“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” I say when I finally get to the second floor and wait for her. “I come up here to practice,” I tell her and walk toward the corner part.

“I’m no expert, but shouldn’t you practice with people?” she says, standing there holding her purse in front of her with both hands.

“Watch,” I tell her, and I throw the ball against the wall, and it bounces back at me, and I do it over and over again. My eyes never leave the ball as I try to catch it. “The game is to never have the ball in your hand more than two seconds,” I say to her. “And to go right to left each time.”

“Do you ever miss?” she asks me, and I nod. “What happens when you miss?”

I catch the ball and turn around to look at her. “Then I start again.” I smile at her.

“Do you ever just give up?” she asks, and I turn and face the wall again. “And say fuck it.”

“The endgame is that much better if you fight for it,” I tell her, and then I catch the ball and turn around and walk to her. Standing right in front of her, I make her look up at me. “If the game is easy, it gets boring,” I tell her, and then I lift my hand to push her hair away from her eyes. “The chase is what makes the game exciting.” I lean in just a touch more, and I only hear her small gasp because it’s so quiet up here. “Getting that prize and claiming it,” I say, leaning in to whisper in her ear. “Holding the prize in your hands, there isn’t another feeling out there.”

My cheek grazes hers, and when I stand, I see that her eyes have shaded over, and I bet if I kiss her neck, I would be able to feel the beating of her heart. “I should get back,” I tell her and walk away from her. I turn over my shoulder and see her back to me. “You coming?”

She turns around, and I see that she put her game face on because she gives me the same fake smile she gave the girls when she got here. “Yes, I need to get in there.”