Page 4 of Play On

“You can’t say pick and mix, we’ve already talked about that,” Noah continues.

I smile at him. “I have more than pick and mix as a point of interest.”

“Okay. Go on.”

“Your Greek mythology tattoos,” I say easily. “Your ink tells me a lot of your story.”

Noah looks surprised by this observation. “What does that tell you about me?”

“You choose Achilles for one sleeve,” I say. “The greatest warrior with a weakness. On the other sleeve you have Apollo, who is the god of music, poetry, archery, and light. Knowledge, too. I know you like mythology, so these are thoughtful tattoos. You didn’t just choose them because they looked good.”

“No. I didn’t.”

“So both of these represent qualities that are important to you, I’m guessing. You didn’t choose these lightly. They showwhat matters to you and your intelligence. I find that incredibly attractive.”

“I chose both for football. Achilles to remind me tothink,” Noah confesses. “You can be a great warrior and still have a weakness. That tattoo reminds me to acknowledge my weaknesses and work on them. Apollo is my reminder to be creative with my game. It also represents inspiration, and that is for me to be inspired every time I take the pitch to give it my everything. To use my football knowledge to be the best that I can be.”

Yes, I was right.The reasoning behind his ink is almost hotter than the ink itself.

“There are more points of interest,” I say. “You listen to me when I talk. Not fake listen, but actually listen. You don’t get the glazed-over look some people get because I talk too much. I know I do, it’s a bad habit, but I have so many things in my brain that I want to say and talking to people is interesting. You never once gave me the look.”

“The look?”

I nod. “Yes. The ‘I’m really overwhelmed by the amount of talking you’re doing, where is the exit?’ look.”

“I’d be an idiot if I gave you that look. You’re fascinating. I love the way you have all these things to share. And I love the way your blue eyes light up when you get excited talking about them.”

My heart leaps again. No man has ever viewed me in this light.

“You’re smart,” I continue. “Considerate. Fun.”

“Fun,” he repeats.

I wrinkle my nose. “You act like nobody has ever called you fun before.”

“I’m serious. I’ve always been serious. On the pitch. About my game. Even in my downtime, playing video games or drinking a couple of beers is about as wild as I get.”

“You want to hear my wild times?” I say, pausing to take a sip of my wine.

“I do.”

“Okay, but it is incredibly weird. Weirder than the pick and mix.”

Noah nods.

“You know that Connectivity feature that lets you post and answer questions? Connect Q&A?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“I love to go on and see if there is a question I can answer.”

A brilliant smile lights up Noah’s face. “I can see that.”

“I can’t explain why I find it fun, but it’s nice to be considered knowledgeable about something.”

Noah’s eyes lock on mine. “You don’t feel that people see you that way, do you?”

“What?” I ask, surprised.

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