Page 130 of Drop Shot
With a sigh, she unbuckles her seatbelt and meets me outside the car. Hand in hand, we take the sidewalk over to the field where we sit down on the bleachers. I lean back, resting my elbows on the seats behind me and look out onto the field.
“It’s just a normal football field,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Nothing exciting.”
“But you were here. That makes it exciting to me.”
I try to picture her standing on the edge of the field performing a cheer routine.
“Do you remember any of your cheers?”
She cocks her head to the side, thinking. “A little, but no I’m not getting out there and showing you if that’s where you’re going with this.”
I chuckle. “Way to shoot me down.”
“Where did you go to high school?” she asks, somewhat changing the subject.
“No place like this. It was a private school.” And I don’t mean it as a dig. I would’ve much preferred a public school to the stuffy private one our parents insisted on sending Ebba and me to. Sure, an excellent tennis program came with it, but the school itself was vigorous. I’m not dumb, but I do hate studying. “It was a bit miserable most of the time. Except for tennis.”
“Has it ever been lonely for you? Tennis being so much of your life, I mean.”
I’ve never been asked that before, so I take a moment to really think about what she’s asking before I answer.
“Maybe.” I know it’s not the best answer, but it’s the only one I’ve got. “It’s not something I’ve given much thought to. I love the sport and the travel and everything that comes with it.”
“Like the money and girls?” she asks with a forced laugh.
“Yeah, but these days it’s only one girl on my mind.” I cup her cheek, rubbing my thumb over her bottom lip. “And honestly, you’re on my mind more than tennis. But don’t tell my coaches that or Jackson.”
She gives me a soft smile I’ve learned she only reserves for me. “Your secret is safe with me.”
I pull her in for a kiss and wrap my arms around her, not letting her go even when the kiss is over.
“You can see the stars so well here,” I comment. We’re not that far outside of Miami, most people would still call this Miami, but we’re far enough from the city that the sky is entirely different.
“I love it here.”
“Is this where you’d want to come back to live some day?” I ask, combing my fingers through her hair.
“Maybe. I haven’t given it much thought. What about you?”
“I think it would be nice living here. Close to the city, but a small-town feel. It’d be a great place to raise kids one day.” She stiffens in my arms and I know what she’s thinking. “We’ll have kids one day,” I vow. “In whatever way that looks like for us, we’ll have them.”
She leans her head on my shoulder, some of that stiffness melting from her body. “You see that with me? A family?”
“I wouldn’t bring it up if my mind wasn’t there. I’m in this, Whimsy. You’re the realest thing I’ve ever had.”
It’s not a confession of love, but it’s pretty damn close to it.
And I think I might—love her, that is. She’s the first thing I think about when I open my eyes, and the last thing that crosses my mind before I fall asleep. For the first time in my life, there’s something more important than tennis, so that has to count for something, right?
CHAPTER 43
WHIMSY
“Who’sthe prettiest girl in the world?” Elias croons, but he’s not talking to me.
No, he’s bent over scratching my Persian cat beneath her chin.
“Should I be jealous?” I ask, coming out of my bedroom with my hands on my hips.
