talk to the board?” I ask incredulously.
Colt grins at me which sets my heart fluttering and my core throbbing. “Yes, sugar, I’m here for you, too.”
My father taught me to be a strong, independent woman, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to lean on someone who hasn’t been there for me.
“Well, that’s very nice of you…” I start my car, put it in reverse, and look at him, “… finally.” With that, I back it out of the parking spot.
“Skye, come on! Don’t leave it like this.”
I stop and look at him. “The ball’s been in your hands for far too long. You fumbled it when you should have been holding on tight.”
“A football metaphor, really?”
“Seems to me it’s the only thing you understand. ‘Cause, Colt, you sure as hell don’t understand me.”
I put the car in drive and floor it kicking up pebbles. Glancing back in the rearview mirror, I see his form reflected there, arms up in the air, asking me something I can’t hear.
Colt has left a dozen messages on my phone and texts pleading with me to call him back.
He misses me.
He’s sorry.
He wishes he’d handled things better.
As much as I miss him, I need him to suffer for a while, but my heart is lighter knowing he does care.
After a day, I call him back, and he answers on the first ring.
“Skye?”
“Hey, Colt.”
“Tell me I haven’t screwed this completely. Tell me we can work this out, sugar?”
He sounds so sincere, I feel the ice I’ve put around my heart melt.
“I’d like that, Colt.”
“Great. Great! Can I come over?”
And as quickly as it melted, it freezes back over. “You want to come over, now?”
“I’ve missed you.”
Not the three little words I was looking for.
I’ve missed you equals booty call.
I know at the beginning it may have started like that, but I sure as hell thought it was more than that.
“Colt Anders, if you think for one minute you can tell me you miss me, then invite your ass over to my bed, and I’ll let you, then you’ve got another think coming!”
“Sugar, that’s not what I meant. Calm down. I thought we could talk. That’s all. If it’ll make you happy, we can do that right now… on the phone.”
With doubt still in my voice, I say, “What do you want to talk about?”
“I spoke to the board. I told them I wouldn’t pull my funding for the new wing at the school, but I hoped they’d reconsider your position. Although I couldn’t stop it now if I tried, the whole project has become larger than life. The league is involved, contractors, honestly… the kids are going to love it.”
“It was nice of you to talk to the board. Not that I think it will do much good. I think they have pretty much made up their minds.”
“I don’t know about that. I spoke to Mrs. White afterward, and she seemed to be on the fence. She was grateful I’d gotten everyone together to help with the funding. Apparently, she’s been trying to organize a fundraiser for a long time but with little success. I told her if it wasn’t for you, it wouldn’t have happened at all.”
“But that’s a lie, Colt. I never had anything to do with all of that.”
“In part, it’s true, sugar… because if I hadn’t have met you, I wouldn’t have met Blaise, and it would never have happened.”
The ice melts again, and I find myself saying, “I’ve missed you, too.”
Colt’s familiar chuckle filters down the line. “I’m glad. How about I come see you after the weekend? How does Tuesday sound? We could go out to dinner?”
There’s a hint of desperation in his voice, and I like it.
“I’d like that. See you then.”
Deciding I can’t wait until Tuesday, I buy myself a ticket to Sunday night’s game. The only ones left are high in the stands, so I don’t have a great view. I wanted to surprise Colt, so I didn’t tell him I was coming, but Gray knows. Gray has arranged for me to get close to the locker room at the end of the game with a press pass. I’m excited, and the atmosphere in the stands is electric. The fans are dressed in their favorite team’s colors. Of course, I’m wearing a Warriors jersey and a pair of blue jeans.
I’m so far up in the stands, there aren’t that many people around me. Gray offered to get me better tickets, but it didn’t seem right after