We’d never really had a vacation before.The move to LA was abrupt, and suddenly it was our new normal.
This felt needed.
I want to take another vacation.For more than a couple of days.
“Did you let him recover?”Brooke asks.
“From the sex?Oh, you mean his knee.He thinks he’ll be able to play the next game or the one after.”
“You guys are almost enough to make a girl believe in love.”
“We’re taking it slow,” I say.
I have enough income to consider getting my own place, but I want to hold off and see how things go over the next few months.My tendency is to leap into things, and I want to be more cautious for both our sakes.
But he opens up to me when he’s having a rough day.He hangs out with the guys to play video games or have a drink after practice.
I’ve been enjoying having my own studio space.Since the gallery show, I’ve been experimenting with different media and subjects.
The real test will be the rest of the season, when everything is thrown outside our control.Clay’s ability to play is still in question, plus all the pressure from the outside and the pressure he puts on himself.
He’s a champion, inside and out.
“How’s your sorority event planning going?”I ask.
“The sister who’s chairing it keeps flashing her ring on Zoom calls like it’s responsible for her Wi-Fi connection.”She rolls her eyes.“It’s as if once she got a diamond as big as her face, she’d won.This is clearly an event to show off their personal victories.Another one is fawning over her.Like all she wants in life is a successful man.”
“Maybe you should introduce her to the guys on the team.”
“Hell no.”
“Trying to protect your sister?”
“Trying to protect the guys.”
I laugh as we get to a clearing and stop to grab a drink from our packs.
My phone rings, and I reach for it.“Hey, Mar.You still good to meet for lunch tomorrow?”
“Change of plans.Work wants me to go to Paris for a month to meet with this other agency.It’s really important, but I was going to say no.But then I thought that we could go together, go to the galleries we imagined as kids.”
I blink in surprise.“When?”
“Next week.”
“Playoffs start.”
“I know.Harlan will be up in his own head.Clay will too.The best thing we can do is clear out.”
I chew my lip.“Let me think about it.”
I hang up and Brooke cocks her head.
“A month in Paris with your sister,” she says when I finish filling her in.“Last year, you would’ve jumped at that.”
“I know.”And I do want it.I picture us pushing Emily in a stroller down beautiful streets, baskets of spring flowers everywhere.“But Clay and I are still figuring out what we can be.I don’t want to risk that.”
On the way back into town, Brooke and I stop by the stadium where the guys are working out in the gym.
