Chapter 21
RAWLEY
When her hands come to my cheeks, I freeze.
And then her lips touch mine.
Holy shit, Avery is kissing me.
Move, Rawley.
My arms swing around to pull her closer while my mouth responds in kind. I let her control this first contact, but show how much I want it.
She must get the message, because she moans and presses her frame into mine. I let my hands slip down her back, encouraging her to get as close as she wants.
Feeling more confident, I slide my tongue into her mouth, claiming my first taste of her.
She swiftly reciprocates, and now the kiss is deep and intense.
We stand there, taking what we want from each other, until…
Avery pulls sharply back. “Shit.” She takes a hard step away from me, and I let my hands fall off her.
“Shit,” she repeats.
I’m lightheaded from the kiss, the sun and the rapid changes in our dynamic, so it’s hard for me to form words. Pretty sure I’m just staring at her like an idiot.
“That was…not…” Avery makes eye contact again, and I see she’s actually flustered.
“Not what?” I ask.
She blinks twice. “It was good kissing practice, is all. In case we need to.”
Huh? My brain can’t process where she’s going.
She must catch my confusion because she explains again. “We might need to kiss sometime when we’re out in public. That was practice.”
Okay, now I know what she’s trying to say, but no. “I call bullshit.”
“What?” The lack of confidence on her face is very un–Avery like.
“You kissed me because you wanted to. You’d never do it for ‘practice’ without a conversation. You already said it was off-limits.”
Her face twists a little, and she sighs. “Okay, yeah, it wasn’t practice.”
There’s a lot of ways to play this, but I decide to keep things light. “It’s okay to want to kiss me, Avery. I’m awesome at it.”
She lets out a small laugh. “It seems like you are.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.”
Her eyes dip to the ground, and she crosses her arms. “It’s just hard, you know, not being able to be with anyone else and you”—she gestures toward my body—“looking like that.”
I let her confession settle. Fuck, it’s hard to know how to respond. I mean, I had a clue she was attracted to me, and I’m obviously into her.
That’s all this is—physical. Right? I’m not going to make any assumptions.
“But you have your ‘no athletes’ rule…”
“Yeah, I do.”
I chew on my lip. That fucking rule of hers. I get it, but like, can’t any guy be a d-bag? Why pick on us athletes?
“I made this awkward. Fuck.” She says it like she’s talking to herself more than me.
Suddenly, a gust of wind hits the court. It’s odd, because there’s not a cloud in the sky, but Florida’s weather is weird that way.
Our ball, which is resting about ten feet away, starts to move, seemingly pushed by the gust. It rolls, and rolls, and rolls…until it hits the tip of my shoes.
And when I feel it knock against my feet, an idea shoots to my head.
“How about this?” I pick it up and start to juggle it in my hands. “We’re about twelve feet from the basket, yes?”
“Yeah.” She looks curious about where I’m leading.
“I would say I have a fifty-fifty shot of making a jumper from here based on my skills, or lack there of.”
She gives a small chuckle. “That’s generous based on today.”
“Fair. I’m bricking a ton. But even better. It’s the universe deciding, not my talents.”
“Deciding what?”
“Let’s make a wager. If I miss this shot, we can forget the kiss happened, if you prefer. Never talk about it again.”
“And if you make it?”
“Then when you’re back from your road trip, we have a real conversation about suspending this rule of yours. And maybe we kiss some more.”
She looks dubious. “Just more kissing? That’s all you want?”
“Avie baby, it’s not about me. It’s about what the universe wants.”
She shakes her head, a smile creeping on her lips. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Okay, so are you in?”
She takes a solid seven seconds to decide. I know because I count each one.
The fact that she’s even considering this is reassuring though. I know I’m not wrong; she’s attracted to me.
And if that means we hook up for a while during this fake dating thing, I’m going to be totally on board. She’s sexy, hanging with her is fun, and we’re stuck with each other.
I just need to guard myself from getting sucked in any deeper than that. Well, any deeper than I already am.
“Yes,” she finally says.
“Yes?” I double-check.
“Yes, take the shot.”
Please, please let me nail this.
I pivot so that I’m facing the basket and dribble four times.
Come on, come on, come on.
I position the ball in my hands so it’s oriented the ideal way to rotate in the air, bend my knees, and let it go.
Come on, come on, come on.
A shot like this, the flight time is just a second or so. And I feel every part of it.
Come on, come on, come on.
The shot is—fuck. Not perfect. It bounces on the rim, touching the backboard at the same time.
Come on, come on, come on.
It rolls along the rim, maybe a third of the hoop, and then—
Come on, come on, come on.
It falls in.
“Yes!” I put my arms in the air before turning to face her.
She’s got a small smile on her face, her arms crossed.
I debate going over and grabbing another kiss—but no, I’m going to play it cool.
“The universe has spoken. Are you okay with that?”
It’s hard to read her expression, but that hint of a smile is still there.
“I guess I better be. A bet is a bet.” She drops her arms. “But let’s wait until I’m back to talk more, okay? I’m getting picked up soon and it’s been a crazy twenty-four hours.”
I’m not going to push her, and what’s the point, anyway, when she’s about to leave. “Yes, for sure. We can start heading back now?”
She nods, and we walk back in relative quiet, other than the sound of my dribbling the ball to keep my hands busy.
I wouldn’t call it a comfortable silence because there’s a nervous energy running between us, and it continues in the remaining moments she’s at the house. Or maybe it’s just me who’s nervous.
Don’t fuck this up, Rawley.
Thankfully, she and Landon fill the time with small talk as we all sit on the couch waiting for the bodyguard who’ll drive her home.
And when her car comes, and I walk her outside, I just feel relieved that I haven’t found a way to mess things up.
