Chapter Nine
Rachel poured herself another cup of caramel coffee and threw in a splash of cream. It was almost ten in the morning, and she’d been thinking about the story she was supposed to be investigating since she’d woken up over two hours ago. Rick would want her—no, expect her—to have some sort of credible information or a lead of some kind if he were going to keep her in Philadelphia. And at this point, she hadn’t even begun to look into anyone who may help her find out about the club.
Now it wasn’t just that the story was important to her; she liked spending time with Gabe. He was funny, and sweet, and generous. And she wanted no part of going back to New York when she could be here hanging out with him. Or kissing him. Yes, she decided she’d definitely like to kiss him again.
But she couldn’t shake the fact that having any sort of a romantic relationship with Gabe was, ethically speaking, a poor idea. She’d told him that she was here as her first stop on a profile of professional athletes, which was a lie in itself. And the more she thought about it, the guiltier she felt.
But there was no way she could tell him about her real subject of her story. She needed to find a reason to be in Philly that she could share with Gabe. Her mind had gone in circles trying to come up with the perfect solution, but in a few hours, she’d come up with absolutely nothing. Plus, if she didn’t find a solid lead soon, she knew that soon enough Rick would tell her to call it quits and head back to New York with or without the information she’d come here for. All Access certainly didn’t have unlimited funds. But it wasn’t Rachel’s style to give up so easily. Something would come to her eventually. She was sure of it.
And as she turned on the TV with the hopes of giving herself a break from thoughts of Gabe and the article, that something was staring her right in the face.
***
When Gabe saw Rachel’s name come up on his phone, he rose from the couch immediately and headed toward his kitchen to answer. “Hey,” he said, doing his best not to sound as thrilled as he felt that she was calling him. They’d gone out the previous night, and if he expected to hear from her, it wasn’t this soon.
“Hey,” she replied. “What’s going on?”
Gabe glanced over his island at the guys who were lounging on his dark brown leather couches. “Nothing really. I’m hanging out with Jace and another guy who used to play for the Premiers.”
There was silence on the other end of the line before Rachel spoke again. “Oh, well, I was calling to see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat or a drink or something. I had an idea I wanted to run by you, but don’t want to interrupt—”
“No, you’re not interrupting anything. We’re just watching college basketball.”
“Oh, okay.” Her voice sounded lighter, and he thought he recognized excitement in it. “Well, would it be weird for me to come over and hang with all of you for a little while? It’ll be like I’m one of the guys, I swear.”
Gabe laughed thinking that he would never be able to think of Rachel as another dude, even if she did have a passion for sports. “It’s only weird because you asked if it would be weird.”
“Oh, um…”
“I’m kidding,” said Gabe. “Come on over.”
“Great! I’ll see you in a little while.”
“Rachel?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you need my address?”
“Yes, yes.” She laughed softly, and he could tell he’d gotten her a little flustered. “I need your address. That’d probably be a good idea.”
“I’ll text it to you as soon as I hang up,” he assured her. “I’m glad you’re coming.”
He hadn’t given much thought to his last statement before he’d said it, but he was happy he’d told her. And when she responded with a “Me too,” Gabe smiled more brightly than he had in a long time.
Gabe must’ve still been smiling when he came back to the family room because Manny raised an eyebrow at him before asking, “Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?” Gabe asked, doing his best to play it cool.
“That was probably his girl,” Jace said before Manny could describe the goofy grin that Gabe was sure Manny had been referring to.
“She’s not my girl,” Gabe said, thinking about how Camille had referred to Rachel the same way. He wished it were true. Picking up his beer bottle from the table, he settled back into his favorite chair.
“So you’re hanging out with someone else’s girl?” Manny asked, his eyes widening. “You better hope whoever he is doesn’t find out.”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “She’s not anyone else’s girl either. I mean, I thought she was with this one guy, but then Camille told me he wasn’t on our team, and—”
“He’s a ballplayer too? What team does he play for?” Manny asked,
“The gay one,” Gabe answered, feeling vindicated that he wasn't the only one who was confused by the reference. He'd have to tell Camille about it later.
“Oh, gotcha.” Manny slapped his thigh and fell back in laughter. Manny had always been a bigger guy, and since he’d gained more than a few pounds after his retirement three years ago, his stomach bounced with every chuckle. When he finally calmed down, he asked, “So you gonna hit that, or what, man?”
Gabe rolled his eyes, causing Manny to say that he guessed Gabe already had.
“A gentleman never kisses and tells,” Gabe said.
Manny stared blankly before looking around and declaring that he didn’t see any gentlemen there.
Gabe punched his friend hard in the shoulder. “She’s coming over soon, so you better not ruin this for me.”
“We won’t,” Manny promised him. “You’ll probably ruin it for yourself before we get the chance.”