Colby (Season Two: The Ninth Inning #6) by Lindsay Paige, Mary Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

with her family, who are all grinning widely, except for one guy, whom I assume is her father. Ariella doesn’t seem to believe what she’s seeing.
    “Hey,” I lean in and kiss her cheek. “Hope you don’t mind that I brought a few friends.”
    She shakes her head. “Colby, meet my partner, Duke, his wife and my sister, Alizeh, my mom, Allison, and my dad, Fletcher.”
    “Nice to meet y’all,” I say, shaking each of their hands. “I think y’all are familiar with Jordan, Blake, and Tanner.”
    They exchange hellos and then Ariella and Duke are being pulled toward the field while her family leads us to the bleachers. Tanner ends up sitting next to Ariella’s mom.
    “You are too freaking cute,” she tells him.
    Tanner grins. “Thanks.”
    “Young man, she’s married. And Allison, you’re married,” Fletcher needlessly reminds her.
    “I’ll keep my hands to myself,” Tanner jokes.
    “Fletcher, stop it,” she pushes his shoulder. “I’m old enough to be their mother.”
    “So, Colby,” Alizeh starts. “You’re going to have to tell us all about yourself since your background check came back clean.”
    I laugh, humored by the situation. “What do you want to know? I figured you’ve probably learned I’m from Michigan and I have a sister, depending on how in-depth the background check was.”
    “I know your blood type,” Fletcher grumbles. “And you own a death mobile.”
    “My motorcycle hasn’t killed me yet, but then, any vehicle could be called a death mobile since you’re more likely to die in a car crash than in an airplane accident,” I point out, causing Fletcher to mutter under his breath, too low for me to hear him.
    “Colby, my husband is extremely protective of his family,” Allison explains. “Don’t listen to anything he says. His bark is bigger than his bite.”
    Fletcher is quick to confidently add, “But my gun hits the target every time.”
    “Dad, you’re being rude. We have Angels here and the important thing is that we talk about how we’re getting box seats for my husband,” she jokes to break the tension.
    “I brought some stuff for y’all, but I left it in the car for after the game. Ariella told me who you liked, so that’s why I asked them to tag along and sign some stuff.”
    “How kind of you guys.” Allison smiles at all of us.
    “Blake, I heard you’re about to have a baby,” Alizeh says. “Duke and I had a little boy six months ago. Duke has him ready to go to baseball games, but it’s just too hot for him right now.”
    “Yeah, we have a few more months to go. What’s his name?” Blake asks politely.
    “We named him Duke, but we all call him Lil D. He’s huge though; I blame Dad and Duke for his genetics.”
    Blake looks over at her dad and then Duke. “Yeah, I would too,” he laughs.
    “Colby, do you see your parents often?” Allison asks me.
    “Only about once or twice a year for the holidays. Between my job, my sister living in Maryland with her family, and my parents traveling so much, it’s hard to coordinate our schedules.”
    “Oh, how sad. I’m sure it’s tough on y’all because of your travel schedules and such. You know what,” she beams, “you should come have dinner at our house. Yes, you should.” She nods.
    “Okay, sure, if Ariella doesn’t mind. She says she eats with y’all often.”
    “She won’t care at all,” Allison confirms.
    “Yes, she will,” Fletcher interrupts. “You know what happened last time.”
    “Dad, that was your fault,” Alizeh tells him. “You scared the guy half to death when you were cleaning your guns. That’s why she doesn’t bring guys home.”
    I laugh. “I already told Ariella I don’t scare easily.”
    “You should,” Fletcher deadpans.
    “Sugar Daddy here is hard to scare off,” Tanner says. “It’s like nothing can surprise him.”
    I glare at him. “Seriously? You just couldn’t say Colby?”
    “Sugar Daddy? What the hell does that mean?” Fletcher