She paused, and we both took the opportunity to look at the court, where a woman was doing some kind of bird dance with the mascot. This, of course, made Aleesa giggle.
“I think you just have to get to know him a bit more, and vice versa,” Vina said. “This summer will probably help with that since he’ll be home more.”
“Yeah,” I murmured. “Maybe.”
An announcer’s voice broke through the speakers of the arena, and Aleesa jolted in her chair.
“Ah! Tava, it’s loud!” she yelled, covering her ears. She was hit or miss about the noise. During some games, she was tolerant of the booming voice flowing through the arena. Other times, like now, it was too loud and startled her.
I dug into her backpack, rooting around for her noise-canceling headphones. After placing them over her ears, I picked her up from her chair and placed her on my lap. Now content, she kicked her feet because she knew what was coming next.
After the dancers did their thing, the arena darkened, minus the spotlight revealing the player tunnel. The announcer raved about the Ravens before calling each one onto the floor.
When number eight was announced and the name Javier Valdez echoed around us, Aleesa clapped, and I stood with her in my arms so we could cheer.
The first thing he always did when running out was turn his head to look for his daughter.
“That’s Daddy!” she squealed. “Hi, Daddy!”
Her squeal was adorable, and her joy was infectious. I smiled and waved with her as Javier blew a kiss. He always did this—blew her a kiss, then smiled as he jogged toward the lineup—but there was something about it today that caught me off guard.
Maybe because right after doing it, he looked me in the eyes with that same smile and bobbed his head.
Or maybe my mind was playing tricks on me.
I tore my eyes away when Deke Bishop was called to the floor and the arena burst into an uproar. That was the thing about my future brother-in-law. Everyone loved him. I was positive that 90 percent of the audience were specifically here to see him.
Deke jogged out with that cocky smile of his, waved at the crowd, and then looked our way. He pressed two fingers to his lips, kissed them, and threw them in the air, eyes locked on Davina.
She kissed her fingers to return his love.
“Ugh,” I groaned. “Y’all are so in love. It makes me sick.”
She bumped me with her shoulder, blushing. “Don’t be a hater.”
“I need to tell you something.” I glanced at Davina after pulling my gaze from the jumbotron.
She turned her head, finding my eyes. “What’s up?”
“Luther emailed me.”
Her face immediately twisted into a frown. “And saidwhat?”
“He said he moved to Atlanta and has a job with some tech company. He also said he saw me in the crowd during one of the games, with Aleesa, so he assumes I’m in Atlanta, too, and wants to meet up. He claims he’s changing his ways.” I rolled my eyes.
Davina gave me a careful once-over. “You’re not considering it, are you?”
“No—girl, hell no!” I practically shrieked and was glad Aleesa was tuned out, too busy watching the players run back and forth on the court.
Vina’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Good. ’Cause he doesn’t deserve any of your time anymore. He lost that privilege the moment he disrespected you.”
“I just don’t get how he found my new email address,” I said, watching one of the Ravens miss a layup. The crowd groaned in unison.
“Did he say what kind of tech company he’s working for?”
“No ... but I do remember him always talking about hacking and how easy it was to find someone’s information.” I shuddered at the idea of him digging deep into the web just to find an email address for me. “I should’ve known better.”
When I left Luther, I had changed my phone number and abandoned my email address to make a new one that didn’t have my first or last name, and I had been glad that I’d never given him Mama’s address.
