“With my luck, my foot will probably take an eternity to recover fully. It seems to be my way.”
He didn’t join in on her self-deprecation. Instead, in a miraculous turn of events, he reached over, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it. No stoicism or lack of emotion in that grip, but it also wasn’t the caressing clasp of affection. It was solidarity, simplicity, and just right.
“Youwillheal. I had my own injury in high school that I thought was the end of everything. But it wasn’t. And this won’t be the end for you.” He squeezed her hand again. “Maybe just the beginning of something new.” Her eyes drifted from their intertwined hands to his face. She sucked in a breath at his expression. Didn’t expect the tightening at her core. She averted her eyes. When would they board? Ah, at 4:15, in just fifteen minutes. Too late to turn around. Too late to avoid crossing the threshold in this fake relationship turned friendship that was slowly becoming themorethat she longed for and feared.
24
THE ROARS RIPPLINGthrough the Mercedes-Benz Stadium were almost deafening. Solomon clapped his hands, his palms tingling. But he didn’t care. He had to admit he’d been skeptical about Kenya’s supposed favor. He had fully intended to say no and go home to sleep away his intense shift.
“Yeah, boi, that is what I am talking about!” He pumped his fist with the attendees around him at another goal scored by Inter Miami. His excitement rang a little like betrayal since United Atlanta was a neighboring team, but it was hard not to cheer for Messi on Miami’s team.
The shouts of the crowd and the atmosphere pumped his veins full of more energy than the liquid that passed for coffee at the hospital. He lifted his eyes toward the darkened sky visible from the retracted pinwheel-shaped roof of the arena.
How did he go from an intense hospital shift to the fever pitch of a Major League Soccer game? Because of Kenya.
That wild look in her eye had compelled him to say yes and go along for her surprise airplane ride. When had he ever done that? He had a hard time giving in to his parents’ plans, even when they were set months or years in advance. But Kenya’s irrepressible charm and vulnerability had set off a wild hunger in him. Orperhaps unwrapped what had always been there, a craving for the unexpected.
The unexpected had landed him at an MLS game he never would have come to on his own, allowing him to watch one of his favorite players. As soon as they had landed, a driver in an Audi met them at the Atlanta airport and whisked them to the VIP entrance of the stadium, where they spent time eating in one of the field-level clubs. Fifteen minutes before game time, they headed up to their assigned box.
Admittedly, this was something his parents could have paid multiple times over for, but being gifted this experience from Kenya meant more than he could comprehend.
Solomon sat down in one of the plush loge box seats. He turned to Kenya, unable to keep the grin off his face. Her face glowed, probably from the bright lights rimming the stadium.
There was no tension or tightness or expectation shuttering him here. Just the joy of the moment.
Just the lightness of her laugh and the way her eyes danced as she took in his excitement. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so exuberant.
“This seems like a pretty unfair exchange.”
Her eyes bounced to the soccer pitch before turning to him. “I know, can you believe that? I’m surprised they didn’t call a foul.”
Solomon shook his head. Disbelief and respect mingled. Kenya was all things feminine and feisty.
He leaned in close, taking in her scent, fragrant oil wafting from her wavy, shoulder-length hair. “What I mean is, you said this was payback for taking you to a library.” He paused to watch the ball movement, groaning at the failed assist. “I took you to a book reading and you brought me tothis.”
Kenya shrugged, a pleased smile tugging at her lips. Glossed lips, he might add.
“It’s all about exchanges and favors.” She nodded toward the field. “You see number thirteen over there? The midfielder?”
The player had just been subbed out and was sitting on the bench, tipping a water bottle toward his mouth.
“Would you believe that I saved his life?”
“With you, I’m starting to believe anything.”
Even among the noise of the arena, her tinkling laugh rang out.
“Well, he wasn’t in danger of physical death, but in the death of a relationship.”
Kenya leaned forward and Solomon followed her gaze. After several seconds she pointed to a woman sitting a few rows behind the bench. Solomon opened the bottle of soda he’d retrieved earlier from the stocked mini fridge. “There must be a good story behind all this.”
“There always is. Basically, when a trip to North Alabama got added to his schedule on the same weekend he’d planned to propose to his now wife, guess whose agency was called last minute?”
Solomon smiled, the details carrying notes of familiarity.
“She’d always wanted to be proposed to on her parents’ wedding date. So guess who got the gig and was able to pull off a beautiful proposal at the Space and Rocket Center in less than twelve hours?”
“That would be you.”
