She managed to swallow. Barely. “I’ll send pictures if you forget,” she said sweetly.
He sighed as the proverbial elephant in the room lumbered across the table, sat right next to the dip, and dared them to go on yet another lovely date without facing the fact that this delightful relationship had an inevitable end.
“I won’t forget,” he murmured, any hint of a smile fading. “I swear, Lace, I won’t.”
Her stomach dipped. She set a chip on the small appetizer plate, definitely not sure she could swallow another when his eyes were that direct and warm.
“I know,” she said. “But you’ll have a lot on your mind.”
“I already do.” He finally ate a spinach and artichoke-covered chip, chewing, then dabbed at his lips with a napkin. “I talked to my trainer today. We did a video physical, which was pretty much hell.”
Lacey’s heart did a small flip. “I hope he told you you’re perfect and should never change.”
Roman huffed a laugh. “He told me I’m tight in my hips. Actually, his words were, ‘Matteo, you have the hips of a ninety-year-old.’”
“Rude,” she said. “Plus, I’d like to seethatninety-year-old.”
“Right? Could Grandpa carry you out of here?”
She laughed, knowing Roman could do just that with one hand and tight hips.
“Anyway, after that, the training camp schedule came through.”
His quiet sentence thudded like a door closing.
“Yeah?” Lacey’s smile stayed on her face for half a second too long, then wobbled. “And…”
Roman took a sip of beer, the only sound some chatter and laughter, and distant music. His thumb traced the rim of the glass as he held her gaze, then looked down.
“Report date is in seventeen days.”
Her throat tightened. “Seventeen days,” she echoed, like she hoped he’d correct her and say…seventeen days and one year. Because that’s what they needed to strengthen and secure this still very young relationship.
Roman nodded once. “Yeah.”
Lacey tried to make her tone light. “Well. Jacksonville is only, what, four hours from here?”
“It’s closer to five.”
“Five?” Wasn’t Florida narrow? How could it be five hours between Destin and Jacksonville?
“Five,” he repeated. “It’s literally in another time zone.”
Her eyes shuttered. “I know.”
“And what do you think?”
The truth was she’d been tryingnotto think about it at all, because the future looked murky and dark and like it could dissolve with the first preseason game. That’s when he’d go back to being Roman Matteo, a pro-ball player who probably had legions of gorgeous girls waiting outside the stadium for an autograph, phone numbers at the ready.
But this summer, he’d just been her boyfriend, sweet and fun and honest and perfect.
He leaned forward, forearms on the table. “Lacey?” he pressed. “Surely you’ve thought about this. About us, and the future.”
Her breath caught and she pushed the straw around in her drink. “Sure I have. And…people do long-distance all the time.”
One strong shoulder lifted. “People also break up all the time.”
“Roman—”
