Aspyn: Does that conclude this conversation, then?
Troy: You can’t wait to get rid of me, can you? Just like that night I dropped off your phone. The door practically hit me on the way out.
Aspyn: Sorry. You caught me off guard that night.
Troy: YOU were caught off guard? My crotch got caught up in a tsunami.
Aspyn: LOL
Troy: I’m glad you find it funny. My friend thought I’d pissed myself when I met him for dinner after.
Troy: By the way, bring your sneakers on Tuesday.
Aspyn: Why?
Troy: You’ll find out.
Aspyn: Should I be concerned?
Troy: Nah.
Aspyn: Give me a hint.
Troy: Pretty sure it will be the only time this week you’ll have balls flying in your face.
I immediately regretted that joke. It might have been too much. But it was the first thing that came to mind. Whoops.
Aspyn: Seriously?
Troy: You asked for a hint! I gave it to you.
Aspyn and I continued our back-and-forth for the better part of an hour before she announced that she needed to go wash off some face mask. I asked her to send me a photo of herself with the mask on, and she told me to go to hell.
I grabbed my old Michael Myers mask and sent her a photo of myself in it. It was hard to tell, but I think she thought it was funny.
After we stopped texting, I was revved up. You would have thought I’d had a ton of caffeine or something. I couldn’t sleep at all. Instead, I kept having imaginary arguments with her in my head. Not the usual way a woman kept me up.
• • •
The following Tuesday, Aspyn showed up to Nonno’s room wearing solid black scrubs with no pattern. I couldn’t help laughing. She must’ve picked the darkest, plainest scrubs she owned because of the laughing Goofy comment I’d made. This was a protest, and I heard it loud and clear. Lucky for me, though, the black scrubs still hugged her derriere quite beautifully.
“So, will you tell me where we’re going now?” she asked.
Nonno beamed and answered before I had a chance. “We’re going to play basketball!”
She grinned. “Oh. Cool. I didn’t know you played basketball, Mr. Serrano.”
“Well, Troy and I used to play back when I could walk around easily. I’ve missed it. It was his idea to try it again. We’ll have to see.”
She looked over at me. “I think this is a fantastic idea.”
“I’m glad you think so.” I gave her a once-over. “Nice scrubs, by the way.”
“I’m mourning the loss of my dignity the other night,” she said, low enough that my grandfather couldn’t hear.
I bent my head back in laughter. “Come on. It was fun, and you know it.”
Her cheeks turned red. Hmm... Is she really still embarrassed?
Before we went to the basketball court, I stopped at McDonald’s. That pit stop kicked off every outing. I automatically ordered Aspyn a black coffee.
“Want anything else?” I turned to ask her.
“No. There’s nothing here I can eat.”
I wondered why she was so restrictive about her diet. My inclination was to tease her about it, but I didn’t this time, reminding myself to tread a bit more lightly. It seemed like I’d made a little progress with her lately, and I didn’t want to ruin it.
The basketball court was empty when we arrived. Once we began playing, it was obvious my grandfather was having a blast. This had been a good decision. Even though Nonno couldn’t get the ball into the hoop from his chair, he enjoyed passing it to us and catching it. The fresh air was good for him, too. I threw the ball to him, he’d pass it to Aspyn, and she’d attempt to shoot. She kept missing until one time she didn’t. I ran to her and offered a high five, which took her about thirty full seconds to accept. Such a hardass.
We stayed at the court for almost the entire two hours, which flew by faster than usual. We’d all been having fun.
After we returned my grandfather to Horizons, I again caught up with Aspyn in the parking lot as she was heading to her car to go home. I could tell she was trying to sneak out without saying goodbye.
“Did you have a good time?” I asked, walking alongside her.
“You know what?” She smiled. “It was really fun, yeah.”
“Is this the first time you’ve had fun with me?”
She pretended to have to think about it as we stopped in front of her car. “Well, it’s the first time we didn’t lose your grandfather.”
“This is true.”
She searched for her keys. “Good on us for not being negligent for once.”
“I think we should celebrate that.” I decided to go out on a limb. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
Aspyn stopped searching in her purse and chewed on her lip, looking like I’d just asked for her first-born child. “I can’t. I have to get home to Kiki.”