Page 64 of Scoring Chance

Some of the pun jokes were lost on her because of the language barrier, but she said they helped her with her English.

“Do you have one for me?”

“Yeah, I saw a good one yesterday. Where do cows go on Friday nights?”

She started laughing and shrugged.

“The moo-vies.”

She burst out laughing then held her side with a small cringe. “Oh too hard.”

I shook my head as she yawned. I checked the TV and frowned. “The game is about to start so I’ve got to let you go. Go rest.”

She started to argue, but ended up yawning again. “Okay, talk to you soon.”

“Bye.”

I ended the call and dropped my phone in my pocket. She was good at cheering me up. It was hard to feel down or sorry for myself when she was positive despite her circumstances. If she could be strong then I could too.

21

Derrek

I should be nervous. Except the fact that I felt calm was psyching me out and making me nervous. I shook my head and focused on the door. From the moment we hung up I knew what I had to do tonight, before she left with the Cougars.

The distance I felt tore me apart. It would be easy to let us continue to slip apart. It was probably the smart thing to do, too. We were both facing critical times in our careers, and being pulled in a hundred different directions. Fate could be giving us a sign. Maybe now wasn’t our time.

If my heart wasn’t absolutely convinced this was the right thing to do, I’d be willing to fade out of her life. I couldn’t though. Two weeks without being around her, missing her while eating dinner, not seeing her cheer us on during games, and having no one to confide in had been a nightmare. I was ready to end our separation. At least, I was going to try.

Players and staff continued to trickle out from the arena exit but Amelia wasn’t with them. Her car was still in the parking garage, so I wasn’t worried I’d missed her. Unless she went out with someone after the game. She might not have even come through here.

Yup, there was the panic I was missing. I gripped the steering wheel and forced myself to take a calming breath. The arena door swung open and I froze when I caught a glimpse of her long chestnut hair. She was talking to one of the players, smiling and laughing as she waved to him. He turned and went to one of the first Range Rovers, leaving her alone.

I rolled my shoulders, trying to relax, before opening my door and getting out. I shut it a bit louder than necessary hoping she’d notice so I didn’t scare her.

Her eyes darted to me at the sound. There was a flash of confusion before she grinned. “Derrek?”

I closed the distance between us, ignoring the fact we were in the middle of a parking garage and anyone from the team could come out at any moment. “Hey, Amelia.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk.”

Her eyes darkened. I heard chatter behind us and turned to see two players coming toward us. One of them eyed me. “Amelia, you okay?”

I scowled at him, but he ignored me, keeping his focus on her.

She nodded. “Yeah Tony. I’m fine.”

Tony turned his attention on me, measuring me up and down. “You the idiot?”

A burst of laughter came from Amelia before she covered her mouth with bright pink cheeks. I looked between them, growing more irritated when Amelia nodded.

Tony stepped toward me until we were toe to toe. He had four or so inches on me, but basketball players were wimps. They cried when they got bumped or pushed to the ground. Please. Our warm ups were more physical than they could ever handle.

“You should leave.” His tone held zero humor and a whole lot of unspoken threats.

“Tony, it's fine. Really.”