Page 69 of The Virgin Game Plan (Rules of Love 2)
* * *
Reese: As for Grant, he was my rock growing up, and I was his. That’s why we’re so close.
* * *
Holden: He’s like your brother.
* * *
My throat tightens. What will it feel like when I have a half brother? Will I be able to tell Holden how I feel about having a brand-new sibling soon? How do I feel? I’m not even sure. I dodge my own emotions.
* * *
Reese: Where are you right now?
* * *
Holden: Team hotel. The Luxe, overlooking Park Avenue. I should get to sleep soon. It’s almost two a.m. But I’m thinking of you. I’m taking a pic now and posting it on Instagram. You’re the only one who’ll know what I was thinking when I took this shot.
* * *
Reese: Sweet dreams.
* * *
Holden: They will be now. It was great chatting with you. Can I text you tomorrow?
* * *
I click over to his Instagram. A moody shot of a New York City street after midnight hits the top of his feed. There are only two words: Craving chocolate.
My heart flutters and then thumps harder as I stare at his last question, wondering how there could be any answer but yes.
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Holden
We keep up like that, chatting and texting.
As I go through the next day, I fire off questions before our game.
* * *
Holden: New York? Love it or leave it?
* * *
Reese: Love it, of course. Think about all the trendy, hip, and divey eateries I could check out.
* * *
Holden: You’d have an endless supply.
* * *
Reese: I’d roam around the city listening to the Badass Babe podcast and soaking in everything New York has to offer.
* * *
Holden: You seem like a New York kind of gal. Badass and loving it.
* * *
Reese: That’s me!
* * *
Holden: I’m running along Fifth Avenue now, passing the Met. Your feelings on museums? Thumbs-up or down?
* * *
Reese: What do you take me for? A philistine? Of course I love museums. BUT I’d much rather spend the day in Central Park, playing volleyball or softball on the sports fields.
* * *
Holden: You are my kind of woman.
* * *
Then I return to my podcast app, click to her show, and peel off another couple miles as I catch up on some of her newest episodes—an interview with a top college player in women’s basketball, another with an Olympic snowboarder, and then a popular episode from a few months ago with Asher St. James, the so-called American golden boy of soccer—a retired American star in the most European of sports.
“Moment of truth—how did it feel to play the most popular sport in the world?” she asks.
He laughs deeply. “Finally, someone understands that soccer is the best sport there is.”
“I said ‘most popular.’ Not ‘best.’ My heart belongs to the baseball diamond,” she answers playfully.
Asher sighs dramatically. “And I thought you were a kindred spirit. But I’ll answer anyway. It was spectacular, and I miss it, even the regular explanations of the differences between football and soccer.”
“Did that happen a lot?”
“Daily. Some guy I went out with the other month thought I was a fullback. And played on a field,” he says, with an exaggerated huff. “When I said ‘striker,’ he was terribly confused.”
“I take it there was no second date?”
“Oh, well, he was quite cute, so I didn’t hold soccer ignorance against him.”
They both laugh, then Reese continues her questions. “If you had to pick another sport to play besides soccer, what would it be?”
“If you made me choose, it’d be karaoke. I challenge anyone to out-karaoke me when it comes to ‘Livin’ on a Prayer.’”
I laugh as I finish the episode, then text Reese.
* * *
Holden: I will see St. James’s Bon Jovi challenge and raise it.
* * *
Reese: You do karaoke, and I’m just learning this?
* * *
Holden: I’m excellent at Elvis. Also, “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
* * *
Reese: Adele or Lady Gaga for this woman.
* * *
Holden: You pull out the big guns.
* * *
Reese: I don’t fuck around when it comes to my tune choices. Also, I can’t believe you listened to that episode! I’m flattered.
* * *
Holden: I’ve listened to several. Your podcast is great, but that’s no surprise.
* * *
Reese: Thank you. That makes me so happy to hear.
* * *
We text more that night after my game, and I catch her up on the conversations I’ve had with my parents, the latest Christmas movie they watched on Webflix, and my brothers.
We talk about Crosby too, how he is utterly besotted with Nadia, and Reese tells me more about Tia and Wayne, and Layla and her fiancée.
She shares details of her coworkers, of Adriana’s burgeoning belly and fiery attitude, of Jillian’s upbeat, take-no-prisoners style, and I tell her about the guys on the team, like Gunnar with his deadpan wit and Dante with his laser focus.
