Page 106 of Courtside

“I,” she started, glancing between David and the others, who were all doubled over and hollering.Assholes. “What the fuck was that?”

David glanced up, catching the curve of the black wings as the grackle swooped over the roof of the house and disappeared from sight.Creepy, beady-eyed demons, he thought, scanning the sky in case more of them were around.

“David is afraid of birds,” Chuck managed to gasp out between laughs.

David paddled back toward the dock, managing to shoot his best friend the middle finger as he scowled up at him. “Not all birds, you asshole,” he grumbled. He reached up to grab the edge of the platform, and, gathering his strength, pushed himself up out of the water. “Just the skinny black ones.”

Sage’s eyebrows shot up her forehead as a grin pulled at her lips. “Grackles?”

David shuddered as he stretched his legs out on the warm wood of the dock.

“David,” Sage continued. “You’re huge. They’re small. Make this make sense to me.”

Behind him, Rebecca giggled.

He let out a groan. “They’re unpredictable!”

Now Sage’s laugh joined in with the others. With a resigned sigh, he flopped back onto his back, crossing his arms over his face just in case the goddamn terror of a bird decided to show back up.

* * *

As soon as Maggie arrived and was settled into her room, the whole group — including Tommy, who’d finally dragged himself out of bed — went out on the pontoon boat that came with the house.

David was content to sit on one of the bench seats in the front with Sage’s bare skin pressed against his. He had a hat pulled down over his forehead and sunglasses on to battle the bright glare of the sun on the still water.

Sage looked too good to be real in an orange bikini that left miles and miles of her skin exposed, and she wore a green trucker hat to shade her face. Her hair was in two braids, which curved down her chest and rested on her pert breasts.

His brain was reduced to a refrain oflovely, lovely, so goddamn lovely.

Maggie and Rebecca sat together on the facing bench, and the three women had fallen into a conversation that bounced from topic to topic amid laughter and loud proclamations of “What” and “No fucking way!”

Keaton drove the boat, and Darius, Tommy, and Chuck sat in the back, quietly conversing over beers.

It was good. So good to be there, and any lingering fear in the back of his mind that Sage might not fit in with them was completely washed away as he watched the relaxed smile on her face.

He couldn’t lose her.

The thought crashed into the forefront of his mind, loud and demanding. He knew it wasn’t his choice to make. It was hers, all hers. Sage was at a point in her life where endless opportunities were open to her. She could go anywhere and do anything, andgoddammithe wanted that for her. He wanted to watch her take on the world.

But was it wrong that he wanted to be there for it all? He wanted to be up close, to see her first thing in the morning when she was all soft and cuddly, to make her tea in a to-go mug, and then to see her at the end of the day, to walk through the park with Daisy together, to eat together, and then to lay her out in their bed andworshipher.

He wanted that so badly that his chest ached.

And if she was coaching? He could already imagine them debating the merits of zone versus man defense and sharing play ideas. She’d poke through his self-doubt the way she always did, and he’d encourage her to trust her gut. They’d take on the world together, working from the courtside to build up the next generation of players.

He had an idea, one that could make it all work out. One that would keep Sage there in Charleston. Keep her close to him. Keep herwithhim.

He just had to convince her to accept his help.

* * *

The week passed in a blur of diving into the cool water, applying aloe lotion to sunburned shoulders, grilling out on the deck, pool tournaments, and almost constant banter between Maggie and Keaton, who’d decided that they disagreed on anything and everything.

It had started with an argument about what actually distinguished a top shelf liquor, and quickly devolved into a shouting match about classism and taste and Southern wealth. The rest of them had briefly considered intervening, but honestly the two of them seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Every night, David took Sage to bed, where they continued to figure out new and creative ways to get each other off. Nothing compared to those moments when their bodies were moving together with nothing between them but sweat and hunger and a growing realization on David’s part that he never wanted to let her go.

It was a perfect break after the grind of the winter months, but by the end of the week David was ready to go home.

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