Page 46 of Considering Us

“Yeah, a lot of those guys have kids and stuff.”

“Exactly. David is such an introvert, but with his mom or with me, he’s just a kid. Even with his trainer or the housekeeper, he doesn’t say much. Once they’re out of earshot, it’s a different story.” I sighed, pulling up to the valet. “I hope one of these days he’ll break out of his shell.”

“He’s such a good player. I used to watch him when he played for Villanova.”

“He is. I just think if he had more confidence, he could be incredible.”

We carried the coolers to the front desk, where Heath presented his driver’s license and got a visitor’s badge before heading with me to the elevator. “How did you end up working for him?” he asked as I pushed the button for the penthouse.

“His mom is a big-deal doctor in Atlanta. She was in Boston for a conference, and he had just moved here to start playing for the Celtics. I guess he was a mess, and she was trying to figure out how to make it all better. You know, whatgoodmoms do.”

Heath laughed at my less-than-subtle dig at my own mother.

“One of the doctors she knew who lived here was a new client of mine. They made the connection, and here we are. The Boston doctor dropped me when my scandal hit, along with everyone except for David and his mom. He’s my last client.”

“Besides the four hundred students of Rockwood.”

“And their teachers. And anyone else who stops by,” I said, thinking of Ashlyn’s phone. I had finally dug it out of the pot with some tongs, and luckily, it was dead as a doornail. I hadn’t heard from Andrea about it yet, but I did jump a bit every time I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

“Okay,” I said to Heath as we stood outside of David’s door. “You ready to meet David Anders?”

“I guess so,” he said. “Although I have no idea what I’m doing here.”

“It’s the boyfriend tour,” I said. “Everyone has to meet David.”

“All the boyfriends, huh?” he asked. He leaned down and kissed me softly, and I breathed in. He always smelled good, like a pine-scented deodorant or some other basic man product. “Is that what I am now? Because we hadn’t really talked about it.”

I dropped my cooler bag next to me and looped my hands onto the belt that encircled the waist of his jeans. Hewassexy.“Would you like to be my boyfriend?” I asked as I felt his mouth on the edge of my jaw, making its way to my neck. My mind flashed to Kyle making that exact move in that dorm bed over fifteen years earlier, and I wanted to wipe my memory clean. I wanted to be in the moment, to be present with Heath. I fought through it and made myself turn my face until my lips found his. Our kiss deepened until the door opened, and David stood before us, all six foot seven of him, making even Heath seem small.

“What the hell, Dev?” he asked. “Save it for later.”

“Hi, David,” I said, extricating myself from Heath. “This is Heath Davis. Heath, David Anders.”

“Davis, David,” said David, whooping a laugh. “How ya doing?” he asked, shaking Heath’s hand.

“Good to meet you,” said Heath. “Nice game last night.”

“Wish Coach would’ve left me in,” David lamented, crashing backward into his couch and absentmindedly picking up a PlayStation controller. “I bet I could’ve had twenty easy.”

“You got ten,” I said, unloading the coolers and showing Heath where to put everything. “Good to get into double digits consistently again.”

“I just know I can do so much better,” he said, furiously playing a soccer game on the enormous flatscreen in front of him. “All that soccer talk last time you were here got me thinking I needed to try FIFA. Turns out I’m better at this than playing the thing I’m actually paid to do in person every day.”

“Dude, anyone can play a video game,” I said, throwing his smoothie ingredients into the blender and trying to ignore the soccer reference. The last thing I needed was for Heath to know that David and I had discussed Kyle when I had been there the previous week. “Do you realize how lucky you are to have these gifts? And do I have to tell you this every time I see you?”

“Probably,” he said with a sly smile. He turned to Heath briefly and then redirected his attention to the screen. “I just like the attention.”

“Anyway,” I said, handing him the drink. “Think about what you want to eat next week in LA. You know I can’t pull off the enchiladas there.”

“The struggle is real,” he replied, still maneuvering a soccer player on the field. “Didn’t you do a steak wrap one time? Where were we? Phoenix?”

“I think that was Houston. But yes, that wasn’t too hard. Okay, I’ll plan for that. I’ll get the usual road stuff for LA. And your mom is meeting you in Denver. I only can manage to do this occasionally.”

“I wish it was all the time,” he muttered. “Why don’t you leave the school and come back to Boston, Dev? I could probably get you some other Celtics to cook for.”

“You’d have to talk to them first, David,” I said, rolling my eyes while I washed the blender.

“I talk to them!” he announced across the room. “I just don’t hang out with them and go to Contessa and shit.”

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