Page 85 of Brick Wall
“Hey yourself,” I respond back from the comfort of our sofa. I’m wearing my comfiest pair of sweats and eating chocolate ice cream straight from the container.
She stops dead in the living room, hesitates for a second, and then asks, “Are you coming tonight?”
I just raise my eyebrow in response. I’m in an oversized old Goodick jersey that I stole from Sebastian and my hair is the very definition of a messy bun at the moment. I really had no plans to do anything beyond sulking around the house.
I haven’t seen Sebastian at all this week, and I’m not sure why.
Yes, I’m dating a professional athlete during the playoffs, but this was a bye week and a lighter week for him. I’ve also seen Bryce in our apartment a few times this week, but not Sebastian.
We’ve texted, but not nearly as much as we usually do. Sebastian has been short with his responses, keeping to one- or two-word replies. I’m racking my brain trying to think of a cause for this and coming up short.
We haven’t broken up…yet, but I can’t help but feel like it’s on the horizon.
“A few of the guys and their girls are going over to Quinn Banks’s house and are watching the game on his big screen.”
This weekend is the wildcard round of playoffs, and tonight, Saturday night, two teams in their conference are playing. This game tonight will help determine who the Revs are playing next week for their first playoff game.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” especially considering I didn’t know about it.
Goldie gives me a look, like she knows what I am thinking. She probably does.
“You should come. Sebastian will be there. You’ll get a better read of him in person than through your phone.”
Goldie has a point. I told her about last week, his mystery illness and my off-week with him, and my worry is obvious. There’s also been an empty pint of ice cream (do not judge me) in the trash every night, which is much more than usual.
“Okay, I’ll come.” I let out a large sigh and throw a sweatshirt over the jersey, and begrudgingly switch my sweats for jeans. I guess I should also tackle this messy bun before I tackle my problems with Sebastian tonight.
* **
Bryce, Goldie, and I walk into Quinn’s beautiful mansion without knocking. We head straight for the basement, where plenty of boisterous voices reside.
I’ve been to Quinn’s house once before, months ago for a basketball game, but I haven’t seen his basement.
The basement is huge and is basically one gigantic man cave. There is an enormous flat-screen television with an extra-large couch facing the screen on the left side of the room. On the right, there’s a gorgeous wooden bar with four brown leather stools. Two teammates are sitting on the stools, staring at a flat-screen TV behind the bar.
Feet is behind the bar, grabbing drinks for everyone. “I haven’t seen Sebastian yet, but Calvin just arrived.” Feet nods his head in the direction of the stairwell, and I look over and find Calvin walking through the doors.
Cal stops at the entryway and looks around the room. When his eyes find mine, he gives me a big smile and heads in my direction.
“Hey, Annie!” Cal says, giving me a side hug. “Sebastian should be here soon.” I look over Cal’s shoulders and notice Sebastian entering the room.
“I see him, thanks.” My smile is small and polite as I try not to concentrate on the nerves dancing in my belly. I’m a little worried about Sebastian’s reaction regarding my presence here, but he comes right over to us and greets me with a hug. This is a good sign, right?
I automatically take a big whiff of him, as his familiar scent of cedar and citrus happily fills my lungs. I miss this smell and him.
Sebastian pulls away from the hug first, and I suddenly feel the loss of his warmth. However, he grabs my hand and tugsme slightly away from Cal.
“I want to introduce you to some people,” Sebastian whispers into my ears.
I just nod, because I’m too happy for words right now.
“Hey, guys!” Sebastian says as we approach a few of his teammates by QB’s dart board—two I’ve met at the holiday party, and a few I haven’t.
“This is Annie. Annie, this is…”
All those names get lost in my head immediately. Shit. I don’t even remember a single name. There are five attractive, athletic guys, probably all a little younger than Sebastian.
“Annie is the head coach at Chestnut Hill’s volleyball program. Her team made it to the final four in December,” Sebastian brags.
