The Boyfriend League Read Free

she’s learned to be proud of her body and feel “comfortable with its natural state.”
    â€œI have a bathrobe,” I said. “Or I could throw on shorts and a tank.”
    â€œI don’t know,” Mom said. “A boy in the house…” Her voice trailed off as though her thoughts were traveling into R-rated territory.
    â€œIt’s not like we’re going to date him, Mom. Worse than seeing Tiff without her clothes, he may see her without her makeup.”
    â€œNo way!” Tiffany screeched. “I don’t leave my room without makeup.”
    â€œExactly. It would be kinda icky dating a guy who was living with us, who wouldn’t always see us at our best. So, getting involved with him isn’t even an issue.” Getting involved with one of his teammates, yes, but him, no. “The league is really desperate for host families this year. And it just seems like such a nice thing to do, give someone a home for the summer.”
    â€œIt’s not like they’re orphans,” Tiffany said.
    She mentions orphans at every opportunity. Part of the Miss Teen Ragland competition involves answering a question about how you’d change the world or make a difference or improve yourself. For Tiffany, it doesn’t matter what question she’s asked, she always manages to explain how she’d help orphans. Maybe her generous heart and not her generous, uh, chest helped her win the past three competitions.
    I couldn’t help but think she’d gotten her chest plus mine. But that was okay, because I liked to think I’d gotten her brains plus mine.
    I looked at my dad, the real decision maker in the family. Well, okay, Mom was the true decision maker, but I knew if I could convince him, he could persuade Mom. It was the reason they’d been happily married for twenty years. They had communicating and understanding each other down to an art. I’d never seen them argue about anything.
    â€œFor two months, Dad, it would be like you had a son. Someone to pitch baseballs to—”
    â€œI pitch baseballs to you.”
    â€œSomeone to hit fly balls to—”
    â€œI hit fly balls to you.”
    â€œYou’d have a real boy—”
    â€œHe’s not Geppetto,” Tiffany said, “waiting for the blue fairy to touch us with her magic wand.”
    Maybe not, but I knew Dad had always wanted a son. What father didn’t? But that wasn’t the issue. The issue was: I wanted a boyfriend this summer, and to have a boyfriend, I needed to meet boys, and the Lonestar League was guys, guys, guys.
    Honesty time.
    I released a big sigh. “All right, so maybe I’d like to have a brother for the summer.”
    Okay, not so honest.
    â€œA boyfriend is more like it,” Tiffany said.
    I glared at her. “Any chance you could move off to college next week? Don’t they have summer classes or something?”
    â€œI have three more months of representing the city as Miss Teen Ragland. I don’t shirk my responsibilities.”
    Whatever . Her responsibilities are the reason I always have to bum rides with Bird.
    I turned back to Dad and decided to justsay it like it was. “As I already explained, I don’t want him for a boyfriend. I really want to host a baseball player this summer. Baseball is my passion. It would be a dream come true for me to have someone who lives and breathes baseball to live in our house. Think of the perspective on the sport he could give us.”
    Dad glanced across the table to Mom, his blue eyes peering at her over the upper rim of his glasses.
    Mom was the one Tiffany and I had inherited our reddish-brown hair from. I’d also inherited her green eyes—intensified. Mine were a brighter hue. Tiffany’s eyes were the same blue as Dad’s. It was the only thing she and he had in common.
    Mom shrugged. “I suppose we could make it work with a young man living in the