“I think I’d go to Kansas City. I hear some pretty cool people live there.”
Grant could hear the smile in her voice. For a moment, he wondered how she knew where he was from, but remembered they’d spent a lot of time liking each other’s posts on Instagram. She knew he was from Kansas City, the same way he knew that she’d gone to University of Florida and was a Gator through and through.
He liked that they knew these things about each other. With a smile on his face, he looked down at the next question. “What’s your favorite food?”
“I like pizza.” Another standard answer.
“Yum, I do too,” he said. “Contestant number two?”
“Chocolate covered strawberries.”
Grant had to press his lips together to stop the laugh that threatened to come to the surface. “Contestant number three?”
“I could eat tacos every single day. There’s this truck that has the best tacos in town.”
She liked tacos from a truck? He wondered which ones were her favorite and made a mental note to ask her later which truck it was—and then offer to take her. He could barely wait to see her.
Excited to finish the game so he could spend time with her, he read the next question. “If you were a musical instrument, what sound would you make?” His face immediately scrunched up.
What kind of question is that?
There was a longer-than-usual pause between the question and the first contestant’s answer. Eventually, she started beatboxing—poorly.
“Contestant two?”
Clearly as thrown off by the question as the first woman, Miss SexyPants also started beatboxing.
“Contestant number three?”
Grant waited for yet another rendition of a drum set and was surprised when Em started making a terrible screeching sound into the microphone. He barely resisted the urge to cover his ears.
“I’m a violin,” she said once everyone in the arena had stopped laughing.
Yep, it was official. He was into her before but now he was a total goner.
“Well, that was enlightening,” Miriam said, taking control again. “Grant, you’ve got three lovely ladies to choose from. You’d be lucky to spend time with any of them in our VIP section. So, who is it going to be?”
Fans started calling out numbers. Some held up fingers to indicate which girl he should pick. He saw an awful lot of twos, mostly from the men. Not that it mattered, he knew who he would choose already. “I’d like to go on a date with contestant number three.”
The fans cheered.
“Well, before you meet your date for the rest of tonight’s game, let’s meet the women you didn’t choose. Contestant number one.”
A woman wearing a hot pink dress walked around the partition. She was pretty, but not Em. He stood up with the help of his crutches and gave her an awkward hug before she walked off the field.
“Contestant number two.”
A woman wearing jeans and a tee walked into view. The shirt was just as tight and low as Grant expected. He also gave her a quick hug before she walked off the field, though she held on a bit after he’d let go.
“And contestant number three, your special date in the VIP section for the rest of tonight’s game, Emmeline O’Brien.”
Grant couldn’t stop the wide grin as she walked around the corner. He was happy to see her expression mirrored his own. He put his arm out waiting for her hug and held his breath when she hesitated.
After what felt like an eternity, she walked to him and let him wrap his arm around her. “I knew it was you,” he whispered near her ear.
She shivered.
When he pulled back, he jerked his head over to the table set up for their date. “Shall we?”
