Page 23 of Courtside

At that, Chuck laughed. “Oh shit. That’s rough.”

“What do you mean?”Heknew why it was rough. He just didn’t understand why Chuck thought it was.

His friend gave him a look like he was a colossal idiot. “Gus gets the girl, and you have to sit back, behave, and watch it happen.” A sympathetic smile played on his mouth. “Objectively, it sucks.”

David pushed his empty tumbler away from himself. “It’s fine.”

“You know that it’s okay if it’s not fine, right?”

Damn Chuck and his damn friend telepathy.

All David could do was nod.

* * *

It was after midnight, and any hint of buzz he’d had had faded into a headache that concentrated right behind his left eye.

He’d wrangled all of his buddies into rideshares and cabs, confirming each address with the drivers before sending them off with the promise that they’d all text him when they got home safely. It didn’t matter that they were all men in their thirties who had their shit together. He had to make sure they were safe.

The bar was still crowded, with the conversations and laughter growing increasingly louder as the booze caught up with everyone.

He’d barely been able to unclench his jaw in the past hour. He could finally go home, but for some reason his eyes kept going to where Gus and Sage still sat together. There was no space between them, and he knew, in his gut, that if he waited around, he’d watch Gus wrap an arm around her waist and take her home.

Was she there alone? Was there anyone who was looking out for her?

He let out a frustrated breath. She wasn’t his problem. Not his responsibility. It wasn’t his job to make sure that she made it home safely. He was being a goddamned idiot, and he needed to get out of there.

Without a backwards glance, he closed his tab and walked out of the bar, going down the block to where he’d parked his Bronco.

He drove home, his knee bouncing and veins buzzing. He expected the late hour to catch up with him, but he couldn’t shake the energy in his body.

When he unlocked his apartment, he grabbed Daisy, not even bothering with a leash, carrying the wriggling, licking dog down to a little patch of grass, where she promptly did her business. He should be tired, but even after Daisy was curled in a ball in the little dog bed that sat next to his, he still couldn’t settle.

Thank god for the twenty-four hour gym.

Three minutes later he was on the treadmill, feet pounding the belt as his attention sunk down into his body, finally replacing the noise of his head with pins and needles as his muscles woke up, responding to the exertion.

He pushed through twenty minutes of running, stepping off of the still-moving belt and moving to the mat, where he worked through another twenty minutes of deep stretching. He was too old to avoid it, and everything felt better after a deep stretch.

An hour later, he was finally exhausted. He lay back on the mat, muscles burning perfectly after lifting weights and then finishing with a short yoga flow. He rolled up to his feet, wiping down the wet spot where he’d been lying before moving to the door.

It was still hot even under the cover of midnight. Tall lamps lit the sidewalk that wound its way through the apartment complex, and he could smell the heavy fragrance of magnolia blossoms.

He started toward his building, only to stop short as he saw someone walking toward him. He would recognize those legs anywhere.

“Sage?”

She started, staggering a bit in the high heels that made her even taller than usual. He scanned her, subconsciously checking for injury or discomfort, but other than the slightly glazed look in her eyes she seemed fine.

Drunk and too damn beautiful for her own good, but fine.

“Are you alright?” He asked, walking toward her. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to gently grip her elbow, and felt a profound sense of contentment when she leaned some of her weight into him.

“Totally fine.” She smiled, and it was softer than he was used to seeing. “Sleepy, but fine.” She then seemed to focus on his face, her expression fading to puzzlement. “What are you doing here?”

David had been so relieved to see her that he hadn’t even gotten that far in his head. “I was about to ask you the same thing,” he said, because of course that’s what he should be worried about, not the fact that her hair was tangled in the back and dark makeup smudged under her eyes.

Sage looked around them, her lips turning down in a frown that looked more like a pout.

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