Page 109 of Off Camera
“Will you stay? At least for a little while?”
“I’ll stay as long as you want.” I yawn too and bury my face in her hair. I inhale the scent of her shampoo and smile. “Did you have a good day?”
“Not bad,” she says. “The deeper we get into the season, the busier it is at the office. I can’t believe we’ve won three games in a row. I’m posting four times a day on Instagram and three times a day on TikTok, and itstilldoesn’t feel like enough.”
“Yeah, but it’s way more fun when you’re posting about victories, isn’t it?” I ask.
“Oh, definitely. If we could keep this streak going when we play you all next, I’d be on top of the world.”
“Don’t get your hopes up, Sinclair. The Titans do their best work later in the season, and the boys are just getting started.”
“Could you let me have one thing?” Avery teases. She pokes my side, and I grab her wrist. “Just this once?”
“Nah.” I close my eyes. “This is way more fun.”
We’re both quiet, and I realize hownicethe moment feels.
Normally we only hang out for a few minutes before we’re grabbing our clothes and getting dressed. There’s never any lingering, never any cuddling. Not like this.
I wonder what else I can get out of her. Showing me her apartment is a big step, and I want to know more. I want to ask the question I’ve been wondering since I met her at the bar all those weeks ago.
“Are you asleep?” she asks.
“Close, but not all the way there yet. What about you?”
“I’m awake. You sound like you’re stirring up there.”
“The wheels in my head never stop.” I rub my hand down her arm. “Can I ask you a question?”
“No, you cannot hack into my computer and steal the content I have planned for the next month,” Avery says.
“Maybe I’ve already done that.”
“If you had, I would’ve gotten a text message about the folder I keep all my plans in.”
“Well, now I’m intrigued. What’s the name of the folder?”
“‘If you’re Reid Duncan, do NOT click here or the computer will explode.’”
I laugh. “Original. I like it. You get points for creativity, that’s for sure.”
“Thanks,” she says, and I feel her smiling against my chest. “What’s your question?”
“Will you tell me about your dad? That night at the bar you told me you liked talking about him.”
Avery spins in my hold so we’re looking at each other. “What do you want to know?”
“What was he like?”
Her smile is beautiful, pulled from a memory. “He was the best man in the entire world. He was patient. A good listener. He loved my mom so deeply, and he loved me and my sister too. I’m talking daddy-daughter dances. Learning my recital numbers and practicing with me. Taking me to basketball games down in Orlando—that was our thing. It’s how I fell in love with sports.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We’d go to games together all the time. We sat five rows up from the court, the first two seats off the stairs. I don’t know how he stumbled into the seats, but he did, and thus began my love affair with sports. I have this dream that one day the Orlando Blazers will win a championship, and he’ll be there in spirit when I celebrate.”
“Did he ever get to see you in action on the sidelines? You said you worked down in Florida before coming to Baltimore, right?” I ask.
“Yeah. I was with a UFL team in a similar role. It didn’t have the scope or scale the Thunderhawks position does, though.”
