Kylie glanced over at Bas. “What?”
“That you were a nice person and that Tiffany was lucky to have you as a mother.” Bas then leaned forward. “Hey, do me a favor, will you?”
“And what favor is that?”
“You’ve made him happy and—”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. I’ve never seen him in such a good mood. Sometimes I think that smile is plastered to his face.”
Kylie shook her head. “I have nothing to do with it.”
“Yes, you do. At first he was all bent out of shape at the thought that Marcus’s attention had gotten off his books and shifted to a girl, but once he met you then he saw why.”
Kylie’s eyebrows pulled together in a frown. “What do you mean?”
Bas smiled. “He was so taken with you that he could see how Marcus could be taken with Tiffany.” When Kylie didn’t say anything, Bas said, “Now getting back to that favor…”
“Yes?”
“Keep making Chance happy. He’s had a lot of sadness in his life and if there’s anyone who deserves to be happy, it’s him. I think he’s a pretty great guy.”
Before Kylie could say anything, Bas stood, jumped off the bleachers to the court and called over his shoulder, “I’ll go see what’s keeping him.”
Kylie leaned back and thought about what Bas had said. Before she could give it too much thought, every nerve ending in her body came instantly alive when Chance walked out of the locker room. He had changed into a pair of jeans and another T-shirt. He crossed the gym to her with a heart-stopping smile on his face.
Catching her breath, she decided to go down to meet him. As soon as she got close he leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “Sorry for the delay. I had to talk to Morgan about something.”
She nodded as he took her hand in his and led her out of the gym. “That’s okay. I enjoyed chatting with Bas while I waited. Is Morgan okay? He was playing a mean game today. He committed a lot of fouls.”
Chance’s smile curved into a full grin. “Yes, they were intentional. He had a lot of frustrations to work off.”
“Oh.”
Snaking his arm around her waist, Chance snuggled her closer to his side as they walked to the car. “What were your plans for today?”
“I was going grocery shopping.”
He laughed. “Hey, so was I. Do you want to go together?”
When Chance opened the car door and she slid inside, she glanced up at him and smiled. “Why not? It just might be fun.”
LATER THAT EVENING AS Kylie finished getting dressed for dinner she thought that grocery shopping with Chance had not only been fun, it had been educational, as well.
He had known what fruits were in season, he made sure she checked the expiration date on everything she purchased and he advised her to stay away from the generic brands, claiming there was a difference in taste.
And she had discovered that they liked the same foods, and the same flavor ice cream. In fact, they had almost argued about who would get the last half gallon of chocolate-chip cookie dough until one of the store clerks assured them there was a case in the back.
After their shopping adventure he had brought her home to unload her groceries and indicated he would return around seven to take her to dinner. It was almost seven now and she was ready.
Kylie smiled as she glanced at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a dress she had purchased earlier that year when she had attended her father’s retirement party. Her mother had complimented her on how good she’d looked in it, and now she hoped Chance shared that same opinion. She was just about to add strawberry lip color to her lips when the phone rang. She quickly picked it up. “Hello.”
“Hi, Mom.”
“Tiffany! I’m glad you called. How’s Disney World?”