Page 37

I grin. “Rhode Island.”
“Is it pretty?”
“Parts.”
“Family?”
“Mom and dad, two sisters.”
“Are you close?”
“Yeah? About as close as we can be when I live about a sixteen-hour drive away from them. I try to spend time up there in the off-season, and of course, they like to come see a game or two.”
“Why did you and Stella breakup?”
I’m relieved that my body has no further reaction to hearing her name other than I wish Raeann wouldn’t sully her tongue like that. “We wanted different things. I wanted marriage and babies and she…didn’t.”
It’s as simple as that, yet it feels so much bigger. It took me a long time to heal after I realized she wasn’t the one. After meeting Raeann, though, those thoughts are all completely silly.
“Is that a big deal for you? Marriage and babies?”
“And someone to call me Pawpaw? Yeah. Though I just added that one to the list.”
She sighs. “You just know how to say all the right things, don’t you?”
If it gets her eyes to sparkle at me like that, I hope I keep doing it.
Luckily for me, Raeann is as content to skip the small talk and go right to the real stuff. Throughout the meal, we talk about anything and everything. From most embarrassing moments—me: I peed my pants in peewee; her: on an eighth-grade school trip, she accidentally flashed a teacher when the wind caught her dress and nearly flipped it over her head—to the scariest things we’ve ever done.
My heart skipped when it seemed as if she was deciding between a few different instances, but then she said, “How about letting the pro football player you barely know talk you into an orgasm?”
Knowing Raeann’s past, she’s holding back on me, but I respect her right to keep things like that private. For now. “By the way, thank you for sharing that moment with me,” I tell her.
She drinks her second glass of wine. “Tell me what it’s like to have all those people looking at you. During a game,” she clarifies.
“It’s sort of like…the biggest rush,” I answer honestly. “You stay in the game because it’s your job, but it’s a culture shock togo from high school with a couple hundred spectators to college with tens of thousands, and now? The Wildcats’ arena is one of the biggest in the league, and then there’s even more at home, watching from their couches.”
I pause for a moment, really looking at her. “You understand some of that now, Miss Viral Video.”
“Ooh, didn’t I say that should be off-topic? If I didn’t, I should have.”
“I don’t remember setting any ground rules.”
“Truth. When was the first time you saw that video?”
“Two seconds before I met you in real life.” Her jaw drops, and I trudge on. “To be fair, I try to stay away from social media.”
“I know. Tab wanted to tag you in the video, but there was no one to tag.”
I snicker. “Well…” Taking out my phone, I tap on the Instagram app and flash her my screen. “I did start an account recently.”
“You’re only following two people.”
“You and Pet Threads.”
She peers over my phone at me, then takes it from my grip, pressing on the screen. “WC34grneyes. You don’t have green eyes.”
“No, but you do.” She hands the phone back, taking a big gulp from her wine glass. I watch her intently. “Wildcats, my number, and?—”