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“Well, you know, it’s not too late. He lives just a couple blocks uptown. ” The waitress came by with our food; I waited until she was gone before leaning forward. “I could put in a good word for him if you don’t think this football thing is going to work out. ”
Abe snorted. “You’re hilarious. ”
I tilted my head and laughed softly. “I know. ”
Abraham smiled at me warmly. “Did you know that the last time we saw each other, we weren’t even old enough to drink?”
I raised my brows. “And yet I don’t seem to remember the bartender having any qualms about serving you and your teammates. ”
His smile broadened. “There were always some perks to being part of the team. ”
My brows rose even further, giving me, I had no doubt, the appearance of a sea-witch. “Were? I’ve sure all the perks have long since vanished now that you’ve gone pro. How Olympian of you. ” I let my eyes linger on his ridiculously expensive watch and jacket, and then tilted my head, a smile edging at the corners of my lips.
He raised a hand and rubbed the back of his head, looking rather sheepish. His flyaway curls begged to be tucked back into place. “Tamar Rosenfeld. When you develop such a cutting sense of humor?”
I waved a hand, my full grin threatening to break out. I managed to keep it to a demure smile. “Oh, I always had it. Though I’ll admit it’s matured with age. While at twenty-three I’m still a rather rough, acerbic vintage, I’m sure that by ninety-three I’ll be so smooth you’ll barely even notice my barbs until too late. I plan to wear a purple hat and travel the world to share my opinions with the unwashed masses. ”
He propped his chin on his hand, appearing vastly amused. “Oh? And where did this grand plan come from?”
The grin burst out of me. “Our mothers, of course. Where else?”
“I didn’t know our mothers were traveling the world. ”
“Oh, yes. They’re buying an RV and traveling cross-country after our fathers die. ”
He smirked at me. “How perfectly morbid. ”
“Well, they worked out that they both come from abnormally long-lived lineages. ” I tried to look down my nose at him, which basically amounted to tilting my chin down but eyes up. I was surprised by how much I was enjoying myself. “If you happen to still be active in your nineties, I suppose you may join me on my travels. ”
“Very kind. Where will we go?”
I waved an airy hand, channeling my inner old dame. “Antarctica, probably. I hear it’s the best place for old bones, especially those suffering from long-ago football injuries. ”
“And carpal tunnel, from writing too much. ”
“Precisely. ”
He dropped the act. “I went to South Africa last year. That’s a place to go. ”
I tilted my head. “I’m sure I will, after some unknown relative dies and leaves me an unusually large inheritance. ” The words had barely left my mouth before I winced inwardly. Too far. “Abe, I—”
He’d stilled with an absoluteness that called to mind the depths of vast, silent lakes, and regarded me with eyes bright as the moon’s reflection. “Because I’m just a rich party kid, of course. ”
I was already shaking my head. “Abe, I didn’t mean that. ”
“Yeah, you did. ” He studied me. “You never said anything like that to me before. ”
I made an apologetic moue. “My tongue never worked properly around you before. ”
He looked up sharply at that, and I met his gaze. A bolt of heat struck me, and I wondered if it hit him, too.
Best to brazen it out. I raised my chin. “Your loss. ”
He cocked his head. “It’s probably too sharp anyways. ”
My jaw dropped. “Abraham Krasner!”
He already looked embarrassed. “I didn’t—uh—I didn’t mean—”
He probably hadn’t meant anything by it besides an exchange of quick quips, but the fact was, it could definitely be misinterpreted. I smiled smugly. “I’m going to tell your mother. ”
That made him laugh, which had been my goal. “You are not. You’ve never ratted out a person in your life. ”
“Yeah, ’cause I didn’t run with a crowd that needed ratting out. ”
“Oh, as opposed to mine?”
“Hey, you’re just on the defense today. ” I pursed my lips. “Oh, and every day, actually. ”
He grinned at me, but then picked up an old thread. “So is that what you think of me? That I’m some wealthy, aimless jock?”
Wasn’t that his role in life now? I thought he’d stepped into it proudly, but now, watching the tenseness in his shoulders, I wondered if I’d been wrong and he wanted more than that. I tried to cover up my assumption with levity. “What does it matter, what I think?”
“It matters very much. ” He cleared his throat. “You’re part of my roots. ”
“I’ve always dreamed of being compared to a root. Much more—poetic—than a flower. ” Now I reddened slightly. I’d almost said romantic, but apparently I wasn’t at that point of flippancy.
God, it had been four years since we saw each other. How was that possible?
Maybe we were both thinking that, because we were both just staring at each other again. I’d forgotten how happy his eyes were, how much I liked looking at him. Which was silly. But it wasn’t really my fault he was so aesthetically pleasing.
I cleared my throat. . “So how do you like the big league?”
Apparently he failed to realize that my throat clearing was a distancing mechanism, because he reached out and slowly brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I have a feeling it’s about to get a lot more interesting. ”
The bolt of lightning that cut through me was unexpected, though it shouldn’t have been. Abraham had always been my type; he had invented my type. Still, it seemed relentlessly unfair that my body still went haywire for him when my mind and heart had written him off completely.
I leaned forward and plucked a fry from the table, holding it up like a teacher’s pointer. “How have you been for the past four years? You went from the boy-next-door, the small town hero, to a vaunted celebrity known to millions. ”
Amusement flashed across his face. “You asking as the girl-next-door, or the sports reporter?”
“I haven’t even started yet. ” I devoured the fry. “But if you’re offering an exclusive. . . ”
He laughed. “I don’t do press. ” He leaned forward and shot me an intimate, unshakeable smile. “Though maybe I could make an exception. ”
That was it. No way was that in my head. He was flirting with me. “Abraham. ”
He widened his eyes innocently. “Tamar. ”
I shook my head. “Thanks for asking me to meet up. ”
I grinned the entire subway ride home. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much fun. Abraham Krasner. It wasn’t like I’d forgotten how much I liked him, but I hadn’t viscerally recalled the warmth that filled me around him and how he made me laugh.
Actually, I hadn’t spent so much time thinking about Abraham Krasner since we cut our losses four years ago. Yet here we were, in the same city, and all of a sudden old daydreams were floating back up when I closed my eyes. Which was silly, because I’d made the mistake of headlong infatuation once, and I had no intention of going there again.