Page 31 of The Tip-Off
“Hey, wait, you don’t have to run off. How’s the tattoo? Does it hurt?” I’m well aware I’m rambling, but she stops, so that’s all that matters.
Her steps falter and she turns back to face me. “No, not really.”
“Let’s see.” I close the distance between us in two long strides. She lifts her tank, revealing the bandage still covering her new tattoo. My gaze blazes down and I finally let myself take in the scars I tried so very hard not to see earlier.
They’re extensive. Some have faded more than others, but each one stands out against the rest of her flawless, smooth skin. She doesn’t pull back as I run my thumb just below the bandage. “You can probably take this off now.”
She sets her bag on the counter and then starts to peel back the tape, wincing when it pulls the skin.
“Let me.” Her fingers drop and I step closer. “The tape is a little tricky. Comes off easiest if you peel from the side. There we go.” We both stare down at the fresh blue ink.
“Thank you for holding my hand tonight.”
“It was my pleasure, Gabby.” I pull a beer from the fridge so I have something to do. “You want something to drink?”
She thinks for a moment and then breezes past me and pulls a bottle of tequila from a cabinet. “I think I’m going to need something stronger than beer.”
She finds a glass and pours herself a shot while I lean onto the counter and take a long pull of my beer. “Plans tonight?”
She takes her phone from her front pocket and makes a little humming noise as she glances at it. “No, I don’t see anything appealing for tonight.”
My face must give away my confusion because she turns her phone so I can see the screen. I take the phone. It’s a bulleted list. “Go to a frat party, eat at the campus cafeteria?”
“Don’t read them aloud. It’s embarrassing.” She doesn’t reach to stop me but takes the shot, grimaces, and then covers her face with both hands.
“Ah, is this the list of things you want to do now that you’re at Valley?” I ask, remembering the mention of it the day after the foam party.
“Yes,” she groans. “My pathetic list of things to make me less… well, pathetic.”
“Relax,” I say as I keep reading. “We’ve all got things we want to do. It’s not embarrassing at all.” I believe those words too until I keep reading. My face gets warm and I start to get a very clear picture of why Gabby didn’t want me to say them out loud. Go commando stands out, but so does witness a fight, skinny dip, and lose virginity.
She takes the phone from me before I can finish. I need to bleach my eyes, or maybe my brain, so I can look at her without thinking about her doing all that and more.
“What’s on your list?” She pours another shot.
“Play in the NBA.”
She laughs. “What else?”
I shrug, thinking over the items on her list. I feel a little tinge of sadness that I never thought to make a list for college. Never thought to line up to-dos, never even thought to have things other than ball on any list. One shot. One dream. One chance. Everything else is noise.
“Never? There was never anything else you wanted besides ball?”
“What can I say, I’m a simple guy. Sure, I thought about other things, tried to picture my life going in another direction, but the only time I ever felt complete was with a basketball in my hand.”
“That’s how finally being at Valley makes me feel. Alive, free, and—”
“Whole,” we say at the same time. She smiles at me and I can’t resist smiling right back at her. She tips back her second shot, grimacing slightly less this time as the liquor goes down.
“You should do everything on your list then, just maybe wait ‘til Blair’s back and can keep an eye on you.”
She rolls her eyes. “And you should add something to your list that pushes you out of your comfort zone.”
“I’m serious.”
“Me too. Just one thing. Name one thing you’d like to do that has nothing to do with basketball.”
I look up and bring a hand to my chin like I’m in deep concentration then back to her, meeting her fierce blue eyes. “Skinny dipping does sound pretty good.”
