The Boyfriend League Read online

  Only he had mentioned it. And now I was thinking about it when I really shouldn’t be.

  “Tiffany makes you laugh.”

  “Oh, yeah, she’s funny, says some really silly stuff, but I think she’s a lot smarter than she lets on. You, you’re honest. You’re generous. Talking your parents into providing a home for a player.”

  Not so honest, not so generous. My reasons for wanting a player in the house were purely selfish. I wanted someone who would introduce me to the team, introduce the team to me.

  “Let’s go back to what happened at the ballpark,” I said, “because I’m still not getting it.”

  He sighed. “Look, he tells me he’s got a thing for you. I back off. He gets you. And now he’s making moves on Tiffany. What’s up with that? I know you like him. He’s a nine point five and I’m a six—”

  “No!” I reached out, covered his hand with mine.

  “Dani, I saw your roster that night at Ben and Jerry’s, when it fell out of your bag. I unfolded it, shouldn’t have, but I did. I saw the hottie scores—”

  “No. I mean, yes, I gave you a six, but I did it because I wanted to give you a ten.”

  He shook his head. “That makes no sense.”

  “I was trying to convince myself you weren’t a ten, because it’s a lot harder living with a guy you’re attracted to than it is living with one you’re not.”

  “Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You gave me a six because you liked me, and you thought it would make you stop liking me?”

  “I thought it would be weird liking a guy who was living in my house. And I sorta promised Mom I wouldn’t do that. Really like the guy who was living here. Only I do.”

  “But you’ve been hanging out with Mac.”

  “Not really. I’ve been kissing Mac.”

  I put my elbows on the table, buried my face in my hands. “God, I’ve created such a mess.” I finally lifted my head and looked at him. “I’m not noble. I’m not like Tiffany with her orphans. I talked my parents into sponsoring a player not because guys needed a place to stay. I did it…because I wanted a boyfriend.”

  “You thought I’d be your boyfriend?”

  “No, that was too icky to even consider. I mean, you’ve seen my underwear. I’ve seen yours.”

  His mouth twitched.

  “I thought you’d introduce me around,” I continued. “I’d do things with the team. The players would get to know me, become interested. I just wanted a boyfriend.”

  It sounded so pathetic, so desperate.

  “And now you’ve got one,” he said.

  “But I don’t know if he’s the right one.”

  He grabbed the ice pack, stood up. “Let me know when you figure it out.”

  I watched him walk out of the room.

  Chapter 20

  Jason and Mac. Mac and Jason. I couldn’t sleep. Instead, I started working on my feature article, writing it from my perspective.

  The hardest part about living with a Rattler?

  Finding yourself falling in love with him when you promised your mom you wouldn’t.

  Who makes a promise like that anyway? Who thinks falling in love is something she has any kind of control over?

  The door to my bedroom opened.

  “Thought I heard you in here,” Tiffany said. “I wanted to get your opinion about something.”

  I really wasn’t in the mood. “I don’t want to hear your new-and-improved national anthem.”

  “Please, it’s nowhere near ready to be shared. This is something else.” She sat on the edge of the bed, back straight, shoulders square. She was turning into Bree Van De Kamp from Desperate Housewives.

  “Relax, Tiff. I’m not going to score your posture.”

  “I am relaxed. Now here’s my dilemma. The library and the ASPCA are cosponsoring an event next Saturday: Books ’n’ Barks. As Miss Teen Ragland, I will, of course, make an appearance. But I want to do more, because the ASPCA takes in a lot of stray dogs, which are kinda like orphans, and as you’re aware, I believe in helping orphans.”

  She was so serious that as much as I wanted to laugh, I didn’t. Instead I reached for my Rattlers autographed baseball and began tossing it between my palms. “Okay.”

  “I mean, if I do the talk, I should do the walk,” she continued. “So I have an idea for something I could do to raise funds, but I’d need some volunteers. A lot of volunteers actually. But I don’t know if anyone would want to do it, because it’s really kinda yucky.”

  “Do what?”

  “Wash dogs. That’s my idea. A dog wash. The event’s at the park. They’ll have all sorts of vendors selling dog stuff. People will bring their dogs. So I thought I could pay the booth fee and set up a dog wash. People would make a donation to have their dogs washed, and the money would go to the ASPCA.”

  “I’m impressed, Tiff. That’s a great idea.”

  Her having a great idea was a sobering thought, because if she had in fact gotten brains, too…well, I’d been shortchanged.

  I’m not sure how she did it, but she sat up even straighter. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “But who would want to wash dogs? That’s my dilemma. Because I sure don’t want to do it.”

  I rolled the baseball around between my hands. “Does it have to be the Tiffany Runyon dog wash?”

  “Oh, no, I’m not doing it for my glory. I’m doing it to raise money for orphaned dogs.”

  I turned to my computer, clicked on my browser, and pulled up the Ragland Rattlers website. I went to their season schedule. Just as I thought. They didn’t have a game scheduled for next Saturday.

  “How about if you get the Rattlers to volunteer to wash the dogs?”

  “Do you think they would?”

  “Guys and dogs? Yeah, I think they would.”

  “Would you talk to them about it?”

  “It’s your idea. You talk to them.”

  “No way. I’d end up getting nervous and saying something silly.” She tapped her head. “Sometimes I can’t believe what I hear myself say. It’s, like, engage your brain before you engage your mouth.

  “But you’re great with those guys. And it’s so obvious they adore you. Like at the concert, and the water park. And here at the house? Jason is so relaxed around you. You do things together. At Dad’s party, all the guys were relaxed around you. You have things in common, things to talk—”

  “Tiffany,” I said, cutting her off before she could go on even more. “Guys hang around you all the time. You’ve had, like, a million dates!”

  “With a million guys. Dani, I go out with a guy only once or twice. And it’s always soooo awkward. What do we talk about? Nothing. Because how many guys care about the best way to apply mascara or want to discuss the right shade of eye shadow? That’s all I know. Beauty tips. So I try to fill the dead air between us and everything always sounds so stupid.

  “Don’t get me wrong. I love being Miss Teen Ragland. But seriously, the whole reason I entered the competition to begin with was to get a boyfriend. Hello?!? It didn’t work. And the worst part? Sometimes I am so jealous.”

  I stared at her, stunned by all she’d said. “Jealous of what?”

  “You and the normal life you have.”

  “It’s not normal. I’ve never had a boyfriend.” I was beginning to have doubts that Mac truly counted. Yes, he was a boy, and possibly a friend. But true BF? No longer sure.

  “You’ve got Mac. When we went to get drinks at the concert, all he talked about was how cool you were. And Jason? The way he looks at you sometimes…if Mom ever sees that look, the guy will be sleeping in his car.”

  “How can you say that about Mac? I saw him wrapped around you yesterday—”

  “Only because I asked. He is so cute. And I was having one of those green-monster moments.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Tiffany was jealous of me? How often had I been jealous of her?

  “This look Jason gives me…tell me a litt