Page 26 of Courtside

She rolled her eyes. “He tried hard and he had nice hands.”

Brinley laughed. “Ah, how high the bar is for men.”

“And he gave me a ride home, which was nice.”

“Sage,” her sister’s expression grew more serious. “That’s literally the bare minimum.”

Sage waved off the comment, adding, “And then I ran into David Hughes at my apartment complex.”

“What?” Brinley’s dark brows practically reached her hairline. “Why?”

“Apparently he’s my neighbor.”

Brinley’s responding laugh held absolutely no sympathy. “So you’re telling me that your hot sort-of-boss is your neighbor, and you ran into him after doing the dirty deed with someone he went to school with?”

If only it were just that.

Sage wrinkled her nose. “Please don’t say ‘dirty deed,’ Brin.” She paused, rubbing at the leather of the steering wheel as she waited at a red light. “It’s actually worse than that,” Sage admitted. “Before I got the internship with the team, I may or may not have met David Hughes at a bar.”

Brinley gasped. “No!”

“Nothing happened,” Sage jumped in. “But it was going to. We had literally verbally confirmed that we were going to fuck.”

“You’re so fucking cool,” Brinley said, looking at Sage like she’d just revealed a hidden superpower.

“And then,” Sage continued, “last night I was all drunk andstupidand I ran into him and then I told him that he had a perfect butt and that I’d hadmediocre fucking sex with Gus.”

Brinley was actually howling with laughter. “What is wrong with you?” she wheezed, rocking forward and back as much as the seat belt would allow.

“I don’t know,” Sage said with a groan. “It was like I couldn’t stop talking. Like my brain rebelled and wanted to taunt him with the fact that I’d gotten laid, but even then I couldn’t lie and pretend that it was a great time.”

Her sister’s laughter subsided a bit. “Are you okay with that?”

“What do you mean?”

“With the hooking up,” Brinley continued, her voice softening to the tone she used when she was trying to be a good older sister. “I know it’s worked for you in the past, but do you ever think about —”

“Nope.” Sage shook her head vehemently, even as the movement triggered a throb in her head. “No relationships. None of that ‘needing someone else to be happy’ bullshit.”

Brinley sighed. “You know it doesn’t have to be like that, right?”

“Show me, then.” Sage shook her head, an anger that was as familiar as breathing rising up in her chest. “Where are the people in relationships who can claim their own happiness? Who hold onto their independence?”

Again, Brinley sighed, only this time there was sadness there that hadn’t been there before. Sage glanced over, trying to read her sister’s face before turning back to the road. “What?” she asked.

“I’ve been dating someone,” Brinley said. “And he’s fuckingawesome, Sage. Like, has his shit together financially, drives a Honda SUV even though he could afford something nicer, only wants to hang out a few times a week, and thinks that I am the greatest person ever.” She paused, and a quick look over revealed the fond smile on her face. “Someday, someone is going to prove you wrong, Sage. And I can’t wait to say ‘I told you so.’”

“You’re dating someone?” Sage asked, still not fully computing the news. “What does Mom think?”

Brinley snorted, the same indignant snort that their mom had passed down to both of her daughters. It was a Fogerty thing.

“Mom doesn’t know. And she will continue to not know,” she added, and Sage could feel her glare.

“I got you,” she reassured her sister. “I just… I’m happy for you. Really.”

“Then why are you being weird?”

Sage worried the inside of her cheek for a moment as she tried to figure out why there was a knot of anxiety in her stomach. “Aren’t you afraid?”

---