Read Online Get You Good by Rhonda Bowen - Free Book Online

Denary, Brian Packman, and Gary Forbes,” he said, introducing her to the three players at the table.
    â€œHey, I know you,” Sydney said, brightening as she looked at Gary Forbes. “I’ve heard your name on the radio.”
    Gary laughed. “She’s cute, Dub. I like her.”
    â€œYeah, well, don’t like her too much,” Hayden said. The other guys laughed.
    â€œNice to meet all of you,” Sydney said with a smile.
    â€œOh no, the pleasure is ours,” Brian said. “We couldn’t wait to meet the woman that had Dub watching the stands harder than he was watching us the other night.”
    â€œWhatever,” Hayden said, shaking his head. “I was not.”
    â€œYes, you were,” Brian and Gary said at the same time before laughing. Sydney couldn’t help but laugh also.
    â€œSo why’d you flake on us, Sydney?” Sean asked. “You’re not into basketball? Or did Dub’s ugly mug scare you off.”
    Sydney laughed. “No. I had to work—”
    A mutual sound of disapproval went up from all the men around the table.
    Hayden leaned toward her and she got a whiff of his cologne.
    â€œTough crowd, eh?”
    â€œA little,” she said, looking up into his smiling eyes. “You would think they would cut a working woman some slack.”
    Just then the dessert plates with larger-than-normal portions started arriving at the table. When all the plates had been put down, including one for Sydney, Sean looked up at Hayden.
    â€œYou want to do the thing, Dub?”
    Hayden nodded and turned to Sydney. “Do you mind if we pray over our food?”
    Sydney blinked several times, surprised.
    â€œUh, no. Not at all.”
    Every head lowered and Hayden said grace. When he was done, everyone dug in and the chatter went up again, but Sydney’s eyes stayed on Hayden.
    â€œWhat?” he asked after a moment.
    She shook her head and smiled. “I never heard someone pray over dessert before.”
    â€œWell, if this red velvet cake is anything like your dad’s back in the day, I better pray that I don’t get a heart attack,” he said, digging in.
    She couldn’t help but watch as he took the first forkful into his mouth. She smiled. The satisfied sound he made in his throat gave her a warm satisfying feeling in her tummy. She had made that cake herself.
    â€œSo what did Dub tell you to get you all to come down here anyway?” Sydney asked, slipping a small bite of pumpkin pie into her mouth.
    â€œWell, he didn’t really ask us,” Brian said, articulating with his fork. “It was supposed to be just him and Sean. But then when we heard where he was going, we decided to crash his party.”
    Hayden shook his head as Sydney laughed.
    â€œWow, you guys must be really close,” she said.
    â€œWell, you know, Dub is a cool brother,” Brian said, glancing at Hayden.
    â€œSure, he’s our trainer, but he’s also one of us, you know?” said Gary. “He used to play in the league. In fact, he should still be playing in the league. . . .”
    â€œAll right, all right, let’s not get into that.” Hayden threw up his hands with a small smile. “My days on the court are gone, and I’m fine with that. I love what I do. And I love having a front-row seat to watch you guys do what you do.”
    â€œSee what I mean?” Gary turned to Sydney. “Dub is good people.”
    â€œBut anyway,” Sean said. “What had happened was, practice ended early and we noticed that Dub was trying to give us the slip. So I was like, dog, where you going? And he was trying to play it off and act like it wasn’t nothin’ serious, but then we find out that he was going to the restaurant of the woman who stood him up Sunday. . . .”
    Sydney glanced over at Hayden. He had a look of amusement on his face as he listened to Sean.
    â€œSo of course, being