Sidelined

“All right. But call me as soon as you find out. And if there’s something unsafe about that jet, you’re not getting on it. The Warriors are a bunch of cheap bastards. I don’t want them fixing the plane with duct tape.”

“If I see any duct tape I promise to call immediately,” she answered sweetly, but I knew she was mocking me.

“Should I fly up there?”

“No. God, no,” she whispered. “And get me fired?”

“All right, then take your safety more seriously.”

She huffed. “I’ll call you later.”

“Hey, wait.”

“What is it?”

“I miss you.”

She whispered, “I miss you too.”

Then there was silence.

Thirty

Natalia

It took two days for us to make it back to Austin. The maintenance staff had to order a part that wasn’t easy to find and the Warriors refused to buy commercial tickets for us when they had to pay for the jet to be fixed. I sat in a hotel room two extra nights with Heather, missing my chance to meet Sam at Canyon Lake.

I sat on one bed while Heather sat on the other, flipping through channels.

“Do you think the Warriors would pay for us to watch Game of Love?” she asked.

“They need to after leaving us to die in DC.”

She hit the purchase button. “Done.”

I laughed. “I’ve always wanted to watch this movie. It’s the one about the baseball player who falls for the reporter, right?”

Heather eyed me. “You haven’t seen it?”

“Umm, no, but I really want to.”

The opening credits started. I had a new interest in sports romances, only I couldn’t tell my roommate about it.

“Oh, we should order big desserts while we’re watching,” I suggested. I pulled out the room service menus.

“I like how you think.”

I picked up the phone to call the restaurant downstairs. I covered the receiver. “I’m getting a double brownie with ice cream. What do you want?”

“Oh, I want that.” She smiled. “But we have to do double cardio tomorrow for the double brownie.”

I glared at her. “You just took the fun out of it.”

“Sorry.” She shrugged and threw herself on the pillows while I ordered our sinful dessert.

I signed for the silver trays when the waiter brought our snack to the door. “Voila.”

I presented one platter to Heather and placed mine on the end of my bed. Things were just starting to heat up in the movie. I couldn’t take my eyes off the pitcher. There was definitely something hot about athletes. Why hadn’t I noticed it before?