“It looks good on you,” he said.
“Thanks. For the compliment, and for getting it for me.”
“I figured since you didn’t know much about basketball, you wouldn’t know what team to cheer for.”
“Ah, so, you’re just looking out for me, right?” I asked.
“As long as you’re in my car, that’ll be my priority,” he said.
“And, you gave yourself away a bit there.”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know that I didn’t know anything about basketball until lunch today. Which makes me wonder when you actually had time to get this thing between lunch and now,” I said.
“Don’t worry. With that brain of yours, you’ll have it figured out by the time the game’s over,” he said.
“I’m not sure if that was a compliment or a dig,” I said.
“Your mind is astounding. It’s definitely a compliment.”
I blushed at his words as we stepped into the elevator. We were the only two in the compartment and I could feel the walls closing in around us. Even with the ability to stand on the other side of the room from me, his body was close to mine. Positioned just behind me, with his hand trailing along the small of my back. My eyes fluttered closed, taking in the surge of electricity coursing through my veins. Even with a jersey and my coat separating us, I could feel the phantom sensations of his hands against my body.
Was he not the least bit afraid that someone could see us out together like this?
The elevator doors opened on the main floor and he immediately dropped his hand. I hated the fact that we had to conceal this, but I understood why. It could ruin his reputation and it sure as hell would ruin mine. It was probably why he hadn’t called between Christmas and now, but the least he could’ve done was talk to me about it instead of leaving me high and dry.
We walked down the road to the sports bar and it was packed with people. We managed to get a booth in the corner right in front of a massive television, and he scooted me all the way in. Instead of sitting across from me, he sat next to me. I could feel his hand rubbing against my thigh as the waitress set menus down in front of us, her jersey reflecting ours as she gave us a big smile.
“Got some fans in here, I see,” the waitress said.
“I am. She’s a newbie to the sport. But, we’re changing that tonight,” Colin said.
“Okay! Well, welcome to Rightland’s. My name is Tracy and I’ll be your waitress for tonight. We’ve got all kinds of drink specials for the KSU fans, so I hope y’all came thirsty.”
“I did,” I said. “I’ll have your signature drink for the night.”
“It’s called the KSU Huddle. It’s a shit ton of alcohol mixed with pineapple juice, blue curacao, and grenadine. Gives it a nice purple hue to match y’all’s shirts.”
“Well, that sounds fantastic. I’ll have one too,” I said.
“And I’ll have your most popular beer brew for the game,” Colin said.
“Bottle, sixteen ounce, or pitcher?” Tracy asked.
“Sixteen ounce,” Colin said.
“Y’all gonna eat? We got some awesome wings.”
“Yes! I would love some,” I said. “Do you have, like, a honey-based sauce?”
“We got honey barbeque, honey buffalo, and honey mustard,” Tracy said.
“Oh, honey buffalo sounds great. Ten of those for me, please,” I said.
“I’ll do ten as well in your tangy, hot buffalo sauce. And we’re gonna share a plate of your endless bacon cheese fries.”
“Hungry and thirsty! My kinda crowd. I’ll get these orders in and have your drinks right up,” Tracy said.
“Okay, so break down the basics for me before this game kicks off.”
“Tips off,” Colin said. “That’s your first basic. Kickoff is football, where they actually you know, kick off. In basketball, it’s a tip off, because they actually—”
“Tip off! Great. Okay. Second thing?” I asked.
“When they score a point, it’s called a basket,” he said, grinning.
“You’re a dick,” I said.
He chuckled and I nudged him with my shoulder just to see if I could get a little closer to him.
“Okay, so basketball isn’t hard. You’ve got two-point and three-point shots. You’ve got fouls, which is essentially unnecessary roughness on the court, and when someone is fouled, they get a chance at unimpeded shots from the two-point line. But, those shots only count for one point each.”
“I can remember that. Anything else?” I asked.
“This bar’s gonna get really loud once the game starts,” he said, smiling.
“I didn’t expect anything less from a bunch of beer guzzling sports fanatics.”
“Wonderful. I’ll answer questions you might have as the game progresses. For now, I want you to tell me how you broke your nose.”
“I’m still shocked you knew that,” I said.
“I’m shocked you thought I wouldn’t have noticed. We have spent a considerable amount of time together in close proximity.”
I flushed underneath his words as his hand began to caress my thigh. His touch was electrifying and I could feel the skin of my back heating up. If he was trying to lay it on thick, then it was working. I was putty in his hands as he stroked my leg, and I found myself relaxing into the booth as his eyes took in my every movement.
“I swam on a swim team when I was younger,” I said. “I begged my mother to let me do it even though I was a shit swimmer. My father thought it would help me get better and it was the only thing I wanted to do with my summer that year, so she relented. On my second practice, I dove into the shallow
