Page 18

Harper

The party was still carrying on and had migrated outside.

The kids were splashing around in the pool in Jamil’s backyard with their moms, while the rest of the guys were lounged out on the patio furniture to watch Nate Rousch’s first game as a Texas Rattler.

After dinner, I was quickly reaching my max for social interaction for the day, so I had snuck off to the fire pit to recharge.

The lazy licks of the flames mesmerizing me and quelling all the racing thoughts in my head.

How would I top this interview?

Who would I interview next?

Would any of this be worth it?

Would I feel achieved after having to scratch and claw my way to the top?

Was this truly what I wanted to do?

Around and around they went—melting into each other before it became one big ball of anxiety.

“So how are you doing?” Lottie asked as she slid into the chair next to me, Maggie and Olivia following shortly after into the remaining open chairs.

“Just taking a moment away from it,” I told her as I stared into the fire. “I’m not used to any of this.”

Lottie nodded her head as if she understood. She took in everything—the kids screaming happily in the pool, the guys cheering for the hockey game on the television, to all of us sitting around the fire pit with wine in our hands.

“We’re like a weird family unit. But it’s comforting knowing that every single person here would do anything for me if I needed it.” Lottie glanced over at me. “And we are welcoming you with open arms.”

“I’m not sure why, though,” I told her. I was used to high expectations and perfection, especially being the only child of my parents.

They celebrated big accomplishments and questioned poor decisions.

I had never grown up feeling like I had unconditional support from them and to have a group of strangers give me that while barely knowing me was hard to digest.

“They once did the very same thing for me,” Lottie told me with a soft smile and an understanding look in her eyes.

“A common denominator brought us all together—professional sports. We take care of our own,” Olivia chimed in. “And it is extremely clear that you’re important to Jamil.”

Wine immediately went down the wrong pipe.

I coughed and spurted out a mouthful onto the ground.

Maggie threw a hand over her mouth to try and hide her laughter.

“I’m not sure about that,” I told Olivia, turning in my chair to glance over at the group of guys in fear that they had heard our exchange or were concerned someone was dying over here.

Olivia placed her hand on top of mine. “Honey, Jamil is one of my best friends. I’ve known him for almost five years now. He is one of the biggest flirts that I know, but since you’ve shown up, all he cares about is the next chance he will have to hang out with you.”

I considered what she said and glanced back over my shoulder to catch Jamil in the middle of laughing. His head was thrown back and his eyes were crinkled nearly closed. There was no denying Olivia’s observations. Any free chance the two of us had, we always seemed to want to spend it together.

“I think we’ve found a mutual solace in each other. We both have a love-hate relationship with our careers now and I think we’ve found a friendship in each other with that commonality.”

“Do friends make out with each other in restaurant hallways?” Maggie asked with an innocent look on her face.

My free hand flew up to cover my face out of embarrassment. When I peeked back out at the three of them through my fingers, they were all looking at me with amused expressions. “You guys knew?”

“Let’s just say that Jamil’s lips were a deeper shade of red when he came back than when he left,” Olivia snickered, clearly enjoying watching me shift uncomfortably in my seat.

“Well, that’s embarrassing.” I downed the rest of my wine. “I don’t know what you guys see, but I enjoy hanging out with him. I’m not sure I can confidently say much more than that.”

“Something’s holding you back,” Lottie observed.

Only the fact that I need him to help my career between these interviews and a story he has no idea I’m going to be writing about him.

“I don’t know if we are meant to be more than friends,” I told them, ignoring the accusatory voice in my head.

Lottie shook her head as she gave me a sad look, like I was more delusional than Nolan had been about his career coming to an end last season.

When her sister opened her mouth to try to convince me otherwise, Lottie just shook her head to silence her.

“What will be, will be,” she told everyone before standing up from her chair.

“I think it’s time we head home. I’ve got to get the old guy to bed. ”

The four of us wandered over to the patio where the guys were watching the final seconds of the hockey game tick off the clock.

Lottie folded herself into Nolan’s side and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek before whispering in his ear.

He nodded and told her it would be only a minute longer.

