Page 114 of Playbook
Her eyes really are the color of grass.
He sends the picture I posted of me and London at the bachelor party. Seeing us together and her smiling makes me smile.
Me
Right?
Hendrick
This is the girl, huh? I’d like to meet her.
Me
We’ll see.
Knox
What does that mean?
Me
I don’t want to scare her off so soon.
Knox
If she’s dating you I don’t think that’s possible.
I head out into the living room where Archer is kicked back on the couch, his feet on the ottoman, watching TV. He glances over when I plop down next to him.
“Hey,” I say, gaze flicking to the screen. The TV is muted, but subtitles are on. They’re showing highlights from this week’s games and doing predictions for the coming weekend. We had a bye this weekend, but next Sunday we play Baltimore and they’re undefeated so far this season.
“When’d you get home?”
“Not long ago,”I say and sign.“Next weekend is going to be tough. Any word from the docs if you’ll be able to play?”
“They think so.” The relief on his face is palpable.
“Hell yeah. Finally.”It’s not been the same playing without him. We’ve been on the same team since we were eight years old. When I look up the field and he’s not there it just feels wrong. And I know he hates not being able to contribute to the team. It’s different when it’s your job. Teams are businesses and make decisions to help the bottom line. I know Archer is good for the team, but that’s because I’ve spent years watching him. The Mavericks don’t have that kind of history to rely on.
“What are you doing tonight? I was thinking about having some people over.”
I nod. “Yeah. That’s perfect. I can invite London.”
He grins. “How’s that going?”
“Good. Great actually. We’re legit. No more pretending.”
His brows rise. “You’retogethertogether?”
“Mhmm.” My smile doesn’t falter.
“I don’t know what to say. Congrats?”
A rough chuckle escapes.“Congratulations will do. I was thinking maybe I’d take her down to Valley to meet everyone.”
I get up and go into the kitchen and he follows. I pull out some leftovers from two nights ago and sniff the container, then toss it in the microwave. Archer’s got that pensive, constipated look on his face still.
“What?”I prompt, knowing he has something he wants to say.
