Page 57 of Delay of Game
“Why don’t you keep it?” I asked.
She huffed out a laugh. “I wish, but it’s all part of Aunt Mercy’s estate, and that money goes to the memory care facility. I would have to buy the house outright, and with the property prices lately, a mortgage alone would take my entire salary.”
Her face twisted into a frown. I hated having caused it. And mixed with the poor showing on the field and the post-game talk with the head coach, a churning unhappiness roiled in my gut and a surge of crankiness ripped through me. I needed a distraction.
“Well, what’s next on the list? There’s got to be something easy we can knock out.”
She tilted her head, her green eyes gliding over my face. Her brow furrowed slightly. “How about we sit down for a bit? It’s been a busy day.”
Clearing a box balanced on the armrest, she sank into the faded floral blue couch, patting the spot next to her.
I cracked my knuckles, eyes roving the room for something to distract me. A project. A topic of conversation. Finding none, I sat down.
“You want to know one of my favorite memories with my Aunt Mercy?” Astrid pulled her legs onto the couch, crossing them and setting a throw pillow on top. “Whenever I had a really shitty day. Like one of those days when nothing would go right, I’d put my head in her lap, and she’d rub my hair and tell me about her day.”
I raised an eyebrow, and she laughed. “She wouldn’t really tell me about her day. But she’d just drone on about what she did until I fell asleep or felt better. ASMR before that was a thing you could find online.”
“I should really help fix this house, not beg for head rubs.”
She patted her lap. “You look awful, Rob. Lay down for a bit.”
I resisted. I had no business showing up at Astrid’s house. Being around her. Sucking up her sympathy when she had a classroom full of feral children and an aunt with Alzheimer’s.
But I couldn’t stop myself. Couldn’t resist being near her for even a second longer. I laid my head down on her lap, closing my eyes. Her fingers ran through my hair, massaging my scalp, and she told me about her day.
TWENTY-ONE
GRACIE
My hips ached,and a stabbing pain ran down my neck every time I moved. But when I could overcome the pain to glance down at Rob sleeping on my lap, it sort of felt worth it.
Okay. Maybe not one hundred percent worth it because I couldn’t get our all-too brief session outside the pottery studio out of my head. And after watching him manhandle giant men on the field the day before, I had some not so G-rated dreams about what he’d do to me in a bedroom which made watching him sleep feel more creepy than sweet.
Even so, mostly worth it.
Unfortunately, the rest of my body wasn’t so comfortable with the position I’d put it in. I grabbed the throw pillow on my lap and eased his head up. My attempt to gracefully and quietly slip out didn’t go quite as planned. He groaned as I stood up, his hand grabbing my thigh and pulling it closer. I extradited myself, pincering his hand with two fingers and avoiding the creaky floorboards on my way to the bathroom.
At the threshold of the living room, my phone rang, the bells jolting me into a full-blown sprint out of the room and into the kitchen. I fumbled to grab the phone from my pocket in time for Lily’s name to light up the screen.
“Why are you calling me so early?” I hissed, keeping my voice low and my eyes locked on the now-closed kitchen door.
“Why are you whispering?” Lily’s sing-song voice answered back. “Is it because you have company?”
I rolled out my neck. “Maybe.”
Not exactly the kind of company I’d been hoping for when Rob came over to my place last night.
“You’re mingling, aren’t you?”
“I’m having a very innocent sleepover. He’s exhausted and passed out on my couch.”
The silence on the other end of the line made Lily’s displeasure clear. Even though I shared the sentiment.
“Why are you even calling me?” I glanced at the clock and found it was barely past seven. No wonder my neck ached. I’d spent the last nine hours dozing on the couch.
“I was going to call last night, but I also had a date that went well.” She paused. “Well, better than yours, actually, because he didn’t fall asleep on my couch.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
