Page 96 of The Fadeaway
Nathan walks up as I’m staring at the picture and willing Kitty to call or text. “You ready to party?”
I nod. “Yeah, ready to get out of here for sure. I need to say goodbye to my family.”
Nathan points to Shaw and Malone who stand by the door. “Want us to wait for you?”
“Nah, go on. I’ll catch up.”
My mom and sisters are nowhere in sight, but I spot my dad and make my way to him.
“We’re taking off. Thank you for coming. Means a lot.”
He places a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve grown into a good man. Hard working, smart, loyal. Nowhere else I’d rather be. Valley president or not.”
Touched by his words but feeling awkward as hell at all the attention my talent and character has gotten tonight, I change the subject. “Where’d Mom and the girls go?”
“The ladies room. If it’s anything like the trip they made at halftime, I wouldn’t expect them back anytime soon. Go,” he motions with his head. “We’ll see you back home.”
No further prompting is needed, I duck out and dial Katrina as soon as I’m far enough from the noise I think I’ll be able to hear her.
“Hello?” she answers huskily, obviously woken from sleep.
“Hey.”
“Congratulations.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“Thanks.”
There’s silence for too long, but I’m at a total loss. For someone that called her, I’m doing a shit job at talking. All the things I want to say and none of them feel right via phone.
“I was gonna text or call, but I figured you’d be celebrating with the team.” She yawns.
“Still could have. You can always call.”
“Christian drew you a picture. I, uh, promised him I’d get it to you when you get back.”
Somehow that feels better than the trophy we accepted earlier. And thank you, little man, for providing a great excuse to see her.
“What about you? You draw me a picture?”
Her soft laugh makes my smile grow bigger. “No, but I’ve got coffee and muffins anytime you want.”
“That sounds good.” Except it doesn’t. Relegating our time together back to the café where the counter serves as a literal and metaphorical boundary between us isn’t enough. It’s what I deserve, what I told her I wanted, but it just isn’t good enough anymore. Winners want the ball. I want the ball.
I want Katrina.
* * *
Katrina
I yawn as I fill another cup of coffee. I wasn’t the only one that stayed up late to watch the game judging by the long line that’s been constant since the café opened.
Tabitha is next in line and she steps forward with what looks like yesterday’s makeup smudged under her eyes.
“You too, huh?” She gets my first real smile of the day because smiling takes too much energy for those that don’t require it today. “Seems like the whole university is running on three hours of sleep.”
“Less than,” she says and slumps on the counter. “Brody and I were up most the night rehearsing. Speaking of, I was just thinking of you on the way over.”
I grab a large coffee cup and she nods. “Two.”
