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Oh.
If that didn’t tell her more than enough, nothing would.
“Sorry,” Sabine muttered and hurried from the control room.
She hadn’t spoken to André in a couple weeks. But they never discussed their respective dating lives anyway. And yeah, she was assuming Nikki was an ex of some sort.
People generally didn’t get that guarded unless their heart had been involved.
She made it to the lounge and heard laughter on the other side of the door.
Speaking of hearts…
Dave was standing in the middle of the couch, spinning a basketball on the tip of a finger, his friend Max was leaning his back against the counter holding a cup of espresso, Shawn was sitting at the table with Piper.
As soon as Piper spotted her, she bounded across the room.
“I got an A+!” the teenager hollered. She grabbed Sabine by the hands and jumped up and down. “I get to start in Thursday’s game!”
Sabine’s heart doubled in size and she did a little hop of excitement. “That’s great!”
Piper dropped her hands and did a lap around the room. “I’ve been waiting all day to tell anyone so I could tell you first.” She stole the ball from Dave who gaped and then pouted. She bounced it across the room, doubled back, dribbled it between her legs and passed it back to Dave without looking.
Dave caught it; his expression clearly impressed.
“Girls got skillz with a z.” Max chuckled.
“I am so proud of you,” Sabine said, catching Piper by the shoulders.
Piper beamed. “I’ve had a really patient teacher.”
Sabine felt the emotion creeping into her throat and she tried to clear it. It was so not cool to cry in front of teenagers. She just blew out a breath and nodded.
“I’m gonna tell Hannah now,” Piper declared and darted from the room.
“Well done.” Shawn applauded. “I wasn’t sure she’d ever get to play again, and let me tell you, she has been really annoying. You’ve saved us all.”
Sabine rolled her eyes. “It’s my job.”
“You must be pretty good at your job,” Max remarked approaching her. He wore a navy-blue suit today but the jacket was draped over the back of a chair.
“I do my best,” she admitted.
“I’m going to hug you because that’s how I greet those who’ve saved my life.” Max wrapped his arms around her, and she let him.
“How are you, Max?” she asked after he’d let her go. “Did you get checked out after the whole…?” She touched her throat.
“I did. Thank you for asking. Everything was fine. No permanent injuries.” He stepped back and slid his hands into his slacks.
Sabine turned her smile on Dave who was holding the basketball under one arm, his eyes bouncing between the two of them. They landed on her and stayed, and his smile did something to her insides that she didn’t know if she’d ever felt before.
From a smile.
“Hey,” she said.
He hopped off the couch and for a second, she thought he was going to hug her too. But he stopped short and just gazed down at her.
“Hey.”
