Page 4 of Courtside

The clink of glass on the bar broke through the moment, and Sage turned to find her straw-less margarita and a sweating Corona with coarse salt clinging to the neck of the bottle and a lime wedge shoved in the top.

Behind the bar, Maggie watched them with a grin, fanning herself with one hand. “Shit, you two are hot. Like, whew. Hot damn. Two tall Amazonians fucking is a great day for humanity. Make those strong babies. Sports babies. Warrior babies.”

Sage glanced over at David, who was watching Maggie ramble on with his mouth open, eyebrows arched like he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. He turned to Sage. “Is she always like this?” he asked, not even trying to lower his voice.

Shaking her head, Sage grabbed her drink. “I literally just met her. I have no context for her behavior beyond what I’ve seen tonight.”

Maggie reached down behind the bar, and suddenly Sage was hit in the shoulder with something cold. Looking down, she saw the ice cube skid across the bar where it landed.

She looked over at the bartender, who grinned at her wickedly.. Sage set down her drink slowly, looking Maggie dead in the eye, and then flicked the cube back at her.

Maggie shrieked as the cube hit her perfectly in the patch of bare skin exposed on her stomach. Sage broke down laughing, barely noticing David looking between the two women with obvious confusion.

“I honestly have no idea what’s happening right now,” he muttered, shoving the lime down into his beer with a long finger.

Maggie joined in laughing with Sage, flipping her the bird with a wide smile before she moved down the bar to help someone else. Sage turned back to David, taking a long drink as she raised her brows in a silent question.

David shook his head. “Was that flirting? It looked like middle school flirting.”

Sage just laughed. “I think I just made a new friend.” Suddenly she felt the weight of eyes on her, and glancing over David’s shoulder, she realized that a few of the guys from the table where he’d been sitting were watching them with expressions that ranged from curious to amused. She nudged David’s thigh with her knee. “Your friends are watching us,” she said. One of them, the one with the strawberry blonde curls, looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place where she recognized him from.

David turned, the movement flexing the muscles in his arms, and Sage had to bite back a groan. “Ah shit,” he said. He turned back to Sage, wincing. “Please ignore them. They’re, ah, a bit much.”

“Am I stealing you away from them?” she asked, sincerely concerned that she’d taken David away from his friends. She’d be disappointed if he left her at that point, but she also wasn’t one to encroach on someone’s plans.

David shook his head, setting down his beer and reaching down to rest his hand on her denim-covered thigh. “No. No no. They get enough of me as it is.” He let out a quiet laugh. “Honestly, they’re probably placing bets on how quickly I strike out.” His eyes flashed to hers, wide with sudden panic. “Ah, shit. Not like that’s what this is, I just —”

“David.” Sage reached out and grabbed a handful of his t-shirt over his chest. “We both know what this is. No need to pretend it’s anything else.”

For a moment, something crossed his face, but within a second it was gone, replaced by that wide smile that made her bones melt. “You’re very cool. You know that, right?”

Sage shrugged one shoulder. “So I’ve been told.”

David leaned forward, his hand on her thigh tightening its grip. His eyes dropped to her mouth.

He was going to kiss her. She knew it, he knew it. Probably the whole bar knew it was about to happen.

Their foreheads connected first, and it felt like each second slowed to a crawl as David’s nose dragged across her cheek as his lips positioned over hers. Sage inhaled at the soft brush of his mouth, and then suddenly he was gone.

She blinked her eyes open; she hadn’t even realized they’d closed. David maintained his hold on her thigh, but glared at the strawberry-blonde from the table, who now stood next to them looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

“What the hell, Chuck?” David growled at him.

“I’m so sorry,” the man said, glancing back over his shoulder at the table. “It’s Tommy. He’s a mess, and we’ve got to get him out of here.”

Sage watched David’s eyes fall closed for a second. “I’m going to kill that goddamn idiot,” he said through gritted teeth. She could feel the tension rolling off of him in waves. “It’s like college all over again.”

The other man, Chuck, shifted on his feet. “Dude, if any of us could drive, we’d do it.” To his credit, he looked genuinely apologetic.

David shook his head before looking at Chuck. “To be clear, I hate you right now. So damn much.”

With a wince, Chuck nodded. “I know, man. I’m the worst, and I know it.” He looked over at Sage, giving her an apologetic smile. “Hi. You seem lovely. I’m really sorry.”

Heaving a sigh, David pushed his beer away. It was still half full, and it left a wet trail on the surface of the bar. “I’ll be right over,” he said to Chuck. He waited until his friend walked away before turning to Sage with a pained look in his eyes. “I…I have to go. I have a friend who’s going through a divorce and he can’t keep his shit together right now, and I guess I’m the only one sober enough to get him home. The last time I called him a ride he spent an hour crying to the driver and she gave him a one star review, so now no one will pick him up.” He still held her thigh, and he rubbed his thumb back and forth over the denim. “I’m so sorry.”

Sage gave him a small smile, trying to hide her disappointment. “It’s okay,” she said, and it wasn’t a lie. It was going to be okay. It wouldn’t be as okay as it could have been if she’d completed her night with this beautiful man, but it would, ultimately, be okay.

Things always turned out okay.

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