Page 123 of Most Valuable Players
He keeps frowning as he takes it back in a liver-spotted hand and tries it for himself. I don’t get a thank you or even an acknowledgment before I leave him to CSI.
If the options are going out young and unaware or old and hating the world… I think I’m in favor of the first. Live hard and die happy.
* * *
Desert Rose treatsus to lunch after we’re done. The guys are all in good spirits. Everyone’s talking and laughing as we go through the buffet line set up for us. We’re starting to get a nice camaraderie among the group, and I hope it translates to the ice when we get out there.
We spread out under the pavilion, sweaty and dirty but so hungry. Mav and I sit across from one another. The place goes silent as we eat. Even Mav barely speaks as we devour everything on our plates and then grab seconds. I finish and then guzzle what remains of my water.
“You want to grab a beer after this?” Mav asks.
“Nah, not today.”
“Xbox?” he asks as we stand to leave.
I shake my head and we walk to his car. I need a shower and to find Ginny. She still hasn’t responded to my text from earlier.
“Movie?”
“No.” I slide into the passenger seat and Mav opens the driver’s side door and gets in.
“Running out of options, buddy.” He starts the car and taps his thumb on the steering wheel as he thinks. “Girls?”
“Now you’ve got it, but just one girl.”
“Sharesies?” He seems surprised, but dare I say a little excited about the idea.
I lean back against the headrest. Tired laughter slips out. “Really, man?”
I don’t have an exact plan. Find Ginny, make sure she’s good, then convince her to spend more time with me.
“You wouldn’t share with me? What if I sing Mariah and promise to keep my hands to myself?”
I don’t know if he’s kidding or not, but I wouldn’t put anything past Maverick.
“Absolutely fucking not.” I don’t want to share one second of my time with Ginny. Not with anyone.
11
GINNY
“And that’s the story of why I’m never going back to my brother’s apartment.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.” Reagan gives me a hopeful smile across the table. I snuck out of Adam’s early this morning and went straight to Dakota and Reagan’s. They’re consoling me over brunch at a cute little café they like.
“I was having a full-on panic attack in the bathtub. I have an issue with dark, enclosed spaces.” I wave it off, hoping they don’t ask more about that piece because I don’t really feel like going into the specifics. “It was absolutely that bad.”
Dakota snickers and takes a bite of her bagel.
“It’s kind of romantic,” Reagan insists. “Crawling into the tub with you and calming you down. I’m impressed, although not all that surprised that Heath was the one to come to your rescue. He’s got that cocky but capable look about him. Still, I’m not sure I would have known what to do, so you were really lucky.”
“It wasn’t romantic. It was pity.” I groan and bury my head in my arm on the table for a second. When I lift it back up, they’re both smiling at me. “It’s too bad. I liked Heath. Now I’m going to have to avoid him until I can look at him without wanting to disappear into the ground.”
“Are you a drama major like this one?” Dakota asks and points her bagel toward Reagan.
“No, why?”
She smiles and I toss a crumpled napkin at her. “Ha. Ha. Very funny.”
