Page 45 of Courtside

“I’ll let you get on with your weekend, then.” David tugged at Daisy’s leash, starting to back away toward his apartment. “And…I’m sorry. What I said was out of line, and, well, yeah. I’m sorry.”

For the second time that day, Sage found herself presented with a chance to walk away. Except now there was the added weight of David’s words between them. She really should go.

But she had a feeling that if she left him now, whatever door he’d opened with his honesty would be shut. And while she hadn’t quite figured out how to respond, she knew with absolute certainty that she wanted to say something.

“Want to come up to my place for breakfast?”

What the fuck, Sage?

David looked as surprised as she felt. “Are you sure?” he asked, caution in his voice.

Sage nodded, warming up to the idea. She had plenty of groceries, and cooking was something she did well. It would be a good way to even the playing field between them after all of David’s generosity.

Sure. That was why she wanted to cook for him.

“For sure.” She turned in the direction of her apartment, hearing the crunch of David’s shoes against the sidewalk as he followed her. “And Daisy is invited too,” she said, grinning back over her shoulder.

“I…okay,” she heard David say as he followed her.

She still wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing, but something about the idea of the sad, subdued David that she’d seen in the last twelve hours sitting alone in his apartment didn’t feel right to her.

“Come on in,” she said as she pushed open the door. Her blinds were all open, and the white walls practically glowed in the sunlight. Her plants had taken well to the new environment, many of them sporting new growth — vines or leaves that stretched out toward the windows.

Daisy pranced about once she was off of her leash, and Sage went right to the kitchen to fill up a bowl of water for her. David followed quietly behind her, and when he saw what she was doing he thanked her.

“No problem,” Sage said. Opening her fridge, she called out behind her, “Any food allergies or things you don’t like? Other than spicy. I know you don’t like spicy.”

“You remember that?”

Sage turned around, finding David watching her carefully. “Yes, David. Of course I remember the conversation with the hot man at the bar who is now standing in my kitchen.”

David let out a huff of a laugh. “No allergies and I’ll eat whatever.” After a moment, he added: “Can I help?”

Sage got David set up with a cutting board, and within ten minutes a big pan of scrambled eggs, bacon, and veggies was sizzling on her stove. He was a bit awkward with a knife and the pieces he cut were anything but uniform in size, but he got the job done.

“So that’s a no on the granola,” he said, eyeing the scramble as he stirred it.

Sage let out a loud laugh. “There’s nothing wrong with granola, but I’m worthless without meat in the morning.”

He nodded in response, eyes darting over to where she warmed the tortillas on the stove, flipping them after a few seconds on the open range.

“Impressive,” David commented as she quickly flipped another tortilla from the stove to a plate.

“It’s really not.” Sage had grown up cooking with her mom, and flipping scalding hot tortillas with her bare hands was practically second nature at that point in her life. “Turn that off, and let’s eat.”

David watched Sage assemble her breakfast tacos, copying how she sprinkled grated cheese and chopped cilantro on top. When he went to add the hot sauce, Sage grabbed his wrist, stopping his movement.

“This will kill you,” she told him, taking the bottle away from him.

“It can’t be that hot,” David said disbelievingly, obviously not taking her warning seriously.

“I promise that it is,” she replied, sliding the bottle down the counter away from them. “I eat it almost every morning and it still makes my eyes water and my nose run. It’s brutal.”

“So why do you eat it?”

Sage led the way to her small table, sitting down with her tea and plate. David sat across from her, his body looking bigger than usual folded into one of her chairs. “The flavor is unreal, and the burn is worth it,” she said, shrugging before taking her first bite, humming at the perfect combination of flavors.

There was nothing in the world like breakfast tacos.

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