There was a slight flutter in my belly, and my lips curled upward. “It’s good to hear yours, too.”
“How are you? Last I heard, you were getting your ass kicked in gin rummy.”
I let out a loud laugh. “First of all, I wasn’t getting my ass kicked. I lost with dignity. And my aunt has almost three decades of experience on me. Second of all, that’s very rude.”
“How is it rude to point out the facts? Didn’t you say she had just beaten you three times in a row? That’s what kicking ass looks like.”
“See, now you’re just using things I’ve told you against me, and I don’t like that.”
He let out a deep chuckle. “Well, I don’t want to do anything that you don’t like.”
I reclined back against my pillows and ignored the innuendo in his tone and how it made me feel. “Is that right?”
“The only reason you haven’t heard from me is because my phone is in the ocean. I forgot I had it in my pocket, and I hit that wave…” He made a noise in the back of his throat. “I didn’t even realize I’d lost it until we were heading back to the hotel. I went to text you the itinerary, and I realized I’d lost that shit.”
“You were gonna text me the trip itinerary?”
“Yeah. You told me before I left that you wanted pictures from the Burj Khalifa, and when I saw the itinerary Erickson’s fiancée put together, I wanted you to know when to expect them.”
Warmth spread through my body, and I paused briefly before I commented, “I love that Erickson’s fiancée put together an itinerary. Did y’all do it all?”
“Yes. Every single thing on that list. It was cool though. Apparently, she’d been putting together a list of all the things he’d mentioned he wanted to do over the last couple years, and that’s what we did. He was surprised. He loved it.”
“That’s so sweet. That’s… I love that.”
“Yeah. He’s been through a lot, so this was a long time coming. We had a good time. And I was mad that I lost my phone. Not justfor everything that was in it, but because I wanted to hit you up. I thought about you… a lot.”
“Really?” I grinned. “What about?”
“Everything. I thought about what you said about my business plan. I thought about how cool you are. I thought about how much fun it is to be with you. I thought about how you… Just know you were on my mind a lot.”
I bit my bottom lip just imagining how he’d wanted to complete that other sentence. “I’m glad to hear it. You crossed my mind a time or two. I was hoping you were enjoying yourself and wondering what you were doing while you were traipsing around the UAE.” I smiled. “It’s funny, every time I’ve gone out with you, you’ve managed to make me forget I was in Chance.”
“That’s a good thing?”
“That’s a real good thing.”
“Good. Speaking of Chance, I thought you were heading back to Maryland last week. What made you stay another week?”
“My aunt…” Clearing my throat lightly, I rolled onto my side. “And I’m going to be here for longer than anticipated.”
“You good?”
My stomach knotted. “In Chance, nothing is good,” I joked, sidestepping the question. “But I’ll be here for a minute.”
He snickered. “Well, what’s a minute?”
“August.”
“August?!”
“Yeah. My parents get back from Florida in August.”
“Oh. Okay. Hm.” He seemed to be contemplating something. “That’s going to make things a little more complicated.”
“How?”
“I start training camp on Monday, and then right after that it’s the preseason. I thought you were going to be in Maryland. Richland is about an hour from Baltimore. It would’ve been easier to carve out some time to see you. But with you in Chance… damn.”
