The Boyfriend League by Rachel Hawthorne Read Free Book Online Page B

Mr. Morton called.”
    He shrugged, stuck out his lower lip. “Probably to schedule you for concession stand duty.”
    I leaned toward him. “Excuse me?”
    â€œYeah. Host families are supposed to work the field’s concession stand. Since hosting was your idea, I told him to contact you when he needed volunteers.”
    I stared at him. “If I’m working the concession stand, how can I watch the games?”
    â€œI don’t think you have to work the entire night or every game. The duties are split among the families.”
    â€œBut you have a son for the summer. Shouldn’t you do the concession duties?”
    Dad gave me an indulgent grin. “I help with the field maintenance. You need to do your share.”
    I opened my mouth to protest, and he held up a finger. “You wanted a ballplayer in the house.”
    â€œYeah, but I didn’t know I’d have to work to have him.”
    â€œYou know what your mom always says.”
    I groaned. “I know. Nothing ever comes easy.”
    â€œThat’s right.” He reached over and patted my hand. “Go call Ed.”
    â€œDid you give him Bird’s name, too?”
    Dad grinned one of those big Bruce Willis grins that crinkled his face. “You bet.”

Chapter 8
    T uesday afternoon I was at my desk, working on my column, when I heard Jason come home from work. I heard him go into his room and shut the door. I thought about crossing the hall, just to say hey. That would be the polite thing to do.
    Only if we were supposed to treat him like family, then I should really ignore him. After all, I never went out of my way to welcome Tiffany home.
    I heard Jason open his door, heard his footsteps in the hallway, then on the stairs. I wondered if he was going to raid the kitchen, but that made no sense. He’d just gotten off from work, and I’d overheard him mention to Mom that she didn’t need to worry about feeding himwhen he worked, because he got a free meal when he finished his shift.
    Mom and Dad were both still at work. Tiffany was off cutting the ribbon at the grand opening of an appliance store, which meant it was just Jason and me. Tonight was the season opener, and for all I knew, he might be nervous about it. Maybe he’d want someone to talk to.
    I closed my file and went in search of him. He wasn’t in the living room or the family room. Not in the kitchen, either.
    Then I heard a sound in the laundry room. The washing machine starting its churning cycle. I’d used it a couple of hours earlier. I’d even used the dryer. Unfortunately, I had a bad habit of not retrieving my clothes until I needed them, which meant they were still there.
    I looked into the laundry room. Sure enough, Jason had put a laundry basket on top of the dryer, and he was holding a pair of my panties—a red, lacy low-cut pair—like he thought they had the potential to bite him.
    He must have heard me in the doorway, because he looked at me, his cheeks turning thesame shade as my underwear. “I need to get my uniform washed…and dried. I’m not sure who these clothes belong to or what I should do—”
    I stepped into the room, and without actually claiming the underwear as mine, I snatched them from between his fingers and tossed them into the laundry basket. “Yeah, I’ll take care of it.”
    â€œThanks.” He backed off like they were radioactive. He was wearing a ratty T-shirt and faded gym shorts, the kinds of clothes I usually wore when I was trying to get everything washed on the same day. Except even with ratty clothes on, he looked good. Comfortable. Snuggleable. Yeah, he definitely looked like a guy that a girl would want to snuggle against.
    â€œWe all do our own clothes around here,” I said inanely, pulling the rest of my clothes out of the dryer and dumping them in the basket.
    â€œThat’s cool. Same goes at my house. It’s just that