“Please, don’t, Lance.”
He reached out and covered the hand I had left resting on the mattress with his hand. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t tease me like that anymore. Please just tell me why you helped Oliver Lee out so I understand what’s going on.”
Lance kept his hand over mine, and I had to suppress a moan. It was so nice to have him touch me like that. Of course I was used to touching him by now, given how often I worked on keeping him in shape.
But this was different.
This was intimate.
This was touch I craved from him.
“Listen, Charlotte,” Lance began, dropping his voice down low, in such a way that I leaned forward to hear him better. He must have gotten a glimpse down my shirt at my cleavage, because I saw his eyes drift lower for a second and I could tell his train of thought started to leave the station for a brief moment before the conductor slowed things down and he focused back on me.
“There are two reasons I helped Oliver out. The first is because if he’s anything like me, then no amount of advice is gonna help him. People are like that, athletes especially so. We all think we’re unique snowflakes and that for us the road will be different. The reality is that every path has been traveled already in one form or another, but even if I drew Oliver Lee a map to a championship ring he wouldn’t be able to read it. No one can just get help on this stuff, they have to learn it for themselves.”
I was dumbfounded. “And…the second reason?”
“That is a little more selfish. I helped Oliver because I need him to win some games. I need him to keep the Patriots from being eliminated from playoff contention before I get back. Whenever that is, I need to have this season still mean something so I can go out there and ball like I know how to ball. If giving Oliver a few pointers here and there can keep us in the running, for even a wildcard spot, it’ll be worth it.”
“But…what if you don’t get the starting job back?”
Lance shook his head. “Irrational confidence is just one of the many things a professional athlete must cultivate, Charlotte, if he’s going to have anything even remotely resembling a successful career.”
“Huh?”
He nodded toward the TV, still showing highlights. “You ever see an interview with or a camera shot on someone, an athlete or coach, who has just lost a huge game? Like a championship game?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve seen that. They look like a deer in headlights.”
“Exactly. They look like their entire world has come crashing down around them.”
“So?”
“So why do you think that is?” Lance got quiet and looked deep into my eyes. When he looked at me like that I just wanted to kiss him all over, all day, forever.
“Tell me why.”
“Because that moment is the first time they’ve actually admitted to themselves there was even a possibility that they could lose.”
“But…they had already lost. Surely it had occurred to them in the waning minutes of the game that it wasn’t gonna go their way…”
Lance shook his head. “Nope. If the game’s not over yet, there’s a chance you can win. Every athlete’s gotta believe that 100%, or there’s no way they can make the decisions necessary to make it happen no matter what’s happening.”
I leaned back in my chair, trying to digest all that Lance had just said, and noticed again that we were still holding hands. “You’re really quite something, you know that?”
Lance chuckled. “Me? Nah, I’m just a dumb jock.”
“No, you’re not, and I don’t know why you keep saying that about yourself. You’re way smarter than you give yourself credit for.”
“I’ve just had a lot of time to think about the nature of competition and team sports.”
“Well, whatever you’ve done, it’s worked.”
“I guess so.”
I looked up at the clock and realized how late it was getting. “Do you need anything else?” I stood up as I asked.
Lance looked around. “Yeah, would you check out my sheets over here?” He indicated a spot close to him.
I leaned over, confused. The sheets looked fine. Lance caught my head softly in his hand and kissed me on the lips right as I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong with them.
I almost collapsed right there, but Lance’s other arm was there and kept me steady. We kissed like that for a few moments, our tongues greeting each other in the way only they knew how.
“Wow,” I moaned, in between kisses. “I’ve been waiting so long for you to do that again.”
As soon as I said it, I felt Lance pull back, retreat, and our lips disconnected. Immediately I pushed my face forward, trying to get back to where we just were, but Lance had settled back against the pillow. I opened my eyes and I knew the question was clear on my face.
“I-I’m sorry, Charlotte,” Lance forced out. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why do you keep saying that?” I groaned. “We both know we want to.”