Page 11 of Shooting his Shot

We shared a laugh. Damn, talking to Avani on a daily basis seemed to be the best thing to me. She was opening up to me as I was to her. It was just what I needed. I was sure she needed it, too.

Later that night,I took her back to her car after we ate hot dogs and shared a Sprite. That was something she didn't want to do, saying she didn't know where my mouth was. I had to let her know I didn't know where hers was either.

"Thank you for today. I enjoyed myself," she affirmed, looking over at me.

I smiled. "I enjoyed myself, too. It's a pleasure going down memory lane with you. We were some badass kids."

We laughed.

"We were, but I need to get home. I have work tomorrow."

I nodded. "How about coming to my game tomorrow night? I'll make sure you have tickets."

Her eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Hell yeah."

"Okay, I'll be there."

I got out of the car and went around to open the door for her. Once Avani was out, she turned to look up at me. With my six-foot-five height, it was tough for both of us. I stepped closer to her and cupped her face in my hand.

"I want to kiss you."

Her eyes held uncertainty. I wouldn't kiss her unless she wanted me to.

"You can."

That was all I needed to know before I pulled her up in my arms and slanted my lips on hers. Avani moaned in my mouth and wrapped her legs around my waist as best she could. Her ass was short as hell. I had a feeling I would be picking her up a lot. I'd be damned if I got a crook in my neck trying to kiss her. She was too damn short. We kissed slowly, our lips caressing one another's. The way our lips were moving against one another, with her body pressed against mine, was turning me on.

"How short are you?" I whispered against her lips when I ended the kiss.

She giggled. "I'm five-foot-two."

I shook my head. "Yeah, prepare for me to pick your ass up to kiss you."

She snorted. "What makes you think you'll be getting another kiss?"

"This between us says so. I'm going to let you go." I put her feet back on the ground. "Text me when you get home."

"I will."

I waited until she got in her car and drove away before I got in mine and did the same.

As I gotready to head out to see my sister, Laisley, I couldn't help but think about Akari. He had been around a lot, and I didn't know why. I wasn't going to front like I hadn't enjoyed his company since I was. I just wouldn't get caught up with him since I knew what type of man he was. If I were to get involved with him, I'd be setting myself up for failure. Akari said he had a lot of groupies. That was true. Plus, photographers captured him with many women. That was something he couldn't hide. It was all over the internet.

It made me smile when Akari got me free tickets to his game. I sat next to his sister, who had floor seats. It felt good seeing him in action. Also, I saw how he'd talk trash to the other players. So many fights were about to happen that made mescared for him, but I knew he could handle himself. After the game was over, he took me out to dinner. Something I hadn't expected him to do. His team had won the game that night, too. His team was going out, and I thought he would be too, but he spent time with me.

On Valentine's Day, he bought me a teddy bear and chocolate-covered pretzels, which surprised me since I wasn't expecting anything from him.

Akari was a sweet man, but given our history, I never thought he'd be nice to me. We still bickered with each other and ended up laughing about it later. The playfulness we shared was everything to me, but I knew I shouldn't get caught up with him. Then he was always kissing me. The kisses were a little too much and had me hot and bothered for him. Soon, both of us would catch a fire. I shivered just thinking about it.

My cell phone rang as I was leaving my house to head over to my sister's. I removed the phone from my back pocket and wasn't all that surprised to see that it was Akari.

"Hello?" I answered as I shut the door of my house.

"Hmm, it sounds like you are going out. Where are you headed?"

"You're so nosy. You didn't even greet me or ask how I'm doing. You went straight to being in my business."

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