“You can keep staring at my eyes all you want, but no, you may not call meBlueberry.”
“Well, then we’re both officially nickname-less.”
In a few more strides, we’ve reached my car and successfully distracted each other on the walk. I still don’t see any photographers, but I’m sure they’re out there somewhere.
“Do you want to drive?” he asks.
“No, can you?” He nods. “I’m spent from the game so it’ll be nice to veg out in the passenger seat.”
“No prob.” He takes the keys and within five minutes we’re on the road, some pop music playing low from my car’s speakers.
Once we’re on our way, Rawley rests his right hand near the gear shift and starts tapping to the beat.
For the first time, I notice how large his hands are—no doubt a key element to being able to catch footballs the way he does. It explains why my hand felt warm, locked in his.
“It must have been nice to see your family in Boston.”
My line of thought broken, I move my gaze up to his face. “It was. Sort of.”
He glances toward me quickly, before refocusing on the road. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want, but when I mentioned your dad at the gym that one time, it…it seemed like it wasn’t a good thing.”
“Yeah.” I debate what to tell him, and how deep to go. “I’ve had people use me to get to my dad, or because of my last name. When I was younger, sometimes it was even people I cared about. So I shut it down pretty quick these days.”
“And you thought that was where I was headed…”
“Not anymore. Now that I know you.”
He blows out a breath. “Okay good. Yeah, I mean it happens to me. People not wanting to be your friend, but faking it so well you can’t be sure at first. And then it turns the knife a little deeper because you started trusting them.”
It sucks he’s gone through that too, but it’s nice to have someone who understands. “Exactly. My skin is pretty thick at this point.”
An empathetic expression crosses his face, and it prompts me to open up a bit more.
“My dad and I—we’re not as tight as I am with my other family. He likes to be the boss when it comes to basketball, and you might be stunned to hear this, but I have an independent streak.”
“Shocker.” He chuckles.
We’re both quiet for a moment, and he starts to tap to the beat of the music again.
This time, he clocks his movement and flattens his hand.
“Sorry.”
“You don’t have to stop. Or apologize.”
“Thanks. I have trouble sitting still.”
He says it in a clipped tone, not wanting to talk about it more, I think? I change the topic.
“Are you living with Landon for a while? Or are you looking for a place?”
“For a bit. He has a ton of space, and we’re trying to figure out my financial situation, as you know. I don’t want to spend the first chunk of my signing bonus all at once, and I have some NIL money still, but it will go fast if I try to buy a place.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.”
“Look at all the attention we’re getting though. Hopefully, you’ll be set soon. We both will.”
His confidence helps build mine a fraction.He really thinks this will work.
