Quarterback Draw

“Good setup for you,” he said as he sat back and finished his wine. “You and Anya cook and Leo cleans up.”

“Anya actually does most of the cooking now. I don’t have to do much at all.”

“Free labor, is what she means,” Anya said from the kitchen.

Grant laughed. “Yeah, we all had chores when we lived at home, too. Someone was on yard duty. Someone had dishes and trash duty. Somebody had to clean the bathrooms—which, by the way, was the worst.”

“That’s because you had all those boys,” Anya said. “Thank God we have housekeeping service to deal with that. Ick.”

“Yeah. Doing dishes is bad enough. And speaking of those, we’re done.” Leo hung up the dish towel and came into the living room. “Bobby asked if I could come over tonight. Do you mind?”

“And Leah wanted me to spend the night,” Anya said. “Is that okay?”

Katrina looked at both of them. “You guys. No. We have company.”

“Really. It’s okay with me,” Grant said. “I had a great time with both of you today, but it’s not necessary for you to hang out with me the rest of the night. Providing it’s all right with Katrina.”

She looked at Grant. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Awesome,” Anya said. “I’m going to go pack a bag then call Leah. She said her mom will come meet us.”

“I’ll go grab my stuff.” Leo started to turn away, then stopped and pivoted to look at Grant. “Hey, thanks for today. It was fun. And for the football stuff.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Yeah, what Leo said,” Anya said. “Except for the football stuff, though it was interesting.”

And in seconds, they had both disappeared into their rooms, only to reappear about five minutes later, both of them hustling out the door.

“That was fast,” Grant said.

“It always is when they have things to do with their friends. Leo’s best friend lives in the building, which is convenient, and Leah only lives two buildings away, so Leah and her mom will walk down to meet Anya.”

“It’s great they have friends so close.”

“Yes. At least one thing I don’t have to worry about.”

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You should worry a lot less. They’re great kids. Awesome, really. You’ve done a fantastic job raising them, Katrina.”

She stood, stretched. “Well, thanks.”

He could tell she was uncertain, maybe a little uncomfortable now that they were alone.

“Kat. I like that name. It suits you.”

Her lips curved. “They’ve called me that since they were little. It just kind of stuck.”

“Does everyone call you that?”

“No. In professional circles I’m Katrina. Only people close to me call me Kat. Just the kids, really. I should check on them, make sure they got where they were supposed to.”

“Sure. I’ll open another bottle of wine while you do that.”

He had no intention of drinking any. He had practice tomorrow. But she was wound up tight and needed to relax. He had no idea if he was the one making her tense, or if it was something else. He intended to get her to drink another glass and see if he could wind her down some, get her to talk to him.

He grabbed a glass of water for himself after pouring wine for her, returning to the living room just as she hung up the phone and laid it on the coffee table.

“Kids okay?”

“Yes.”

He handed her the glass. She took it, then looked at him. “What are you drinking?”

“Water.”

She sipped her wine. “So you’re trying to get me drunk?”

“Nope. Trying to relax you. You seem tense.”

She took a deep breath, then sat on the sofa. “You’re probably right. I am tense.”

He laid his water on the coaster on the table, then sat next to her. “Why?”

“I don’t know. You, probably.”

“Me?”

“Yes.” She took another swallow of wine.

“I make you tense? Why do you think that is?”

“Because you make me think about things I don’t have time to think about.”

Now it was getting interesting. “What kinds of things?”

She shrugged. “Maybe we should talk about something else.”

Before she’d been direct, even doing her best to get rid of him with blatant honesty when they were in Barbados. So why was she avoiding him now? “Oh, no. You don’t get to throw that out there, then deflect.” He took her glass and laid it on the table, then grasped her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. “What are you thinking about when you’re with me?”