Page 78 of Elite Player
“Cancel them.”
“What if it was a job?”
“I’ll come with you.”
When I roll my eyes, he winks at me. “Can’t get rid of methat easy, and I know you don’t have plans or a job because you would have told me already, so have your bag packed, and be ready for me to pick you up at eight. We’re spending the day together, then you’re sleeping at my house.”
“You’re so pushy.”
“You’re goddamn right, and you better?—”
“How does this look?”
Nico turns over his shoulder at Cubby’s voice before he laughs briefly then moves his phone so I can view Cubby in a light pink suit jacket and matching shorts. Nico clucks his tongue. “Like a douchebag.”
Cubby holds out his arms. “Brin’s favorite color is pink.”
“So?”
“You’re wearing shorts.”
“They’re Tommy Hilfiger!”
Nico sighs and turns to me, as if we’re in on some inside joke. As if I share any of Nico’s fashion sense. I don’t, but I laugh anyway, and he touches the screen. I imagine he’s touching my bottom lip. “See you Monday morning.”
“I’ll be ready,” I promise.
A day and a half later, I open the door to my apartment before he even knocks.
“There’s my Jo.” He wraps his arms around me to lift my feet off the floor. He’s the one who’s been away, but hugging him feels like I’m the one coming home.
“Missed you,” I say reflexively against his neck, and he sets me down, smiling extraordinarily wide.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He kisses my temple, cheek, and mouth. “Missed you too.”
Then he picks up my overnight bag from the floor and takes my hand, guiding me out of the building, to his car down the block. We catch up while we have breakfast at a little café by his apartment before we head to his place. As we’re walkingupstairs, we run into a small, gray-haired Black woman, who greets Nico with a hug. “Welcome back!”
“Hey, Alma. Did you get your cheesecake?”
She removes his backward cap from his head, saying, “Of course, and we don’t wear hats inside.”
He ducks his head indulgently, hiding his hat behind his back. “Sorry, Alma.”
She chucks his chin then focuses on me. “And who is this?”
Nico drapes his arm around my shoulders. “This is Josephine, my fiancée.”
“Ah.” Alma’s dark eyes light with recognition. “Nice to finally meet you. I’ve been wondering when he was going to introduce me to the girl who’s stolen his heart.”
My skin heats with a blush as Nico motions between us. “Jo, this is my neighbor Dr. Alma Peterson. She’s a former poetry professor and Gus’s current babysitter. She refuses to let me pay her, so I send her cheesecakes instead.”
“Delicious payment,” Alma says with a smile my way before turning back to Nico. “How are you feeling, honey?”
“Good.”
