had taken up the fan club girls’ offer to work out with them at City Park. She had no idea who’d show or what they’d want to do. Reese had even waited a full ten minutes, watching the group of five or so girls from her car. She didn’t want to be ambushed by photographers or assholes looking to mess with her.
“I am so not the bar,” she told Cat, leading her friend into the living room. “If I’m the bar, then those girls leap frogged over it about two years ago. Coño, I was never that buena. Not at that age, no way.” She sat down, legs over the arm of her chair. “I didn’t get that good til college.” Her thoughts shifted, and Reese remembered those early days, watching Ryder practice, seeing how he interacted with his younger teammates. They’d looked up to him. He’d always been a born leader, and Reese had taken advantage of that. He’d trained her almost as much as her father had.
“Hey,” Cat said, nudging her foot. “Who’s got you all starry-eyed? Can’t be the Mini Reeses.”
“No,” she admitted, sinking lower into her chair. Cat was her friend, but she’d never told her about the past, and the woman had never pushed. Gia wanted details. Cat just seemed ready to listen. “No,” she said again, pouring back more wine. She didn’t watch Cat when she spoke, but it was only because she knew how soft, how vulnerable it would make her sound and she didn’t want Cat to be disappointed by it.
“Ryder. He…he taught me a lot.” Cat didn’t react. She held her glass, nodding once when Reese finally glanced at her. “My papa, he always knew what was good for me. He taught me form and how to improve my endurance, but Ryder…he taught me about the love of the game. Papa, he takes a very analytical approach to coaching. Even if it’s not any of his kids out there playing, he can’t just sit and watch without critiquing. But Ryder, he loves it. He told me once that on the field, throwing that ball, seeing where it lands, that’s the freest he’s ever felt.” One last sip and Reese finished the glass. She loved the warmth that seeped into her veins as the wine moved through her body.
“He made it sound like love. He…he always made me want to be that passionate about something, and eventually, I was. About the game.” Unexpectedly, Reese felt a thick knot curling in her throat and unnecessary, irritating tears burned against her lashes. “Then, later I got passionate about other things. About…”
“Him?” Cat asked, her voice soft. She leaned forward, placing her glass on the coffee table when Reese nodded. “You’re still in love with him?”
Until she said it, Reese would have never realized the truth. Eyes widening, she jerked a look at Cat, mouth bobbing like a fish from a busted bowl. “I…I…”
“He was your first love, Reese.” Cat exhaled, rubbing her neck. “We never really get over our first loves no matter how hard we try.”
Reese tilted her head, spinning around to place her feet on the floor. “Who was your first love?”
Cat smiled, and a rush of color moved over her cheeks. “It wasn’t love. I was a kid, but I wanted…Kenya. Man, I wanted him so much.”
“Wilson?” Reese sat up straight, trying not to laugh. “You’re serious?”
“I followed him around like a puppy.” She sat back, resting against the recliner as Reese watched her. “Went to every pee-wee tournament and junior high game. My cousin Marcus played in the same leagues, and, man, was Kenya something else.”
“Why didn’t he remember you? That night in the garage, I got the impression he had no idea who you were.”
Cat laughed, the sound loud, sweet, and self-deprecating. “Because I wore glasses and braces and giggled every time he got near me.”
Reese didn’t mention what Wilson had asked her that night at the garage, how he wondered if she’d ever had one that got away; how he’d looked after Cat as though she’d been his one. This didn’t line up with what Cat was talking about, but Reese had been on the receiving end of people drudging up the past. She wasn’t going to do that to her friends, either of them.
“So you never told him?”
“I didn’t have to. Marcus did, and I was humiliated. I cried for a week straight when Marcus told the entire eighth grade team that I was in love with