Chapters (15)
He felt sweat break out at the small of his back as he watched Kate’s hand curl around the gearshift knob. He sucked in his breath when she skimmed the inside of his thigh with her knuckles en route to first, and he bit back a grunt when she brought the car up to 20 mph and slammed into second with the swift expertise of a NASCAR driver. He stole a quick glance down and wondered how well Elsie could see in the dark. Kate shifted to third, and before she could downshift for the corner, Dave replaced her hands with his. “You drive. I shift.”
“Party pooper.”
“When we’re alone you can party all you want.”
She parked the car in front of her house and waited while Elsie got out. “Would you mind if I gave you a rain check on the pizza? I’m starting to fade.”
Dave shifted in his seat so he could see her better. “Cold feet?”
“You bet.”
“We don’t have to party any more than you want.”
“Thanks.” She touched his hand. “I had fun tonight.”
“Fun is important. You need to have more fun.”
“I have fun all the time. I have fun performing.”
He relaxed against the car door. “There’s all kinds of fun. Some fun is more fun than other kinds.”
She laughed. “That’s so profound.”
“Maybe what we should do is make you a Potato. Can you throw a football?”
“No. And I don’t want to throw a football. I think the game is dumb.”
Dave sprang off the door. “Dumb? How can you say that? Football is practically the national sport. Football is essential to a well-balanced society. Kate, this is Redskin country.”
She wrinkled her nose.
“That does it. I can see I’ve got to take charge here. You don’t like football because you don’t know anything about it. Tomorrow I’m going to take you out and teach you how to pass the old pigskin.”
“No, no way, never, not me, unh-unh. I’m not the athletic type. I’ll break something.”
“You mean like a window?”
“Like a bone.”
Dave held her hand. “That’s ridiculous. We’ll just toss it back and forth. Let you get the feel of it.”
“I don’t have time.”
“We’ll do it during a break in your practice schedule. We can play in the middle of the street here. It’ll be good for you. A little exercise. A little fresh air.”
It sounded harmless enough, she thought. It might be nice to get out of the house for a few minutes and play catch with Dave.
“Okay. Tomorrow afternoon, around one o’clock. But don’t expect much.”