“I’m good. Go enjoy the rest of your night.”
I heard Brittney by the door say, “Let me know where y’all end up. I might meet up.” And then she was hugging her siblings and everyone was out the door.
The door clicked shut and the townhouse was silent, minus the whirring from the refrigerator. This was the first time I’d been alone with Brittney in a long time.
“So…”
“There’s no way I’m making small talk with you.” She brushed past me to head up the stairs where our luggage waited. Her citrus tang was back up my nose, the brief contact of our shoulders had left it buzzing like pins and needles.
I didn’t know why I wanted to ask if she needed help, but it was on the tip of my tongue until I remembered we probably benched a similar number.
Knowing us, it’d probably be the same exact number.
I followed behind, deciding not to disturb her peace when I finally landed on the second floor. The hallway was expansive, the light flooring from downstairs continued up here, setting the glow of the space in a warm hue.
“Damn we didn’t have this in Chicago,” I whispered, eyeing the two doors on opposite sides of the hallway. Through the left door the room was big but the view wasn’t as nice compared to the door on the right which had an uninterrupted view of Miami’s shoreline. The moon hung heavy and full above the ocean. Brittney leaned on the doorframe, her height making her practically reach the top . A sigh escaped her mouth as she admired the view.
“That one is all yours if you want it.” I murmured, more quietly than I’d meant to but I didn’t want to spook her.
“You don’t need to pretend to be nice to me. No one’s around,” she retorted, her back toward me.
“Who says I’m pretending?”
“Oh, so you want me to think you’re kind?” Brittney turned to face me, her eyebrows scrunched and her mouth twisted to one side like she tasted something bad.
Yes.
“I would like you to.”
At my soft tone she stood up straight, like she believed me. Maybe she saw that I meant no harm and would do whatever I could to get her to trust me.
Our jobs depended on it now.
Instead her face morphed, her eyebrows squinted and her jaw set. “Well, we can’t always get what we want.” She moved past me to reach her suitcases at the top of the stairs. I didn’t know what came over me, but I stepped in her way.
“Nola, what are you doing?” Brittney refused to look at me, her eyes closed and her shoulders slumped in exhaustion.
“I need to apologize.”
“For what?”
“You know what for.”
She opened her eyes, dark chocolate irises piercing my face. “Then say it.”
I obeyed. “What I said in that interview four years ago was fucked. It’s easy to say I was petty and rude. But I think at the core of it I was…”
“Rude and petty?” Brittney used my words against me.
“Embarrassed.” I struggled to say.
“And what the fuck for? You got first pick, you got our last natty. What on God’s green earth could you have been embarrassed over?” We were eye level but it felt like she was taller. There was none of the anger that I felt on the court, just curiosity. Like she was waiting to see what I’d say, trying to get ahead of me to see if I’m serious.God, I really only wanted to do this once.
“Uh…our…moment on draft night…in the bathroom...” I mumbled.
“What, a little kiss had you flustered and vengeful?”
“Lee, you know that wasn’t a ‘little kiss.’”