Maggie perched herself on the arm of Tommy’s chair, only for him to pull her into his lap and wrap his arms around her protectively.

Olivia took an open chair next to Adam and I stood toward the back of the group.

With only ten seconds left on the clock, Nate Rousch scored one more goal to give him four of the five goals of the night.

Hawthorn walked over with two of his girls in his arms, his wife following closely behind with their third one in hers. “Alright everyone, we are getting out of here to get these princesses to bed.”

“Those aren’t princesses,” Derek called out. “Those are three queens in your arms. They dubbed me their princess.”

Nolan let out a groan as he and Lottie followed Hawthorn and his wife toward the driveway.

“Thanks for coming,” Jamil called after them.

Adam stood next to help his wife wrangle up their boys. “We should head out, too. It’s a school day tomorrow and I’m on carpool duty.”

“Retirement looks good on you, buddy,” Tommy told his friend as he and Maggie also stood to leave.

“Is there anything we need to help clean up?” Maggie asked as she hesitated to leave.

Jamil waved her off. “We already got everything put away before the game started. Be safe driving home.”

Derek glanced over at Olivia. “Are you going with them or me?”

Just like at the restaurant when Maggie brought Derek up to Olivia, everyone’s gazes ping ponged between the two of them. Olivia acted as if she didn’t notice it.

“I’ll just go with you. My place is on the way to yours. There’s no point in making them drive out of the way to drop me off.”

Maggie looked like she wanted to burst as she watched the two of them head toward the driveway together. “Bye, guys! And congratulations again, Harper. I can’t wait to see what you do next.” Then she turned around and slipped her arm through Tommy’s before disappearing around the corner.

The silence that swooped in after everyone left was so much louder than the chatter of voices earlier.

I walked over to the open spot next to Jamil on the sofa and sank into the cushions with a thud.

Exhaustion made every limb feel ten pounds heavier.

“Thank you for planning this,” I told him as SC News came on the television to talk about tonight’s sporting updates.

Jamil slung an arm over the back of the couch, so it barely touched my shoulders. “You should celebrate such a big achievement with more than just yourself.”

It was almost uncomfortable for me to acknowledge the way Jamil was looking at me with unfaltering support. “It was overwhelming,” I admitted to him softly. “In a good way,” I hurried to add when I saw concern etch its way between his eyebrows.

“I’m sorry,” Jamil said, his eyes searching my face. “I should have asked you if this was something you wanted.”

I reached a hand over to gently place it on his leg. “It was perfect.”

Jamil visibly relaxed and the thought of how nice it was to have someone care about what it was that I truly wanted was a nice change.

“If I were back home, I would have probably gone out to dinner with just my parents, and we would have celebrated with a nicer bottle of wine than they normally would have gotten. Dessert would have been loaded with questions about how I was planning on topping such an achievement.”

My eyes tracked the television and the analysts on the screen. I had never felt so close and yet so far away from my dream than I did today.

“Are you not very close with your family?” Jamil asked, his full attention on me.

I shrugged. “When I’m back in DC, I spend time with them at least twice a week.

But do I feel like my parents really know me ?

” I paused as I considered the heaviness of that question.

“I don’t. I think they have an idea of a life for me but haven’t taken into consideration if that’s what I really want. ”

Jamil chewed on his lip before he finally responded. “I think that’s a shame because they’re missing out on getting to know the kind of person that comes around once in a lifetime.”

I didn’t dare take a single breath—afraid that the smallest breeze would blow this moment away. “And what kind of person is that?” I asked.

Jamil turned his body toward mine, his arm still across the top of the couch but now his fingertips brushed my shoulder.

“Someone who wants to take everything that the world will offer her and won’t stop until she has it in her grasp.

” Jamil’s fingers were now playing with my hair as his eyes stayed locked on mine.

“People like to tamp out a flame that burns that bright, but they don’t realize that those people are the ones you want to keep close because that same determination they save for themselves, they typically give everyone else in their life, too. ”

Every word Jamil spoke was ringing in my head like a gong. But he wasn’t done yet.