“Three or four? I can’t remember. I only know it’s an early one.” I let go of her, and walk to my suitcase, grabbing some clothes out of it. “I need to take a shower and we can go after that.” Normally, I’d go in what I have on, but I didn’t shower before I left the house and I don’t want to go anywhere in my ‘flying’ clothes.
“Want some company?” She asks and stalks toward me.
Her actions are the polar opposite of her expression, and I’m not sure what to do. “It’s all good. I’ll be quick.” What the fuck? I never turn down sex, especially when it’s with my feisty flight attendant. I need to sort this out. “I’ll be ready to go in fifteen.”
“Oh, okay,” she sighs. “I’ll get ready, then.”
Tonight is not going how I planned at all. When did this become so confusing? My fingers are crossed that it’s exhaustion and nothing that has to do with us. It seems like she’s pulling away and I don’t know what to do about that. Only time will tell, I guess.
We are seated at a small restaurant close to the hotel. I want to wine and dine her, but I need to keep the heavy foods to a minimum. It’ll do me no good to eat so much I get sick on the court. That’s definitely not going to lead us to a victory. She’s free to have whatever she wants, though.
We place our order. Grilled chicken for me, and a steak for her. One of my favorite things about her is she’s not scared to eat an actual meal in front of me. Most women order a salad and then look like they are hungry for the rest of the date. Serena, on the other hand, is a person unto herself. She doesn’t care what anyone thinks, especially me. Even if things feel off, at least I know she’s not going to fake anything.
“Are you excited about meeting my mom?” I have to ask something because this silence is different than other times. It feels deafening instead of being a comfort. I don’t understand what happened. She seemed happy to see me when I got on the plane, but I could be wrong.
“Yeah,” she mumbles around a bite of her food. “I’m kind of nervous, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
That was a very direct answer and held very little enthusiasm. I swear. It’s like we’ve fallen into an alternate dimension or something. Things haven’t been right between us since she saw the magazine cover. But surely that isn’t what is bothering her. And if it was…she should feel like she can talk to me about it. At least I hope that’s the case. “They’re excited to meet you.”
“I am, too,” she replies after another bite, but she looks over my shoulder and raises her eyebrows.
“What is it?” The urge to turn around is strong, but I don’t want to bring any unnecessary attention to us if I don’t need to.
“There’s a woman standing outside the window with a huge camera.” Damn it. Not this again. “She has it pointed directly at us.”
“Maybe it’s an excited fan.” I start to turn around. I need to see what she’s so freaked out about. There’s also a chance that it’s that reporter from the game in Missouri. And if it is, I need to know.
“No,” Serena stops me. “We don’t need to bring any more attention than we already have.”
“We can always get the rest of our stuff to go and head back to the hotel. They don’t allow anyone up to the floor the players are on. Well, unless someone approves them beforehand.”
“We can finish dinner. If we’re going to be together, this is something I have to get used to, right?” Her voice is shaky, and I want nothing more than to pull her into a hug. To do anything that reassures her that everything is fine. She doesn’t stop staring over my shoulder for another few minutes. “Okay, she’s gone.” The way her shoulders sag breaks me. This isn’t the life she wants, and here I am dragging her into it without asking if she was okay with it.
“I’m sorry.” Both of our plates are almost empty when I finally have the nerve to open my mouth.
“For what?” she sets her fork down and takes a sip of her water.
“For bringing you into this life. You asked me at the game to keep your identity on the down low, and then those damn pictures show up on the front page of a shitty magazine. And now,” I wave a hand behind me toward the window. “We have people trying to encroach on our dinner plans. You didn’t ask for any of this.”
She takes a deep breath and reaches across the table, placing her hand on mine. “It’s not ideal, but it’s not all that bad either. I realized early on what dating you would mean. I just wish it wasn’t at the expense of our privacy.”
“It’s par for the course. I’ll have to ask Ross how he gets around without the media catching on. I might be able to learn a thing or two from him.”
Her head bobbles up and down in agreement. “Let’s get out of here. I’m ready to go to the room.” Her mouth is tight even though she’s smiling. This is not how I expected our weekend to go.
“That’s a good idea,” I agree. “What time is your flight tomorrow?”
“Early,” she shrugs. “I’ll probably have to head out when you wake up, maybe even before.”
“Okay.” I don't know what else I’m supposed to say. But everything with us felt forced tonight. Like we’re going through the motions, but there’s no feeling or passion behind it. Nothing like we’ve had before. “We’ll go get some rest. If I had known, I would have ordered in.”
She doesn’t say anything, and we head back to the hotel. I don’t see anyone with cameras as we depart the restaurant, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It’s going to be a long night of worrying for me.
Twenty-Six
Serena
“Dude,” Hazel scolds me as I place things into my suitcase and then take them back out. “Stop it. If you keep changing your mind, you're going to end up going naked.”
