“He said it’s a surprise.” Okay. I guess that’s the only answer I’m going to get. I slide into the backseat and he closes the door. After stopping for a second behind the car, he gets behind the wheel. “It’s nothing bad, I promise.”
“If you say so.” I put on my seatbelt as Sam pulls into traffic. Tall buildings loom above us, and I’m pretty sure we’re heading into downtown. I spot the capitol building, and I would love to tour it one day. Next time I’m in Austin, I’ll plan on stopping by. I’ll drag Lana along with me even though she hates that sort of thing.
A few minutes go by and we pull up to a rectangular building that is nowhere near as tall as the ones surrounding it. Before I can even reach for the handle Sam is at my door, pulling it open. “What is this place?”
“You’ll see.” He gestures for me to follow him.
“What about my suitcase?”
“It’ll be here. I’m your driver for the rest of the day.” Is Bentley really that important to have his own personal driver?
I shove my hands in my pockets as he leads us into the building. This whole thing is weird. As we walk through the hallway, I hear bouncing coming from somewhere ahead of us. Surely Bentley doesn’t have a game today. This place isn’t exactly where I’d picture a professional team playing. We enter a gym, and a group of guys is playing basketball. They seem like giants compared to me. My eyes search the court until I find him. He’s hard to see with most of the guys towering over him. He’s tall, but he’s not that tall.
Sam points toward the bleachers, “You can sit up there. They’ll be done soon.”
I do as he says and notice a group of younger guys sitting at the opposite end. They are focused on the team bouncing the ball on the court. Bentley doesn’t notice my arrival, of course. His head is in the game, or maybe practice.
Sports have never really been my thing. I would catch a few minutes of a game if I was at a bar with Lana, but other than that, I’ve never sought out a game to watch. I can see why people gravitate toward basketball, though. It’s fast-paced, and my head swivels from one side to the other trying to figure out what they are doing. Someone blows a whistle. The guys on the court split up into two groups and head toward the side of the court. They are passing water bottles around, and the thought of sharing a bottle with someone sends a shiver down my spine. Their lips never touch it. But I didn’t even share with my siblings growing up. I don’t want their germs mingling with my germs, thank you very much.
Less than a minute passes and they are back on the court. Something on the wall catches my eye, and it’s the scoreboard. There are literally seconds left in the game. I wish I had gotten here sooner to see Bentley play more. He obviously wanted to share this moment with me. Wanted me to see this part of his life and how passionate he is about it.
The buzzer sounds, and the players split up again. The group Bentley is with give each other high fives and are talking smack to the other team. His eyes lift up and search the bleachers and he smiles wide when he sees me. He holds a finger up, letting me know he’ll come over in a moment. The man with the whistle waves his hand toward the young men sitting on the bleachers and they rush the court. They are wide-eyed and murmuring to each other. This must be their first time seeing them, too.
Bentley pulls one of the guys away from the group and stalks toward me. He looks hot, and not because he just finished playing. His arm muscles are on full display thanks to the sleeveless shirt he’s wearing. I’m almost certain the temperature in here went up ten degrees. I lift my hand to fan myself, but force it back down. It’s too early for him to know that he has this effect on me. Hell, it’s too early for me to even be feeling this way toward him. Shit. This man is already working his way into my emotions and we’ve only been on one proper date.
Seventeen
Bentley
My sole focusis on her. It has been since I caught her walking into the gym. Jordan and Derrick should be able to handle things for a minute. They get to see their girls every day. This is the first time I’ve seen Jolene in almost two weeks.
As much as I want to run to her and spin her around like in one of those stupid romantic movies, I don’t. I can’t have her knowing she’s the one person I’ve been thinking of more and more lately. At least, not yet. “You made it.”
“Yeah,” she smiles and takes in the group of basketball players on the court. “Is this some sort of game, or something? I’ve never been to any kind of sports game.”
What? That seems crazy to me, but not everyone is into sports the way I am. “Not really.” I wave my hand to the guys. “It’s a mini practice, but also a teaching opportunity.”
“Do you do things like this often?”
“Sometimes. But it’s usually with youth sports programs, not college kids that have lost their mojo.” I grab her hand and bring her into a hug. She doesn’t shy away from my sweaty body and I’m relieved. Most of the women I’ve dated in the past are grossed out by sweat. They didn’t want to touch me until I cleaned up. The fact that Jolene has zero qualms about it has to mean something, right? If anything, it shows that she’s willing to accept me, even when I’m disgusting.
“I’m guessing these are the guys from your university. The ones you gave a pep talk to?” Her breath is soft against my neck and the guys on the court are the last thing I’m thinking about.
I slowly pull away to keep myself in check. “Uh yeah, that would be them. I wish you could see more of our practice, though.”
“Sorry,” she winces. “I had to change after we landed, and I thought Lana was going to interrogate your driver for a minute.” She scrunches her nose, and it’s adorable. “By the way, why do we have a driver?”
“Oh, Derrick,” I point to him standing next to Jordan, “picked me up on the way here. He wanted pointers and to see what I thought about the rest of the season. I didn’t want to have to drive back to my house and force you to deal with his constant questions. Sam usually only drives for the important people on the team, but he agreed to drive us around, so I’d have more time with you. And because I’m his favorite player on the team.”
He’s standing nearby and rolls his eyes at the last comment. “You’re all a pain in my ass.” He shakes his head and moves closer to the team. “Don’t forget, you’ll need to come over for a photo before we leave. The owners aren’t going to miss a good PR moment.”
Crap, I forgot about that. We probably should have done that before we started. “Let me go wrangle these guys together so we can get out of here.”
“Sounds good. I’ll just be right over there,” she points to the bleachers. She probably wants to sit after being on her feet for who knows how long. I know I would if I had to stand nonstop during a flight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her sit while she’s working.
“I’ll make it quick.” Jogging over to the guys, I see Ross shake his head, and I shoot him a glare to not open his mouth.
He obviously doesn’t heed my warning, or thinks I’m playing around. He walks over to me and grins. “I see she’s gotten under your skin. I thought y’all were dating for fun.” He raises an eyebrow in question.