Page 37 of Naked

I had very little data to go on. My own parents were not affectionate. They didn’t touch and they rarely kissed. And when they did kiss it was a peck. They had no passion for each other.

Where all I felt for Hunter was passion.

I loved my parents, but I didn’t think I could stand a life without passion now that I had it. I wondered if they were happy or were they just merely content.

Did it matter?

“Earth to Tilley!”

I blinked and Zoe was waving a hand in front of my face. “Sorry. What did I miss?”

“We were wondering if you were up for a girls’ night after the game? The guys usually go for beer after the Saturday night games and we meet up at Eve’s house for wine.”

Hunter had not mentioned this to me, which led me to believe his intention was to ditch the guys in favor of more time with me. This, of course, made me feel incredible, but I wondered if it were the right course of action.

Namely, these women were part of his world and I had very few friends with all the moving. I realized I was craving some female companionship. I knew Hunter would agree. So I said yes.

And that’s how I wound up sipping wine with a group of smart, accomplished players’ wives.

“When do you fly back?” Carrie, the surgeon and Wes’s wife, asked.

“Four days.”

“And are you freaking out?”

For just a second I let the panic in, then I blocked that bitch back out. “Yes. Yes I am. But Hunter is confident, so I’m trying to be as well.”

Zoe tucked her feet up under her on the couch, her glass of red wine in hand. “So we have just over a month of regular season left. In a perfect world for the Mantas you two would be apart for two months. We win another World Series, and then he’s yours until February?”

“Basically, yes.” We never talked about what happened next. We were so caught up in enjoyingnow, plus I didn’t want to stress about things I couldn’t control.

“This is the upside of sports. Once he’s done. He’s done. Except for constantly working out and having nothing to do.”

There were sounds from the front of the house and Carrie got up to greet Eve and June. Being young, but highly placed, at work meant that I pretty much always bridged a gap in the people I associated with. My friends were my age, but the people I worked with were older. It had always been this way for me, so even though I was surprised to get the girls’ night invite, it also made sense. And since I got to drink wine with Zoe Hyde…

There was lots of hugging and loud exclamations as everyone caught up. More wine and glasses were set out. The room was essentially a circle with large couches on either side of a long coffee table, and overstuffed chair that might have been a love seat, on one end, and a fireplace on the other. I’ll never fully understand why there were fireplaces in Florida homes since it never got below freezing, but I suspected it had more to do with ambiance and wishful thinking than practicality.

As it was, there was a very low gas fire burning and the air conditioning was simultaneously running.

I sat beside Zoe on the far couch while Carrie and June sat across from us. Eve took the loveseat-chair thing. Conversation was currently centered around the hotness level of race car drivers. Carrie had an iPad out and was ranking them on a chart and asking me for personality input.

“This is ridiculous,” June sighed.

“No, it’s important. We have an expert available to us. If we don’t do this now when will we?”

“Never?” Zoe laughed.

Carrie scowled at everyone. “Whatever. Do you get to drive the cars?”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not. Although I have sat in King’s car once and I go in the simulator from time to time to understand what my numbers mean from their perspective.”

“What about other cars? Does everyone get an Evans?” Carrie was very invested in this.

“Uh, no. I get a discount if I want to buy one, which I haven’t been in one place long enough to even think about. But I did do a hot lap with King at the start of the season.”

“What’s that?” Zoe finished one glass of wine and poured the next.

“It’s when they take you in a regular car—well not regular, regular. It was an Evans-R7—anyway, you put on helmets and drive around a track just like you would in a race. It’s terrifying and fun.”

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