband. They don’t just offer food to us normal people often. How do you feel about pizza?”

“Pizza works for me.” She answers.” If it’s okay to stay for lunch, that is.”

“Of course. It will give us some time to talk while the boys go grab the food.”

“Hey Now! We are men, not boys sis!” I joke with her. “What kind of pizzas are we grabbing?” I ask.

“I’m good with pepperoni or plain.” Adriana tells me.

“You and Ty know what I like, Cole. Don’t mess it up!” Heather teases.

With that, we are out the door, heading down to the pizza shop two blocks away. As we hit the sidewalk, I can feel my brother staring at me.

“What? Why are you staring at me?” Questioning him.

“Because you, who are not looking to date anytime soon, were up there eyeing Heather’s possible personal assistant. I thought you were on a break from women after Layla and all the bullshit that has followed.”

Scrubbing my hand down my face because he isn’t wrong. “Not blind, big brother. She is drop dead gorgeous, can’t help it. Why the hell is Heather interviewing for a personal assistant, anyway?” I ask him since this is the first time hearing about it.

We spend way too much time together for me not to know what is going on. We play professional baseball for the same team, The New York Grizzlies. Ty is the first baseman while my position is catcher. We both feel lucky that we get to not only play the game we grew up loving, but we get to do it together.

Ty goes on to tell me that with the charity foundation they’re starting for the team, Heather needs a personal assistant who can help with a little bit of everything. He also tells me that if they decide to offer her the position, she will move with them to Westchester. I mentally fist bump him because the house next door to theirs just became mine.

I’ll be close by.

We reach the pizza shop and put in our order with the guy at the counter. While we come here often, the staff changes frequently. Ty and I try to be inconspicuous. It doesn’t always work and today is one of those days. Even with sunglasses and New York Beavers hockey caps, the guy who just took our order recognizes us. I look at the guy and motion for it to be a secret, so there isn’t a commotion from those around. Taking a pen from the cup by the register, and a menu, both Ty and I sign it before sliding it over. The guy mouths thank you and we go take a seat in the back corner.

We bullshit while we wait. At some point, I zone out thinking about the gorgeous woman that hopefully will also be my new neighbor in a couple of weeks. I haven’t been interested in getting to know someone for a while, but there’s something about Adriana that has me wanting to know everything about her.

Why? I’m not sure why because I’ve sworn off women. Dating hasn’t worked out for me and I’m tired of being used.