Page 165 of ClickBack

“I like the one I have.” She puts her hands at my waist. “Did you bring me back here to ask that?”

“Partly.”

“What’s the other part?”

I kiss her. She laughs against me, then pulls me closer by my shirt. We have a few minutes before anybody needs us, and I want them. I want her remembering something about this afternoon besides where the phones were.

When she leans away, she keeps one hand at my collar.

“You could have led with that.”

“I’m getting to it.”

The door opens behind her. Bellamy stops, Cole nearly walks into her, and neither of them looks surprised enough for my liking.

“We need the hallway,” Bellamy says.

I move Giselle with me so they can pass.

Cole looks at my hand on her hip. “You found somebody you’ll help move.”

“That case didn’t look like her.”

Giselle laughs, and Bellamy points at both of us. “Try to make it back for the show. Giselle, I’m going to La Cantera afterward. I have a return to make and a quick stop at the facility. Come with me if you want.”

“I’d like that.”

“Good. We’ll get ice cream, too.”

Cole lifts a hand. “My lunch?”

“Ask your helpful friend.”

She keeps walking. I hear Cole laughing as he follows her.

Bellamy gets Von talking about the second championship before Terrence can ask anything about the party afterward. Von sits forward, elbows on his knees, looking at her rather than the cameras.

“First year, I was still learning everybody,” he says. “When to ask Ronan something. When to leave him alone. Which one of Cole’s looks meant he wanted the ball.”

“All of them,” Nico says from the audience.

Cole turns in his chair. “You ever seen a shot you didn’t want?”

“That’s confidence.”

“That’s why we have film,” Ronan says.

Von waits for the laughter, smiling at his teammates. “Second year, I didn’t need to keep checking. I knew where people were going. Knew who needed to hear something and who already knew. That makes a difference.”

Bellamy asks what he learned about Nico.

“Don’t let him pick the music.”

Nico sits up. “I’m not taking music criticism from either one of you. I was there for ‘Survivor.’”

“You were a backup dancer,” Bellamy reminds him.

“Under protest.”