Page 36 of The Future Play

She watches me as I drag my teeth over my bottom lip like I’m thinking about it. “You better.”

“Henderson!” Coach yells.

“Gotta go. I’ll see you in a few. Remember, hold on to that ball.”

“Wow. Thisis… massive.”

Amanda blinks up at my house.

“It is, but with three younger siblings running around, it has a tendency to feel small. C’mon. This way.”

I lead her around the side of the house, then key in the code on the gate that opens onto the wrap around deck. When we get around to the back of the house, I turn on the gas fire pit and flick the switch for the lantern lights.

“Hopefully, no one will bug us out here.”

“Your parents don’t seem that bad.”

I give her a skeptical look. “Trust me. They’re wild cards. Plus, if my younger siblings see you, they’ll have a billion questions to ask. Especially Penny.”

She sits down on an oversized outdoor loveseat, and I take a seat next to her.

“I wouldn’t mind meeting them someday. If you were cool with it. Penny sounds fun.”

“She is. Even if she knows exactly how to push my buttons. And I’m sure she’d love to meet you.”

She tilts her head. “You know, that sounds like you’re playing off the answershe’dlove to meet me. But I said if you were cool with it.”

“I’m cool with it.”

Amanda slips her shoes off and extends her feet closer to the fire, wiggling her toes.

After the game, we went for dinner with Aaron, Rae, Miles, and Trevor, and I had to spend the whole night pretending Amanda wasn’t across the table from me. Keeping myself from staring at her was a challenge. She draws me in. I’ve never felt like that before. This insatiable pull to be near her. Not to mention she’s hot as fuck, sarcastic, and witty—which are also turn ons.

I want her. I want her when maybe I shouldn’t. This can’t go anywhere, can it? In three months, she’s back at school. In a year… fuck, I don’t know where I’ll be. Aiming for a D1 college or headed for professional ball? I still don’t know which path to take. Sometimes I think I’m sure what would be better, then I wake up and think something else.

Amanda runs her finger down my arm, jolting me back to reality.

“Where’d you go?”

I look down at the flames. “In my own head. Introvert problems.”

She laughs. “I don’t know. I’m pretty extroverted, and I do that a lot too. I have a pretty entertaining internal monologue. Easy to get lost in.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

She shrugs, smiling brightly. Mischief dances in her eyes, and I want more. I want to know more.

“So, tell me something about you.”

She gestures to herself. “What you see is what you get.”

“That doesn’t mean I’ve seen everything yet. What do you do for fun? What’s a secret you don’t tell many people? I don’t know, I just want to know more.”

I want to know everything.

Saying that feels dangerous though.

“Okay, for fun… Rae and I started doing kickboxing together in January and I love it. It’s been great for my strength and stamina, but also my mental health. My favorite thing to do before I go to sleep is curl up under my blankets with a cup of tea and read. Total granny hobby, but the relaxed side of me is a bit of a granny.”

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