Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
“I don’t know. I just remember us ordering my coffee and finding it interesting that you went with a tea, and before I could ask about it, you explained why you always picked tea.” He shrugged. “It’s the little things.”
His eyes sparkled in the sunlight as they locked with mine. He was looking at me again with that glint in them, one full of longing and desire. For some odd reason my chest tightened and I felt a drop in my stomach.
“Well,” I said, gesturing to all the food. “Let’s eat!”
Deke finally blinked and lowered his head, grabbing a mini sandwich. As I dunked a waffle into the syrup and ate, I tried ignoring what I saw in his eyes, because it couldn’t have been that.
Mixed in with the longing, the excitement, and the satisfaction was something I was all too familiar with.
Love.
FIFTY-TWO
DEKE
“I wanna show you something.” I took Davina’s hand, after she’d showered and put on a pair of leggings and an oversize Tupac T-shirt that didn’t do anything to hide her curves. “You might want to put on those Air Maxes you brought.”
When she had her shoes on, I led her out the front door and gripped her hand as we rounded the house and reached a flagstone path. We made our way between oversize pine trees while skipping broken stones, until I spotted the fence veiled in black netting.
“No way.” Davina gaped.
“Yep.” I released her hand to open the gate, and when we stepped onto the smooth basketball court, she laughed and said, “Of course you would have this here!”
It was blacktop, with white lines and goals on both ends. It was surrounded by trees, so we couldn’t even see the house from here. A basketball rack protected by a weatherproof cover was near one of the goals.
“It might’ve been my idea,” I said to Davina as I uncovered the rack of basketballs. “Can’t go in on a property without a court, man. It’s just not right.”
She laughed as I grabbed one of the balls and dribbled. I bounced it from hand to hand, sidestepping, then circling around her before rising on my toes and aiming for the goal.
“That defense is weak, baby!”
“Oh, really?” Davina cocked a brow, then she nodded slowly, like she felt challenged and wanted to prove me wrong. She jogged away to scoop up the ball, and I was surprised to see how well she handled it.
“Hold on now. Don’t tell me you’ve been keeping this side of you a secret,” I said, grinning.
She kept dribbling, moving the ball between her legs before stepping back to the three-point line and taking a shot. When the rock slipped through the net, I exaggeratedly cupped my mouth and stared at her.
“Who taught you that?” I asked, dropping my hands.
She busted out laughing as I met up with her. “Remember me telling you about my little brother, Abe? Well, he needed someone to practice with when he was younger. I used to take him to basketball practices and camps during the summer. And while I worked on GOC ideas, I’d sit and watch him. I helped his team as a coach once.” She paused, fighting a smile. “And I might’ve played varsity in high school, too, so . . .”
“How did I not know this?” This woman had to be after my heart.
“I wasn’t all that good at it. Honestly, it was so long ago. Feels like a blip.”
“What position did you play?”
“Point guard.”
“The one.” I couldn’t help my smile. I ran around her to grab the ball. “Well, how about we play a match. The one against the two. We can make a bet on whoever gets to five first.”
“Oh yeah? And what will I get when I win?”
I tucked the ball beneath my arm, meeting up with her again. Her eyes radiated sunlight, a smile teasing her lips. “Depends on what you want.”
She thought about that while nibbling at her bottom lip. “I want ice cream,” she replied, which made me laugh.
“Okay. That’s doable. But if I win, you gotta come to one of my games.” I knew I was testing her. This weekend was an all-or-nothing thing—we both knew it deep down—and a part of her was still reserved, but if I could get her to agree to show up for me later, then it wouldn’t be over. What we had wouldn’t be limited to one weekend.
She dropped her chin, running her tongue over her plump bottom lip. Then she nodded and said, “Okay. It’s a bet.”
“Cool.” I stepped back and dribbled the ball. “You gotta get that defense up, though. I’m not taking it easy on you.”
“I don’t expect you to.” She tugged on her leggings, hiking them up at the knees as she lowered into a defensive position.
“Now that’s cute,” I said, dribbling around her, then taking my first shot. The ball sunk in, and I tossed my hands in the air as she narrowed her eyes at me and pointed a finger.