The Surprise (Single in Seattle 0.50)

I hurry over and shut the bedroom door.

“Your lack of modesty might be a little concerning.”

He smirks, not at all uncomfortable in his tattooed skin.

“Nudity doesn’t bother me, babe.”

“Clearly.”

“Did you see that game-winning shot at the end, right at the buzzer?” Maddie demands as we walk out of the arena toward her car.

“I was right there,” I remind her.

“It was the best,” she says. “And we were so close to the court. I swear, someone sweated on me.”

“Ew. That can’t be sanitary.”

“And Lebron totally winked at me.”

“I don’t think he did, Mad.”

“He did, too. You were looking at your phone or something and missed it. Man, basketball players are hot. I like my men tall.”

“That’s not tall. That’s tall.”

“Exactly. I like them tall.”

“That really narrows down the pool of possible men, if you’re holding out for someone over six-foot-five, Mad.”

“Hey, a girl can dream, right? Stop raining on my parade. That was so fun. I love the football games back home, too, but this was even better than that, and we didn’t even have a box.”

“We probably could have scored one,” I say, considering. “I’m sure someone knows someone.”

“I didn’t even think of that,” she says and stares at me for a full ten seconds. “Holy shit, maybe we can get box seats next year.”

“Maybe you’ll fall in love with a player, and you can go to every game and cheer him on with the other wives.”

“Don’t play with my emotions,” she says, shaking her head. “That’s not nice. You’re my sister.”

I laugh as she unlocks the car doors, and we both get inside. We’ll have to wait for a few minutes before we can leave as the swarm of people and cars try to empty out of the parking structure, but we don’t mind.

“I don’t even know who your favorite player is,” I say, thinking it over.

“Blake Howard,” she says immediately. “Not just because he’s hot and six foot eight, and holy crap he’s hot, but also because he’s won the dunk contest two years in a row, and he can shoot threes like it’s nothing.”

“Was he out there tonight?”

She looks at me as if I’ve just asked if he’s in the car with us.

“Dude, he shot the winning buzzer-beater from behind the three-point line! Were you even there?”

“Oh, him. Yeah, I get it. He is hot. I don’t know their names, Mad. I’m sorry. Hell, I hardly know the football guys’ names in Seattle, and that should be in my DNA by now.”

“You never really loved sports much,” she says with a shrug. “That’s okay, I love you anyway.”

“Thanks.”

She grins and then puts the car in reverse so we can finally go back to the hotel.

“So, things look like they’re going well with Brax,” she says and stops at the stoplight outside the garage.

“Yeah, we’ve worked some stuff out, and now we’re just plugging right along.”

“Good. I like him.”

“I’m glad. I don’t know how Mom and Dad will feel about it, though.”

“I thought Brax and Dad used to be tight,” she says, looking both ways before turning left.

“They were. Before. I don’t know what Dad’ll think about me getting back together with Brax.”

“Well, remember when we were kids, and he left for a while, and then Mom took him back? Shit happens, you know? He’ll probably understand better than you expect him to.”

“You could be right. He said he loved me today.”

“Dad?”

“No, Brax. We’re back to saying it again. And I feel it. I’m not just saying it.”

“But?”

“I don’t know. Fool me once and all that jazz... I don’t think things will go the way they did before. I think we both learned from that time and are moving forward.”

“But you don’t want to let your guard down all the way just in case he rips your heart out and eats it for breakfast again.”

“Yeah.” I sigh, comforted that my sister gets me. “I still have some guards up.”

“I think that’s probably normal. He really did a number on you before.”

“Why are you so gung-ho about us getting back together? You were the one who had to give me your shoulder to cry on, buy me ice cream, and agree that he was nothing but a piece of shit.”

“That’s my job because I’m your sister,” she says and pulls into a parking spot near the hotel. “And I was mad at him, too. But if ever there were soul mates, the kind that our parents are, or the others in the family are, it’s you two. You fit together. And you’re better when you’re with him. You’re way happier, that’s for sure.”

“He does make me happy.”

“As long as you’re happy, I am, too. It’s not my job to hate him forever for hurting you. But I will keep my eyes open, and I’m here if you need my shoulder or some ice cream.”