35. Avery
THIRTY-FIVE
AVERY
Reid
Are you staying in town for the holidays?
Me
Yeah. We play on the 23rd. There’s not enough time to fly down to Florida then back up. What about you?
Reid
Christmas Day game. First time in history. Have any plans?
Me
Maven invited me to their place on Christmas Eve, but I’m not sure I’m going to go. I don’t want to intrude.
Reid
It wouldn’t be intruding. We’d all like it if you were there.
Me
Are you going?
Reid
Yeah. It’s one of our traditions. When Dallas, Maverick, and I realized we all hung around the city for the holidays, we decided to do a Christmas Eve dinner. It used to be Chinese food instead of a nice ham, but we haven’t skipped a year yet.
Me
I like that story. Are you sure it’s okay if I come?
Reid
Positive.
Me
Okay. I have a present for you. It’s not big, but I wanted to get you something.
Reid
I have a present for you too. Two presents, actually.
Me
Really?
Reid
Yup.
Me
I can’t wait.
Reid
Are you close with your mom and sister? Do you get to spend any time with them this time of year?
Me
My sister is swamped with work during the holidays just like I am. The three of us always do something in mid-January when things settle down. We’re going to have to make some adjustments this year, though, because the Thunderhawks might sneak in as a Wild Card team.
I’ll FaceTime them on Christmas Day. We usually all bake something while we talk to each other, so it never really feels like we’re separated for the holidays.
What about you? Do you talk to your mom?
Reid
Yeah. I know she wants me back in Ohio for the holidays, but she also understands why I don’t go. She came and visited a few years ago, and I think I’ll fly her out again next year.
It’s okay, though. I get to spend time with my favorite people, and all is right in the world.
Me
I’m excited to be included.
Reid
I’m glad you’ll be there.
I love early winter in the mid-Atlantic.
The air is crisp. There’s a coolness in the breeze. Everything is lighter and brighter, the slog of summer and fall long gone.
I smile when I step onto the pavement outside my apartment and head for the Potomac, nothing but still silence and a beautiful sunrise in front of me.
These mornings of solitude are my favorite time of day.
I’ve always been happiest surrounded by friends and family and coworkers. At peace in big groups, with loud laughter and lively conversation, but lately I’ve been loving these stolen moments too.
I can be alone with my thoughts, away from the field. Away from my phone and focusing on nothing except the miles ahead of me.
I inhale and savor the first glimpse of the pinks and oranges and yellows signaling the start of what’s going to be a beautiful day. I wave hello to the other runners I pass. I dodge a cyclist who apologizes for cutting a corner too close and almost crashing into me.
There’s a pep in my step as I make my way onto a straightaway. I take a deep breath and let my legs get loose, settling into a rhythm that’s just past comfortable. Just difficult enough where my lungs feel like they’re putting in work and my heart starts to beat a little faster.
I tip my chin up to the sky and smile at the patches of clouds. It’s almost like I can hear my dad up there, calling out to me, reminding me what a gift it is to be alive.
Sweat beads on my forehead and I push harder. I run faster, the last few weeks of work and life and Reid fading away until there’s nothing but peace.
The quiet breaks with a roll of tires and the hum of an engine. I glance over my shoulder and spot a silver truck forty yards away. It’s moving slowly, almostlike it’s creeping down the street, and I frown.
I cruise another half mile and check behind me again. The car is still there, and closer than it was before.
The hair on the back of my neck stands up. Panic claws at my throat, and I try to take a deep breath.
It could be nothing , I tell myself, shoving aside the worst-case scenarios racing through my head.
It could also be something .
I hang a left down a narrow street, heading away from the river. I want to be visible to other people and I want to see if they’ll follow me. When they drive up the wrong way on a one-way road, I know I have to make a split-second decision.
I fumble with my phone tucked in my sports bra. I pull it out and call the number at the top of my text message threads without a second thought.
It rings twice before I hear Reid’s voice.
“Hello?” he answers, sounding like he’s tucked away in a dream. Buried under a pile of blankets and dead to the world for another few hours. “Ave?”
“Hi.” My heart hammers in my chest like a wild drumbeat. “I need your help.”
There’s the rustle of sheets on the other end of the line. The flick of a light switch and soft footsteps down the hall.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, sounding more awake, his tone deeper. More forceful. Safe . “What’s going on?”
“I’m on a run, and I think someone is following me.” My shoulders shake and my eyes blur with tears, but I rein my emotions in. I take a deep breath, hold it for five seconds, and exhale. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Send me your location. I want you to keep moving while you talk to me. What’s your closest landmark?”
I glance around and turn onto a busier street. I’m unfamiliar with the area, and I try not to let that raise my fear even more. Another deep breath, another hold, another exhale. “I see something up the road. A coffee shop, maybe. The lights are on.”
“Great. I want you to make your way to it and go inside. That’s where I’ll meet you. I’m going to stay on the phone with you the whole time, alright?”
I pull the phone away from my ear and send him my location. My pace quickens and my breathing turns ragged and strained as I move closer and closer to the coffee shop. My muscles ache, but I keep going forward.
“I just sent you where I am.”
“Thank you, Ave. You’re doing so good, baby, and I’m so glad you called me. You’re also really close to me, so I’ll be there soon, okay?”
