“I’m visiting her Sunday. Want to come with?” He kept his attention straight ahead.
My stomach dropped. “I have a game on Sunday. I can’t. What about Saturday?”
“I use that day for post-game stuff.”
“Monday?” I could probably miss an afternoon class and weights if I explained it to coach. “Well, maybe not.”
“Sundays are the only day I can.”
My shoulders slumped, and the bench seemed colder. “Damn. Okay. I can… hm. I can call them. Maybe borrow someone else’s car.” I went through the mental list of everyone who had a car, andEricwas at the top. Ugh.
Luca leaned back, his shoulder leaning against mine as he faced me. His jaw was tight again, and his eyes flashed withsomething,but it disappeared fast. “It takes a few hours to get there.”
“Yeah, I know. I looked it up.” I pulled at the end of my ponytail with frustration. “Would your grandma take a FaceTime or Zoom call? I could interview her that way, but that wouldn’t be good for the video pieces I wanted to do. I thought it’d be amazing to film the residents with fun facts about them. Like they were alive before we had TVs. That is wild. I could do TikToks with them about life back then.” I flipped to the third page of my notes. “There could be a buddy system paired up with the high school nearby—like senior and seniors!”
“That’s a great idea.” Luca sighed, and his right knee bounced. “You’d need to be there in person for a lot of this, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m thinking so, which… that doesn’t work with our sports schedules.”
He grunted, and the momentary high deflated. I was a popped tire. A balloon with a hole. A hose with a leak. I closed my eyes and leaned back, unintentionally resting my head on his arm. He stiffened but didn’t move.
“Okay,” he said.
It jolted me from my pity-party. I peeked one eye open. “Okay… what?”
“We’ll go this Saturday.”
Hope burst through me like the crowd rushing in for Black Friday sales. It knocked over every emotion I had, taking the lead. “You for real? What about your coach?”
His nostrils flared. “It’s not… it was my own routines getting in the way, not his. I’ll be fine.”
“Oh, Luca.” My heart felt like someone squeezed it with two hands. This was almost unbelievable, him sacrificing his time for me. “Are you sure? I know you’re intense and focused. This wouldn’t… I can find another way. My parents could let me borrow their car! Yes, that’s it.”
He shook his head. “No, I can take a few hours off. Plus, my grandma has been pestering me to see her.”
“I can be quick. The quickest. I’ll email everyone in advance so we can be in and out.” I spoke too fast, too loud because the excitement came back on steroids. “Gah! This is gonna be awesome. I could just hug you right now!”
He let out a tight laugh and removed his arm from the back of the bench. “Want to leave around two? That lets me finish post-game film and a light workout.”
“Yes!” I jumped from the bench and spun in a circle. “You won’t regret this, Monroe. Not one bit.”
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Luca
Why the fuck had I gotten a haircut and shave for this? It wasn’t a date. It was a few hours in a car with Lorelei Romano to visit my grandma. That was it. Nothing more. Yet, I felt like I had to clean up. Look nice. I found my newest jeans and showered. No big deal.
“Ready?” Lorelei knocked on my doorframe as I put on a football hoodie. That felt more casual, like friends hanging out. Because that was what we were.
“Almost.” I chewed the inside of my cheek as I grabbed my wallet, keys, and froze. Had I put on deodorant? I couldn’t remember, but I didn’t want to smell. “I need thirty seconds. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Sounds good! Don’t worry, I made car snacks.” She laughed and left my room, thankfully.
I quickly applied deodorant and sighed. This wasn’t anything, and I had no reason to be nervous. Like, what the fuck? I’d stared down some of the biggest fucking dudes against a Michigan team last night and yet a car ride with her had me sweating. Maybe the sweatshirt was too much. I took it off and would just toss it in the back of the truck. Why did I have to confess my attraction to her in such an obnoxious way the other night? Like, she didn’t just know I thought she was hot. I told her she was a goddess, like I was a total idiot.
My usual Saturday night involved homework to keep my grades up and watching more film of the game and finding areas of weakness. Then I’d create my own workout plan for the next week. Instead, I’d be in the car with Lorelei and visiting my grandma. I could handle it.
Liar.
