Page 301 of Well Played

“Packing to head home for the holidays, but I was wondering… How do you feel about company holiday parties?”

7

Nando cleared his throat,then checked his breath before ringing the doorbell. After spending the afternoon with the trainer, he headed to Lila’s apartment.

For the third time this week.

He’d been thinking about her a lot lately. And not just because she was pretty. Really pretty. Petite with a sassy smile that matched the attitude. He had a type when it came to looks, but not only did she check every box, she had a quality none of the other women he’d been with recently had.

He genuinely liked her.

She could have been the exact opposite of his type and he’d still like her. Her sense of humor, her way of treating him like a person instead of a celebrity. She knew herself and was true to herself in a ‘what you see is what you get’ style he appreciated. She was also smart, professional, and above all, compassionate. The way she kept him calm when he was two seconds away from freaking out stuck with him. She was a good person, they hung out like buds, had fun together, and he started looking forward to being with her, and he hadn’t even kissed her yet.

And he realized he wanted to.

Would she want to kiss him? They teased and trashed talked like his teammates and he loved it. She gave as good as she got but backed up her talk with actions. He liked her, respected her, and now he wanted to know if there could be more between them.

He had a week before he flew home to Arizona for the offseason. Maybe he could talk her into putting things on hold until he came back. Not that he wanted to put things on hold, He wanted to move things forward, but needed to know if she was interested in moving forward… right before he left for a few months.

Stupid timing.

He raised his hand to the doorbell when the door opened. It wasn’t Lila.

“Hey,” the woman said. “You must be Nando.” She stepped back from the entryway. “I’m Davina. Lila is just getting dressed--”

“And Davina was just leaving.”

Nando turned towards the voice and an appreciative smile curled his lips. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“No,” Davina answered. “I just stopped by to waste time before my nail appointment.” Pulling her purse onto her shoulder, she gave Lila a knowing look before heading out. “Catch you at work?”

Lila walked her to the door. “See you in the morning.” Shutting the door before Davina could say anything else, she turned back to Nando. “I’m almost ready to go. Just let me grab my purse and shoes.”

“No rush,” he said, following her into the family room. “What do you want to eat? Anything you’re in the mood for?”

“What are you feeling?” she asked, tying up her Chucks.

“What about a good burger?”

“I’m always down for a good burger.”

“Let’s go.”

Twenty minutes later, they found themselves with takeout from a little hole-in-the-wall diner, heading to the bay. Nando parked near the playground and grabbed a blanket from the back of his car while Lila grabbed the burger bags.

With the blanket spread, they got comfortable. Nando took his phone out and started one of his many playlists. Then handing Lila her shake, they started with casual talk about their days. After a few beats, Nando brought up the ball.

“Saturday night, I plan on spending most of the night out on the dance floor.”

She finished off her fries. “I hope you don’t mind me looking better with you.”

“Hey,” he protested. “I clean up pretty damn well.”

She looked him up and down and gave a grudging nod. “I suppose.” Taking a sip of her shake, “If you want to know, I’m wearing red.”

“Cool,” he said. “The WAGs all wear black, and the dates that aren’t booty calls wear red.”

“What do booty calls wear?”

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