“I would say may the best man win,” I say with him standing in the door, waiting to shut me out. “But we both know you’re a better man than I am, and I have no intention of losing her.”
“Neither did I. Things change quickly. You should remember that.” He glances back into the townhouse before looking back to me. “It would distress Banner to know I figured out it was you. What do you say we keep this between us?”
“How did you know?” I’m not making any promises about harboring a secret with him.
A wry grin quirks his mouth. “You came to the house that night with some trumped up excuse about a meeting.”
I frown, reviewing my actions. Every word I can remember from that visit and don’t recall anything that would have given away my feelings. Or my intentions.
“It was the way you looked at her,” he answers my unspoken question.
“How did I look at her?”
He slips the mask back over his face to keep the germs at bay, his answer is muffled but to me crystal clear.
“You looked at her the way I do.”
37
Banner
“I’m not sure this is a good idea, Zo.”
I consider the crowded auditorium, packed wall to wall with the best and brightest of the sports world.
“Bannini, I’m fine.” He places my hand in the crook of his e
lbow. “Matter of fact, I feel better than I have in months.”
It’s probably true, but I don’t trust it. Zo finished his three months of chemo. Our things are on their way back to LA from Palo Alto, but we came ahead by a few days to attend the Copeez, an awards show sponsored by SportsCo, the largest sports channel, second only to ESPN. They’re honoring Zo tonight during the ceremony and have asked him to speak. He’ll receive the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYs. He’s already attended two fundraising dinners since we came back. It’s a lot, and I just hope it’s not too much too soon.
“You worry too much.” Zo bends to kiss my hair. “Besides we will show these people that I’m still alive.”
“You don’t have anything to prove to anyone.”
He shrugs philosophically.
“Maybe I prove it to myself.” He grins and runs appreciative eyes over me from head to toe, starting at my loose chignon, drifting over my tight dress, and ending on the expensive shoes that may kill me before this night is over. “If nothing else it’s a good excuse to show you off. We make a handsome couple, don’t you think?”
I don’t correct his use of the word “couple.” Everyone here, everyone in the world assumes we’re a couple, and we haven’t corrected their misconception. Too complicated and no one’s business but ours.
And Jared’s.
I glance around the large room, eyes peeled for any sign of him. We haven’t talked as much as I would have hoped the last month of our exile up at Stanford. When I came back down from my call with Maali, he was gone and Zo was there. He said Jared had gotten an urgent call and had to leave. I didn’t question it, and one of the few times I spoke with Jared after that, he confirmed that he was just pulled away by a client emergency. The two of them in a room together raised all my red flags. Something has felt different between Jared and me. I want to ask Zo if he and Jared talked at any length, if maybe he said something to him, but Jared is the last subject I want to discuss with Zo. Things are complicated enough.
“Do you see your family yet?” Zo asks, craning his neck to scan the crowd.
“No, but Mama called from the road to say they got stuck in traffic. A bad accident has lanes shut down, but they’re on the way.”
I glance at my watch and frown.
“They may miss your speech at this rate.”
We start toward our seats, and it takes forever because everyone wants to stop and talk to us, to ask Zo how he’s doing, tell him how good he looks, ask when he’ll be back on the court. I just want to shoo them all away. His immune system is still recovering, and I pray being around this many people so soon doesn’t make him sick.
I’m waiting for him to tactfully close a conversation with a journalist, who has been hounding us for an interview, when I spot Kenan coming from the direction of the greenroom. He probably walked the red carpet, which Zo and I opted not to do. Loathe to leave Zo alone with this pushy hack, I wave Kenan over.
His stern features and imposing physicality lead most to believe he’s a hard-ass. They’re not wrong on many counts, but his heart—so tender.