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“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Have a good flight.”

“Hey Violet?”

“Yeah?”

“Is there any chance when I come back you’ll be in my living room wearing only my jersey?”

I burst out laughing, remembering how I’d done just that after his team in college had won their division championships. We’d made love over and over again for the next twenty-four hours. I swear I’d walked funny for days afterward.

“I don’t think I can pull that look off anymore now that I’m middle aged.”

“You’re just as beautiful as you were the day I met you,” he said, his tone stubborn.

A series of memories flashed through my mind, all the sweet things that Robbie had said to me back when we were dating. He’d always been affectionate, complimentary in a way that always felt one hundred percent genuine. I’d come into the relationship skeptical of men in general and athletes in particular, but Robbie had changed my mind about both.

At least until the night some jealous girl convinced me that what we had wasn’t real. I wondered how things would have ended up if either Robbie or I had fought harder for our relationship.

“Robbie. What are we doing?” I asked softly.

He knew exactly what I was referring to.

“Picking up where we left off, I hope.”

“We’re different people now Robbie.”

“Not in any way that counts. Look, that girl screwed us over all those years ago, but we don’t have to let what happened before define us. We’ve been given a second chance, I don’t want to waste it. Do you?”

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly.

Another long silence followed.

“You still there?” I finally asked.

“Yeah.” He sounded sleepy.

“You should get some sleep.”

“I’d sleep better if you were here with me.”

“Me too,” I whispered, surprising myself.

I hadn’t shared a bed with the man in years, but I still remembered how it felt to fall asleep in his arms, my head pressed against his shoulder. I’d never slept so well with anyone else.

“Sleep well, baby.”

Robbie

“Okay, now take off your pants and let me see what the good Lord gave you.”

I looked over the photographer’s shoulder to see Violet laughing behind him. I’d insisted that she accompany me for this photo shoot and now I was glad that I had. With the way the flamboyant photographer was hitting on me, I needed back-up.

“You’re going to make my girlfriend jealous,” I said, nodding towards Violet.

The photographer looked between us. “Y’all are together?”

He seemed the tiniest bit suspicious, so I was glad when Violet backed me up. We’d been spending a fair amount of time together, and texting each other several times a day, but we hadn’t really defined our relationship yet.