Page 77 of Half-Court Heat

“Where’d your parents go?” I asked.

Eva frowned slightly. “They both had work conflicts they couldn’t get out of.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said with a shrug. “I actually prefer this. They’d just be hovering over me when I can’t do much more than sit here.”

“I’m happy to hover,” I offered, smiling.

“How long are you in town for?” she asked.

“How long do you want me here?”

“I could be selfish and ask you not to go back,” she said quietly. “But I’m not going to do that.”

“You can be selfish,” I told her. “I’ll stay.”

Eva’s features softened. “I know you would, baby. But you’ve got to go back and see this season through. My girlfriend isn’t a quitter.”

The corner of my mouth lifted up. “Is it dumb that I still get butterflies when you call me your girlfriend?”

“It’s not dumb,” she said. “Lots of people want that title.”

She started to laugh at her own joke, but then winced. Her smile crumpled into discomfort.

“Easy,” I said gently. I let go of her hand so I could grab the plastic cup of water on the bedside tray. She sipped gratefully,and I stood beside her, one hand resting on the bed’s metal guardrail.

She let her head fall back against the pillow, visibly exhausted from the mundane action.

“Where are you staying tonight?” she asked, her voice still hoarse.

I raised an eyebrow. “You mean this hospital bed isn’t big enough for both of us?”

Eva flashed me an impatient look.

“Mathilde’s,” I relented. “She’s letting me crash at her place as long as I need.”

“I forgot about Mathilde.”

“I won’t tell her you said that,” I teased.

“Not forgother,” Eva said, “but that she might not have gone back to France in the off-season.”

“Yeah, she decided to stay in Boston and keep working on her game. Lucky for me, otherwise I might have had to ask the Honorable Virginia Montgomery to crash on her couch.”

Eva winced in mock horror. “Oh my God. I can’t even imagine that.”

“Why not? I think your mom is starting to warm up to me.”

I said the words, but I didn’t really believe them. For all my efforts, I still felt like an outsider. Like I was showing up to a party I’d never been invited to and was only tolerated because Eva had insisted on bringing me.

“Alexandra,” Eva said, mimicking her mother’s sharp cadence. “I do hope you’re thinking about life after basketball. It isn’t a forever career, you know.”

I laughed despite myself. “You’re kind of spooky good at that.”

Chapter

Twenty-Three