“I’m sorry I woke you up.” I wipe my eyes and pick up my feet. I try to ignore the rumble of the truck behind me. I try to focus on Reid’s soothing voice, the soft inflection of his words and how he’s even and steady. “I know it’s early and you like to sleep in.”
“How do you know I like to sleep in?”
“You never answer my text messages before seven thirty,” I say. “You post the majority of your content in the afternoon, except for the time you switched your routine at the conference in Vegas to piss me off. When I slip out of your apartment before work, you don’t budge.”
“I’d much rather stay up late. The sun and I don’t get along.”
“Are you a vampire?”
“Could be. I can’t believe you’re already out exercising. When do you sleep?” he asks.
“I got six hours last night,” I say, proud of myself. “I shut down my computer at ten thirty and put my phone on do not disturb.” I switch to speakerphone and tuck my phone back in my sports bra. “That’s almost a record.”
“You work too much. You need an assistant.”
“I could say the same about you.” The coffee shop is getting closer, and knowing Reid is on his way gives me a burst of adrenaline. “You reach for your phone in the night.”
“I didn’t know you saw me do that.”
“I didn’t see it. I felt it. You were holding me, then you weren’t.” I pause and swallow down the lump in my throat. Tears stain my cheeks, and this time, I let them fall. I’m so mad. So frustrated this is happening to me and so tired at the same time. “I always know when you’re not touching me.”
“I won’t pick up my phone in the night again,” he says, a promise there. “Not when you’re with me.”
“Where are you?” A quick check behind me shows more space between me and the truck than before. Four cars are in front of it now, a traffic jam building and giving me a chance to get away. The knot in my chest loosens. My shoulders sag, and I start to think I might be okay. “Are you close?”
“Three minutes. I ran a red light. If I get a ticket, I’m making Maverick pay for it.”
“He wasn’t the one who broke the law.”
“No, but he’s the one with a hundred million in his bank account. He could spot me a couple bucks.”
I laugh. “Sometimes I forget how much these athletes make.”
“I do too, until the rookie pulls up to the stadium in a Bentley, and I want to ask who his financial advisor is. Where are you?”
“Three stores away.” I can see the neon sign out front. Can smell the sweet pastries and ground coffee beans. “I’m going to wait inside.”
“Don’t hang up, please. I want you to keep talking to me.”
“If I didn’t know any better, Duncan, I’d say you’re obsessed with me.”
Reid is quiet on the other end of the phone. I check to make sure our call didn’t drop, and then he’s saying, “What if I am?” so quietly, I think I might have misheard him.
It’s the same tone he used at the bar two weeks ago when he told me he didn’t like watching me give my attention to anyone else. Not when he was there. Not ever.
The same voice when he’s wrapped around me, his arms banded across my waist, mouth on my neck and telling me I’m beautiful . I’m perfect and wonderful .
“I’m here,” I say, breathless and overcome with emotion.
I yank open the door and tumble inside to warmth and heat and someplace safe. I tuck myself into a table in the back and wait.
“I’m here too.”
There’s the slam of a car door and the jingle of keys. I blink, and the next thing I know, Reid is there, fifteen feet away from me, then ten, then five, and I burst into tears.
I leap to my feet and crash into him. “You came,” I whisper around a sob.
“You called,” he murmurs into my hair, his embrace an envelope of comfort. “Any time I see your name on my phone, I answer within seconds. My sleep-deprived, subconscious brain knows to answer too, apparently. Call me one of Pavlov’s dogs.”
He rubs my back. I sink into the press of his body against mine. It’s fifty degrees outside, but his skin is like an inferno. I bury my face in his shirt and he doesn’t pull away, letting me stay for far too long.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I woke you up. I’m sorry I asked for your help. I?—”
“Hey.” Reid cups my chin and tilts my head back so I’m looking at him. His eyes are bloodshot and red-rimmed. There’s a crease on his left cheek from his sheets, and his hair is sticking up in different directions. I’ve never seen someone so beautiful. “Don’t you ever apologize for asking for help, okay? Especially not to me. I wanted to, so I did. Simple as that.”
“Thank you.” I shiver, and he holds me even tighter. “I don’t know why I’m so upset. Nothing happened. It could’ve been worse. Hell, it could’ve been a crazy coincidence I’m turning into a big deal.”
“You’re upset because you were doing something you enjoy, and someone tried to ruin it for you. You’re allowed to be scared, Avery.”
I nod and unravel myself from him. I stare at his feet and let out a watery laugh. “You’re wearing two different shoes. And your pajama bottoms.”
“I didn’t stop to think,” Reid says. “I needed to get here as fast as I could.”
“I can’t believe you’re here.” I touch his cheek to make sure he’s real. My heart won’t stop racing in my chest, and I think I’m going to cry again. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“Did the truck pass?” Reid glances around, his head on a swivel and his eyes narrowing into slits. “Did you get any descriptions of who was driving? Did anyone come inside looking for you?”
“No,” I admit. “I was so focused on getting away from them, I didn’t think to get any information. I should’ve. That was stupid of me and?—”
“It’s okay.” He hugs me again, tighter this time. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Avery.”
“I don’t want to stick around in case they come back.”
“Do you want me to drive you to your apartment? Or to the stadium?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Can we go to your place?”
Reid smiles. I feel it in my heart and all the way down to my toes. He laces his hand through mine and I follow him to the door.
“Let’s go, Sinclair. I’m going to fix you right up.”