Page 60 of Courtside

It had been down to the wire, but in the final seconds, they’d managed to pull ahead, earning a 58 - 57 win. His post-game speech had only lasted about three seconds: “I’m incredibly proud of what you guys did out there together,” followed by a few more words from Tim calling out the players who’d had a stand-out game.

Now, in the wake of it all the guys were celebrating, bouncing around like puppies, and David watched, not even trying to keep the wide, relieved smile from his face.

“You staying around here for the break?”

He glanced over at Tim, who stood beside him. “Yeah, I’ll be sticking around.”

“The wife and I would love to have you over for dinner,” Tim said, keeping his gaze trained on the antics of the players. “Just let me know what night would work for you.”

David cleared his throat.Damn the old man throwing curve balls tonight.“Sure,” he managed to choke out, feeling a bit overwhelmed by whatever emotion was causing his chest to tighten. “That’d be great, Tim. Thank you.”

Tim nodded, clasping him on the shoulder with one of his weathered hands. “See you soon then,” he said, before shouting one last ‘Good work’ to the boys and heading out the door.

David’s eyes caught on Sage, who was weaving her way through the guys, snatching up the discarded warm up shirts and tossing them into the laundry cart in the corner. “Make sure all your stuff goes in the cart,” she shouted over the noise. “Just because you’re winners now doesn’t mean you get to be all sloppy.”

“Come on, Sage!” Monty called. “You know we’ll keep the young ones in line for you.”

Zephyr balled up a towel and tossed it at Monty’s head. “Stop talking like you’re one of the old guys, kid.”

Monty caught it and threw it right back. “I’m only five months younger than you, ass-”

“Language!” David called out, his voice croaking and broken like it always was after a game.

“Asshole can’t be a bad word, Coach,” Patrick said, scratching at his blonde hair. “It’s anatomical.”

Sage snorted, shaking her head as she walked over to join David. One hand reached into her pocket and produced the paper wrapped throat lozenge that he’d come to expect after every game. She threw it to him and he caught it easily, unpeeling the wrapper and then popping it into his mouth.

“Thank you,” he said, offering her a smile.

She returned his look with a grin of her own. He noticed her gaze lingered on his hair.

“What do you think?” he asked, pointing to his head.

Sage took a moment, her bright green eyes darting from side to side as she took him in. Her cheeks flushed as she looked him in the eye. “You look good,” she said, keeping her voice quiet enough that her words were very clearly intended just for the two of them. “Way too good.”

He wished they were alone. He wished that he could draw her into his arms and tell her just how relieved he was that they’d won, how his eyes kept seeking her out during the game, how just seeing her at the end of the bench made him feel stronger.

“You’re going to do Christmas with me,” he heard himself saying.He probably should have phrased that like a question.

Sage blinked, her lips parting. “Uh, okay.”

“Good.”

“I get to cook though,” she added, raising a brow at him.

“Sure. Whatever you want.” David smiled down at her, feeling so damn lucky that he’d stumbled into an existence that included Sage Fogerty.

So goddamn lucky.

* * *

“What are we cooking for Christmas?”

Sage braced her elbows against the handle of the shopping cart, and it took monumental effort for David to ignore the way her black leggings stretched over her ass and thighs.

He shook himself. “We’re going to do the thing you talked about, where everyone cooks their favorite thing.”

Sage stood up, turning to face him. “Really?” Her expression tightened as she looked at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to do whatever your family does?”

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