Page 98 of Dreams
“Well, you should see the talent here, Man. And by that, I mean the women. Oh. My. Damn.”
Josh laughed, easing some of the tension. Mack was good for that. They talked about All-Star weekend, but not about the actual game. His friend seemed to know he needed to keep it light and was just happy to hear from him. Josh realized that this wasn’t only affecting him. Like Mack said in the hospital, they had plans. They wanted to take the league by storm. Together.
After spending a while talking about the usual bullshit nonsense, Josh got serious again.
“Mack,” he said. “I know what you did.”
“You may need to clarify.” Mack laughed. “Because I do a lot of things, some of them even good.”
“Taylor.”
“Oh, yeah, that one was good.”
“Thanks.”
“Well, you guys deserve each other.” Mack laughed again, physically incapable of being serious. “You’re both just so damn sad.”
“If I were with you, I’d punch you right now.”
“You’d try.”
“Yeah yeah, we’ll see when I get back.”
“You’re coming back?” Mack sounded surprised.
“This isn’t something I can run from, Mack,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll stay.” Josh glanced back at the door, thinking of the girl on the other side. “I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“You’ll figure it out.” Mack had more confidence in Josh than he had in himself.
“I’ll try.”
“Whatever man, you’re that kind of guy that everyone hates because you’ll always land on your feet and be good at whatever you do.”
The irony of Mack saying that was not lost on Josh. Since he’d known him, he’d been jealous of Mack excelling at every part of the game without even trying.
“Talk to you back in Columbus?”
“See you there,” Mack replied before ending the call.
Taylor walked out a minute later, hair damp and face clean of all makeup.
God, she’s beautiful.
She smiled shyly as she walked forward.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, pulling her to him for a kiss. “Are you ready to get out of here?”
“Where are we going?”
“How about home?”
She looked up at him and nodded. He knew she had to get back for class, and he wasn’t ready to be separated from her yet. It was time to face the music.
“Let’s drive.” He kissed her again. “I want to spend 11 hours in a car with you.”
She smiled again. “Sounds great.”
“K, I’m going to shower then we can grab some food from the kitchen and go.”
