“Did you really though?” Lori said. “It seems to be short-sighted to think you wouldn’t have some sort of relationship with the players. You’re all in the same business.”
“Yeah, I am friends with some players, but I don’t socialize with them much during the season,” Nicole said.
“Which sounds very lonely since those are the people you’re spending the majority of your time with,” Lori said.
“We’ve had this conversation before, Mom,” Nicole said. “I love my job and my career is important to me.”
“Don’t fill up on popcorn,” Archie said, getting up from his recliner. “Let’s have Gino’s pizza for dinner. I’ll go get it and be back before the end of the game.”
“Are you sure?” Lori said. “I can have it delivered.”
“I’m not sure what I want,” Archie said. “I’ll surprise you.”
Nicole chuckled. Her dad had a thing for pizza and loved to try different combinations. He and Albert, the guy who owned Gino’s, had been friends since her parents retired here. Albert was always ready to entertain Archie’s imagination.
“No onions!” Nicole yelled after him.
When they heard the door close Lori turned to Nicole and patted her shoulder. “I can see she means something to you.”
“Because I smile when I look at her,” Nicole replied, knowing her mother had seen right through her.
“I’m your mother,” Lori said. “I know these things about you and I can tell by the way you watch her and the softness in your eyes.”
Nicole sighed. “It’s complicated, Mom.” She couldn’t tell anyone how Ariana’s smile warmed her heart or how much fun it was to play basketball with her.
“It usually is. But what if she’s worth it?”
“We barely know each other.”
“Yes, you keep saying it’s new,” Lori said. “Tell me what you do know.”
Nicole turned towards her mom. “When I talk about basketball with her it’s different from my job or even with Shealyn. It’s like we get each other.” She smiled. “One of our favorite things is figuring out ways for her to stop the other team when she plays defense or how to pick the other team apart. That’s why you saw me smiling during the game. We planned some of those things and they worked.”
“What else?”
“I told you she does youth events for the league. She’s really good with kids.”
“Like you are.”
Nicole smiled at her mom’s compliment. “We play basketball together on the roof of my building.”
“That has to be fun,” Lori said. “You can’t really do that when you’re calling games.”
“Spending time with her is easy,” Nicole murmured, looking back at the TV.
“And sometimes it makes your heart race or little butterflies flutter in your stomach,” Lori said.
Nicole looked over at her and scoffed. “How do you do that?”
Lori patted her leg. “I know you, honey. Plus, don’t you think I feel like that when I look at your dad?”
Nicole sighed. “I think you’re getting way ahead of what’s happening here. We barely get to see each other because of our schedules. I’ll be gone all week and won’t see her until Saturday when I call her game in DC.”
“That doesn’t matter.” Lori shrugged. “You take advantage of the time you do get to spend with each other.”
“But we can’t even go out in public because of my job,” Nicole said.
Lori smiled. “Then it’s a good thing you have everything you need at your apartment.”
