Page 298 of Cross Check

I climb off Ethan and hold out my hand. He grins up at me.

“Worth it?” he asks.

I match his beam. “Really fucking worth it.”

I head to Riley’s house to play video games for a couple hours after practice before running the errands I need to get done for tonight. By the time I make it home, the living room smells like Lia’s perfume. I bite my knuckles at the sight of the baggy jeans she’s paired with a crop top and leather jacket.

“How is it that you get more gorgeous every day?” I kiss her and put a hand on her waist. “I saw you a few hours ago, and you’re already more stunning.”

“I don’t know what you have planned, but I felt like dressing up. I was in such a funk the last month, it’s nice to take a breath, wash my hair, and put on makeup.” She smiles and kisses me back. “How was practice?”

“Good. Coach is amping up the intensity as we head into these last few games, and what was supposed to be an easy day with drills turned into getting our ass kicked with offensive sequences until someone dropped. Do coaches enjoy putting their athletes through hell?”

“Yes.” Lia pats my cheek with a smile she doesn’t bother trying to hide. “It’s the best part of the job.”

“Figured as much. Y’all are as weird as goalies.” I pull away from her so I don’t mess up her outfit. “I’m going to rinse off, and then we can head out.”

“Sounds good. Still not a fan of surprises, but I’m excited to see what you have planned,” she says. “If it involves anything that pops out at me, this relationship is over, Everett.”

“I’d never. Give me twenty, and I’m all yours.”

I roll the windows down and let the warm breeze fill the cab of the car. Lia and I hold hands on the center console, and I slide a pair of sunglasses on my face at a red light.

“I love this time of year.” She glances out the window at the row of flowers lining the street. “All these trees and plants died during the winter, but now that it’s spring, they’re alive again.” She looks at me. “That’s how I felt when we were apart. Like I was stuck in some winter storm with no chance of sun.”

“Worst month of my life,” I agree, stroking over her knuckles. “But for as much as those days without you sucked, it made me realize we’re going to be able to get through anything. We’re always going to make it work.”

“Yeah.” Lia smiles. “We are.”

Another ten minutes later, I find a parking spot. I shut off the ignition and face her.

“I had a couple ideas for tonight. It’s a boring Thursday in April, and we’re not celebrating anything specific, but I realized that in itself was a gift. There aren’t any rules we have to follow. We don’t have to plan a route away from where big groups of people are. We can do whatever we want now, and what I want is to be out in the open with you. I called in some favors to get this pulled off, and I hope you like it,” I say.

“I’m going to be with you,” she says. “I’m going to love it.”

I climb out of the car and round the hood to her side. I open the door and hold out my hand, not letting go when her feet are on the ground. I don’t have to hide my affection for her anymore, and I link our fingers together. I swing our arms back and forth, glad when a giggle bursts out of her.

“I feel like I’m back in high school,” Lia says. “And hanging out with the coolest, hottest athlete in my grade.”

“It’s a good thing we’re not in your high school, because I am neither the coolest or the hottest athlete. I’m so sorry to ruin the dream.”

We walk along the shaded path hand in hand, and this… this is what we didn’t have before. The way I can rest my arm around her and pull her to my side. The way she puts her head on my shoulder and laughs when I touch her ribs.

I’m greedy with my affection because I fucking can be, and it’s incredible.

We reach a clearing away from the bustle of people. Lia gasps as she looks ahead, and her hand flies to cover her mouth.

“A picnic?” she whispers.

“The last one we went on was cut short,” I say. “That’s not happening this time.”

“You got Pete’s?” Her laugh is disbelieving, and she hurries over to the blanket. “And what’s in the box?”

“A slice of key lime pie from the Italian restaurant in Denver. That took a lot of coordination, but we made it work. I had to pull out all the stops for our first date.”

I expect her to go for the sandwich first, but she doesn’t. She turns and throws her arms around me, a hug she punctuates with a kiss to my cheek while she squeezes me tight.

“I hate to break this to you, honey, but this is far from our first date.” Lia pulls back and rests her hand on my arm. “Are we not counting all the years before this?”