Page 39 of Courtside

“So,” David started. She could see now, with the glow of the dash lights, that he wore a team polo and basketball shorts. Since the season began she’d rarely seen him in anything but team branded gear, with the exception of the games, where he showed up in well-tailored suits that looked so fucking good on his big body that Sage had gotten in the habit of visiting the bathroom to splash cold water on her cheeks at halftime.

As usual, a baseball cap was pulled tight over his dark hair, which had only grown longer and more untamed since she’d met him. Honestly, he looked exhausted, his eyes heavy and his face drawn.

It was obvious that the season was already wearing on him.

“Have you eaten?”

“No,” she admitted.

David shifted his legs, his shorts drifting up his hairy thighs. Sage averted her eyes. “I was already planning on grabbing something on my way home. Do you mind if we stop? I’ll get you something.”

Sage was tempted to argue. Her instinct was to put up a fight. But she was starving, and she was already in the car, so what was she going to do? Pout while he grabbed food for himself?

“Food would be great,” she said. “But I’m going to buy my own.”

“Does Italian work for you?”

“Fuck yes. I mean, yes. Just yes.” She turned her face to try to hide her hot cheeks.

A minute later, they were pulling into the drive through at Angelo’s. David ordered a chicken caesar salad, while Sage got fettuccine alfredo. They only had to wait a few minutes until the food was ready.

They were mostly quiet as David drove them home. Sage expected it to be awkward, but instead it was surprisingly easy to relax back into the worn leather seat and let the quiet music fill the space between them. David, for his part, glared at the road like he was driving in a storm rather than a clear, moonlit night.

When they pulled into a spot a few buildings over from Sage’s apartment, David was out of the car and around to her door before she had a chance to unbuckle her seatbelt. Grabbing her bag and her container of pasta, she climbed out.

“Thanks,” she said, and she hesitated, waiting while David got his own backpack out of the back seat.

“Mind if I walk you up?” David asked, hovering a few feet away from her as though he wasn’t sure if she would mind if he got closer.

It was oddly sweet to see him so cautious around her. “Sure,” she said, unable to justify fighting him on this one little thing.

They walked side by side with about a foot between them. It struck Sage how strange it was that she was here, in this moment, with this particular man who had become an unexpected fixture in her life. From a potential one-night stand to a sort of coworker and now a neighbor, David Hughes had somehow infiltrated all of her waking hours.

And her less-than-professional dreams, but she wasn’t acknowledging that.

Sage dug through her bag as they reached the top of the stairs. Her stomach sank when she didn’t hear the distinct jingle of the ring that held her keys.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Everything okay?” David moved closer to her, and she thought she might have felt the brush of his fingers on her back for a moment.

Sage searched again. Even though she knew, logically, that her keys were currently somewhere north of town at the mechanic, she searched again. And then she took every single item out of her bag, setting them down on the cement floor in front of her apartment door: water bottle, textbook, laptop, chamomile tea bag, chapstick, five wrapped lozenges, three tampons, and a rock that she’d picked up once because she thought it was pretty.

She buried her face into her hands and screamed, muffling the sound so that it probably sounded more like a strangled goose.

Fuck this day.

She looked up at David, who was standing there watching her with such obvious worry on his face that she couldn’t help but laugh.

“My apartment key is with my car.”

David seemed unphased. “Let’s go to the office and get you a replacement.”

Right. That made sense.Relief filled her. “Great. You don’t have to come with me,” she added as she shoved her things back into her bag. She felt her cheeks and the back of her neck heat — she hated the fact that someone was seeing her like this — disorganized and incapable.

But the look David gave her made it very clear that, like it or not, there was no way in hell that she was going to the office alone.

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