“I thought being in Chicago would be different,” I admitted.
“Different?” she echoed, tossing the ball back with a spin.
“With Eva.”
I took the ball but didn’t shoot. I cradled it against my hip.
“I get that she’s on another level with all these endorsements and extra obligations, but I thought I’d get more time with her, you know?” I bounce passed the ball back to my friend. “I thought the off-season would slow things down for us, not make her even more unavailable.”
Jazz dribbled a few steps in and hit a clean jumper from the elbow. “Have you told her that?”
“She’s not doing anything wrong,” I said quickly, defensive before I meant to be. “It’s not like she’s choosing these companies over me.”
“But it still feels like she is,” Jazz guessed.
I didn’t say anything. Not right away, at least.
“I don’t know,” I said finally. “It’s like ... we’re fine. We live together. We talk all the time, even if she’s in meetings or doing some kind of endorsement obligation. We text. We FaceTime.But the days feel so long lately. It’s like it’s just training and sleeping, and repeat.”
Jazz scooped up the ball and bounced it a few times without shooting. “Sounds like you need to romance your girl.”
“We’re totally fine in that department,” I said quickly. “Totally compatible.”
“I’m not talking about sex. I’m talking aboutromance.”
I frowned and caught the ball when she passed it back. “You mean like flowers and overpriced chocolates?”
“No. I mean like intentional time,” she replied. “Have you guys ever gone on a date? Like dinner and a movie or something? Like regular-ass people would?”
“We were keeping things on the downlow at the start,” I said, shooting again—and finally hitting one. “And then Eva got traded. And now she’s so busy with all her endorsement deals.”
“I’m hearing a lot of excuses,” Jazz clucked, snagging the rebound and lazily dribbling it in a circle around me. “You’ve got to woo her, Lex. You’re dating EvafuckingMontgomery.”
I wiped sweat from my forehead and sighed. I knew she was right. “Okay. Romance.”
“And I don’t mean a night in with takeout and reruns. I mean something that makes her feel chosen. Not just convenient.”
I grimaced. “Ouch.”
“Too real?”
“No, it’s fair.” I sat down on the court and stretched my legs out in front of me, leaning back on my hands. “It’s just … we haven’t really had space to be regular. We went from hating each other to being roommate-teammates to being a couple. I don’t even know what normal looks like for us.”
“Then make it up,” Jazz encouraged. “Pick something. A picnic. A concert. Go do those cheesy paint-and-sip things. Something just for the two of you.”
I looked over at her. “You do paint-and-sip?”
“Hell no,” she said with a smirk. “Butyoumight.”
I made a face. “I can’t paint.”
“Exactly. It’s not about the painting. It’s about being bad at it together.”
She had a point. And the truth was, Iwantedto plan something. I wanted Eva to look at her calendar and carve out time for me. Not for appearances, not for content, not for brands. Just us.
I let Jazz pull me to my feet. The gym lights buzzed overhead, and the air was warm and stale, but I felt more clearheaded than I had in days.
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll figure something out.”
