Page 21 of Fair Catch

The smile I’m beginning to love spreads across his face in elation. “I’m happy you said yes.”

Did he think I’d say no?

There’s a pause, neither of us knowing what to say, until he says, “I should let you get back to work.”

I want to blurt out, “But when will I see you again?” as if we’re starring in some cheesy drama. Instead, I ask, “What are you doing for dinner?”

“No plans,” he tells me.

“Want to have dinner together? You can show me how to watch football. Six, my place?”

“I’ll be there.”

EIGHT

ALEX

For whatever reason, Kelsey makes me nervous. My palms sweat whenever she’s near, and my heart races, like the anticipation of seeing her is going to send me into cardiac arrest. I don’t ever remember feeling this way when I started dating Maggie. She was just . . . there.

Our relationship progressed slowly. At a snail’s pace, according to her. We bought a house together, which we sold when she decided to move to London. Our breakup wasn’t messy. We didn’t fight or say mean things to each other. Our time together ran its course.

Except, she hurt me when she took the job in London. In the same breath, she opened my eyes to how stagnant we were as lovers. While we were good friends who were supportive of each other’s careers and great for each other’s images, our love life was somewhat lacking the excitement both of us craved. We’d friend-zoned ourselves without even realizing it.

I don’t want to be Kelsey’s friend or adecentlover, and I don’t care if she’s good for my image—although how could she not be? I want to be her boyfriend and the one who ravishes her body at night. Hell, any time of the day, to be honest. I love the idea of lying next to her in bed and just being there while she reads. I want to sit next to her on the couch and watch her red pen make annotations that make zero sense to me. When I look around my house, I imagine her here. She’s on the couch, in the office working on a manuscript, lounging by the pool or setting up candles near the Jacuzzi tub. Her clothes are in my closet and her scent lingers in every room of my house.

But how do I tell her this after knowing her for days? The last thing I want to do is come off as someone who is looking for a rebound relationship because that’s what it looks like to me. Until I saw her with Myles, I never believed in true love. Still not sure I do, but there’s something between us and I want to explore it all.

I luck out and find parking along the curb. While Kelsey’s neighborhood isn’t great—not that much is in downtown these days—I’m confident in knowing no one will steal Rizzo. At least, if they try, it’ll be a hard task. Rizzo is a chatty Cathy, thanks to some third-party apps, and if you touch her, she’ll scream and call the police. It’s a glorious thing, having a smart AI system.

When I get to Kelsey’s building, her doorman acknowledges me. “Here to see Ms. Sloane?”

How awkward would it be if I wasn’t?

“I am. I don’t think I introduced myself before—Alex Moore.”

“Yes, Mr. Moore. I’m a fan. I’m Barrett.”

“Thank you, Barrett,” I say as we shake hands. “I have a question. Ms. Sloane is new to town, and I’m concerned about security here.” I look around and then back at him. Barrett nods. “How secure is the building? She gave me a code the last time I was here. Is it the same code for everyone?”

“The new owners of the building installed a state-of-the-art security system in each tenant’s apartment. The code is autogenerated for each person.”

“Good to know. I hated thinking everyone who entered could go everywhere.”

“No, sir. They cannot.”

“Thank you, Barrett. Have a good rest of your day.”

“You too, Mr. Moore.”

It’s a huge relief knowing Kelsey is safe and makes me feel better knowing not every Tom, Dick, and Harry that comes in has an access code. Inside, I dial her number and wait for her to pick up.

“Hello,” she says in a sweet, honey-toned voice. Sweet Jesus, one simple word from her and my knees knock together. I close my eyes and tell myself to get my shit together before I ask her to speak dirty to me over the phone. I’m definitely saving that moment for when I’m on an east coast road trip and pining away for her in my hotel room.

“H-hey, Kels.” My voice breaks leaving me choice but to clear my throat. “Hey, it’s me.”

“Hi, Alex. The code is,” she pauses and then rattles off the same four-digit number as before. “I’ll see you in a minute.”

“Yeah, you will.” I’m not even sorry those words came out of my mouth. I desperately want to see her. Hell, I want to do a lot more but we’re not there.

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