Because now I can’t wait for her to get back.
“Bye,” she says, giving me a quick hug. “I’ll text you.”
“Bye, Avie. I’ll text back.”
She shakes her head laughing as she ducks into the car.
After Avery leaves, I wander back inside to my spot on the couch.
“She get off okay?”
“Yeah, although I need to catch you up on the details of what happened last night.”
We’d shared a little bit this morning already, but I’d followed Avery’s lead then—and she didn’t seem to want to go into everything. Now, I give him the full picture.
“Fuck, well, she can crash here as much as she needs to when she’s back.”
Still uncertain how things are going to play out, I just give him a nod. “Thanks.”
“What’s your plan for the rest of the day?”
We have a couple of free days left before the next OTA, our second of three. “I was thinking I would hang out with Connor, but I don’t see him?”
“Yeah, he took off when you were at the courts. Not sure where.”
Huh, maybe he’s just running errands or something?
“Okay, I think I might just work out here today, if you want to join,” I offer.
“I’m good, I was in there when—” Landon’s phone rings, interrupting him. “Oh, it’s Johnson. And he’s FaceTiming? That’s weird.”
He accepts the call. “Hey, J, here with Rawls, so be careful what you say.” He winks at me and moves the phone so I’m in view.
“Actually, that’s good. Is Connor there, by any chance?”
Now I’m curious. What could Johnson want with all three of us?
“He’s not.” Landon’s voice makes it evident he’s confused too. “What’s going on? Is Grace okay?”
“Yes, yes, sorry Grace is fine. Perfect. I just…I’m running out of time to talk to you guys about something, and I don’t want to do it at the Waves’ facility.”
“We can update Connor later,” I offer. “What’s up?”
“Landon, you sitting down?”
“I am, J. Dang, you’re stressing me out.”
Johnson’s face turns extra serious, which is saying something for him.
“So, you know how much I love Grace, and how important she is to me—fuck, I hope you’re okay with this…” He runs a hand over his beard.
“Okay with what?” Landon says, now sounding like he’s about to jump through the phone and strangle Johnson if he makes us wait any longer.
“When we’re back here from her nationals, I…I’m going to propose.”
Landon and I look at each other, and he’s totally shocked like I am. “Propose…marriage?” I ask.
“Yes.” Johnson swallows.
I keep my mouth shut and watch Landon. He was pissed for weeks when he found out Johnson and Grace had been secretly involved, but that was cleared up months ago.
Now, my brother goes through a wave of emotions. Exiting the stunned stage, turning thoughtful, and then becoming emotional. “Fuck, J. That’s…I can’t imagine a better man for her. I’m thrilled for you. For you both.”
Tears are welling up in his eyes, which makes me start to choke up. “Same. She’s going to be so excited.”
“You think she’ll say yes?”
“Oh yeah,” Landon and I respond in unison.
Some might say Johnson and Grace are a little young for marriage at twenty-four and twenty-three, respectively. But they feel inevitable.
“What’s the plan?” Landon asks.
“I have the ring.” He brings out a black box and opens it to show off the sparkling diamond. “I’m also doing something cool to the field in my backyard.”
“You better not be messing with that field,” I joke. “I plan to put in a lot of reps with you there.”
He grins at me. “No, it’s going to be good for that. I’m adding a regulation track around the field so Grace can use it. They’re putting it in while she’s out West. It’ll be tight timing, but I’m paying extra to speed things along. No pun intended.”
“She’ll love that,” I respond.
“That’s going to be sweet,” Landon adds. “So you’re going to ask her when we’re back? I’m supposed to go to England after Oregon for Rori’s grass court season.”
“Yes, and I mean, I’d love to have you there to celebrate, but I understand if you can’t.”
Landon shakes his head. “No way I’m missing it. I’ll change my flights to come back with you guys to Florida first, and then head to Rori after.”
“Awesome.” Johnson looks a lot more relaxed than he did five minutes ago.
We chat for a minute longer before we say our goodbyes. I head to the gym while Landon jumps in the shower.
With nothing but time, I do a full-body lifting session, eating up over ninety minutes.
All while trying not to think about how everything evolved with Avery.
Let’s be honest though. Level: Fucking impossible.
With my mind swimming, I’m glad to exhaust my body. Once I finally walk out of the gym, I filter through options of what I could make us to eat. I’m going to be starving by suppertime.
The front door clicks open as I walk through the living room, and in comes Connor.
“Hey, I was wondering when you’d be back. Where were you?”
I look him over while I wait for him to respond, noticing he has gym clothes on, and no glasses.
Maybe he was at a soccer field? The only time he wears contacts is during sports activities.
But he doesn’t seem eager to answer. “I’ll tell you later. Avery gone?”
I nod and promise to figure out dinner later if he wants to feed himself a mid-afternoon snack.
“Great, I’m going to get cleaned up first.”
Four hours later, all three of us Battle brothers are eating steaks I grilled up, along with penne and veggies.
We update Connor on all the news from Johnson, and he’s happy, in his own way.
“Gracie will love it, all of it,” he observes. “And it’s everything she deserves.”
With Landon around, I don’t get a chance to tell Connor what happened with Avery.
And, for some reason, I don’t feel a burning need to. I want to keep it to myself, for myself, at least right now.
Not surprisingly, between Johnson’s news and winning my bet with Avery, my brain is maxed out once we finish eating. The weird sleep situation last night is also starting to catch up with me. I excuse myself pretty quickly after they turn on a movie and go to my room.
Avery’s texted me a bunch of updates anyway, so I don’t want to keep her waiting for responses.
It’s only as my eyes start to close later that I remember…
Connor never told me where he went today.