Chapter Twenty-four
Cole
“This. Is. Incredible.”
They’d hopped on and off trains like they knew what they were doing, walked like the city was theirs, and now they were standing in Central Park, staring at the Wollman Rink, one of the most famous ice-skating rinks in the world. Well, it would have been the Wollman Rink if it were winter. As it currently stood, at the end of September, it was the Wollman pickleball courts.
Cole couldn’t help but agree. “The view’s nice, that’s for sure.”
Laila turned her head and blushed when she caught him taking in the sight of her.
They were surrounded by the Plaza and Essex House and a whole host of other buildings he recognized without knowing what they were called, but he couldn’t stop looking at her. She was leaning over the banister, looking down at the dozen or so pickleball courts where sweaty men and women of all ages and fitness levels were out there convincing themselves they were competing in a sport of champions rather than a friendly family game that he assumed was easier to pick up than Twister and that had less risk of injury. But Cole knew that in Laila’s mind, she was seeing snow and gloves and John Cusack.
“This, of course,” he said as he faced the rink again, “is the legendary spot where Harry and Marv hatched their dastardly plan to rob Duncan’s Toy Chest in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”
Laila slapped him on the arm as she, too, faced forward. It was fascinating to him how more and more, the small, incidental gestures were impossible to discern as products of a lifetime of friendship or the best date either of them had ever been on. “Not you too.”
“What?” he asked with a laugh.
“What is it with grown men and that movie?”
His pulse quickened again. That had been one of his favorite things about the day. They were doing a really good job holding to their personas as strangers, but he’d lost track of the number of times she had talked about him. Little things like that. “Grown men.” “My best friend.” “This guy I know.” Even when they pretended not to know each other’s stories, they were both part of all of them.
“It’s a classic!”
“Serendipity is a classic.”
Cole tapped himself on the forehead. “That’s right. That was filmed here, too, wasn’t it?”
She chuckled and began bouncing on her heels.
“Are you okay? Are you cold?” It was a perfect, beautiful warm day, but standing in the shade as they were now, there was a slight chill in the air.
“No. Just antsy.”
“Antsy? Why?”
She shook her head. “It’s stupid. I just sort of want to get out there.”
Laughter exploded from him. “Out there? To play pickleball? In a dress?”
She shrugged. “Told you it was stupid.”
He cleared his throat and shrugged his arms out of the leather jacket. He’d been too warm in it for most of the day, as he’d known he would be, but after a quick shower, he’d only had about forty minutes to run (literally) to the clothing store Sebastian had recommended. He’d used a credit card he had dutifully paid off every month since he was eighteen to buy a leather jacket in Tribeca, for heaven’s sake. A leather jacket he would now be paying off for three to six months. And that was best-case scenario, considering he was now unemployed and adrift in his life.
And, sure, he probably could have borrowed something from Seb. But he knew there was a chance that Laila would get cold when they were walking home later that night. Actually, he was sure of it. And he would offer her his jacket as he had a million times before. And she would wear it. And then the jacket would faintly carry her scent with it. And there was zero chance he was going to let the scent of her on this day of all days die a slow death in Sebastian’s closet or, worse, a fast one at the hands of a Tribeca dry cleaner. He couldn’t think of a nobler reason to accrue a little frivolous debt for the first time in his life.
“No. It’s not stupid.” He folded the jacket over his left arm and stretched his right hand out to her. “Especially since we have a court down there reserved for the next thirty minutes.”
She squealed and threw her arms around his neck, then jumped back once she realized what she’d done. “Sorry.” She laughed, obviously trying to balance all the emotions and the rules.
“It’s totally fine. I get excited about pickleball too.”