Page 99 of Pity Present
“My boss got them,” he says. “But they came with a price.”
As much as I don’t want to talk to him, I want to know what that price was. “Did you have to sell your spleen?”
He grimaces while answering, “I had to write an article based on my personal experience at Trina’s singles’ event.”
Holy heck. He wrote about us to help Ben? “That’s why you wrote about us?” And while I suppose that’s honorable, didn’t I have some say in it?
He nods his head slowly. “I couldn’t tell you because I couldn’t risk you getting mad at me and outing me before I got the tickets.”
“So, you lied to me to help Ben?”
“No,” he says. “I lied to you before then. But I made it worse trying to help Ben.”
My brain is spinning a million miles an hour and I don’t know how to process everything. Instead of trying, I turn my attention to the game and do my best to ignore Blake. But that’s harder than you might think. I feel the heat of him next to me like I’m sitting by a space heater set on turbo.
The start of the game is a total blur, and I can’t focus on it. Instead, I eat my pizza and drink my beer. I occasionally look over at Ben, who is having the time of his life. As halftime approaches, I realize I’d better get up and go to the bathroom before the line is a mile long.
Leaning over to Francie, I tell her, “I’m going to hit the ladies’.”
But before I can walk away, Blake’s hand shoots out and grabs my arm. “Where are you going?”
Pulling my arm back, I snap, “To the bathroom. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“You can’t go now,” he says, sounding panicky.
“I can go the bathroom whenever I want to, Blake, and you can’t stop me.” I move to pull out of his grasp, but he holds on for all he’s worth.
“Please don’t go now or you’ll miss it.”
“Miss what?” I bluster.
“I have a surprise planned.”
“For Ben?”
“Yeah … um … I have a surprise planned for Ben.”
Sitting down, I tell him, “It had better be quick because I don’t want to wait in a huge line.”
“You won’t have to,” he says. Pointing across the court, he adds, “There’s a private club for people with seats like ours. The lines shouldn’t be that long.”
Of course there’s a private club. I can’t imagine how much people pay to sit courtside. If I wasn’t here with Ben, the cost of my ticket would have been a waste. When the buzzer blasts to signal halftime, we watch as the Bulls dancers take the court. The music starts to play as the scantily clad women shake their booties and assume poses I’m pretty sure I’m not bendy enough to ever achieve.
When they’re done, I try to stand up again, but Blake takes my hand and yanks me down. Then I hear the crowd start to chant my name. Looking up, I see my name pulsing across theJumbotron. Then the camera pans to my face. What’s going on here? I turn to look at Blake and growl, “Is this your doing?”
Before he can respond, a member of the Lakers walks across the court and stands right in front of me. He’s holding a huge bouquet of red roses that are like the ones that were sent to my apartment the day I got home from Wisconsin.My secret admirer is a professional basketball player?
The giant of a man turns to the crowd to try to quiet them down, but it doesn’t work. If I had to guess, they might think he’s about to propose to me or something.Please don’t ask me to marry you, whoever you are.
Luckily, he doesn’t. Instead, he practically shouts, “Miracles happen at Christmastime!”
What in the world is going on? I don’t have long to wait because someone comes up and hands Blake a microphone. For the love of God, what now?
Blake taps the microphone to make sure it’s on before he starts to talk. In my wildest dreams, I never could have come up with something like this.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
BLAKE
