Game On (11 page)

“This place used to be a Taco Bell until Justin Timberlake bought it,” Travis said. He seemed as relaxed as she was wound up. “Now you need a headshot and a résumé just to get a reservation.”

“Mm,” Maya said. She was too engrossed in her menu to be able to elaborate on that. Or so she would've had it appear.

“Do you know what you want?” he asked.

She'd been staring at the menu for the better part of twenty minutes, but she was no closer to knowing what she wanted to order. She didn't recognize half the ingredients. What was agri-doux? And did she want it with mousseline or jus? And even if she could figure out what this stuff was, she'd never be able to pronounce it. She should've known she was in trouble when she saw that no prices were listed.

“Um,” Maya said finally. “Maybe you could order for me? I trust you.”

Travis smiled. “Cool.” Her utter helplessness masqueraded nicely as a show of faith.

When the waiter arrived, Travis ordered something for the both of them that he told her would change her life. She would've been more excited if ordering hadn't meant the waiter taking her menu.

“You look really nice tonight,” Travis said. “That dress. And those shoes—those shoes are intense. You're as tall as I am now.”

She smiled. Under the table, she slid one shoe off and
massaged the blood back into her foot. Maya had worn heels a few times, so she could almost walk in them without looking like she was trying to navigate a bouncy castle, but they were still and always would be torture devices.

“Renee says you're from New York,” he said. “Manhattan, Brooklyn …?”

Maya gulped. She knew where this line of questioning was going. At some point it was going to lead to the boonies, all the hick things she did growing up, and what her parents did to pay the bills. Her father didn't run an Academy; he ran a landscaping business, and he ran it out of the kitchen. He didn't own a small city; he owned four secondhand lawn mowers, a beat-up pickup truck, and a signed photo of Travis's father. If she wanted a shot at a second date, she needed to avoid this topic like the plague.

“New York, New York, the town so nice they named it twice,” she said. Wow, she thought, even for her that was abominable. She tried to save it. “But Miami! Only one name for Miami. Because it's so amazing. Miami, Miami. See, that wouldn't even make sense. Miami period. That's the business. That's the stuff.” Maya's mouth was quicksand. The more she struggled, the faster she sank. She needed to do something fast or this whole night was not only ending in disaster, it was ending before the food arrived. Since she clearly couldn't trust her instincts, she decided she had no choice but to trust someone else's.

She opened her mouth. And licked her lips.

“Are you okay?” Travis asked.

“Why do you ask?” She licked her lips again.

“Uh … no reason,” he said. He studied her for a second and then just continued the conversation. “So you're a tennis player. It's so weird, trying to get a ball from one side of a field to another is everything to me—it makes all the sense in the world. But, no offense, getting one over a three-foot-high net does absolutely nothing for me.”

Maya laughed. Way too hard.

“That's so funny,” she said. “I never thought of it like that. You're clever. I guess you'd have to be to be a quarterback.”

“Um. Yeah, I guess. You're sort of the strategy guy.” Travis buttered a roll. “The mental part of the game is what I love. Unlike my brother, who just mauls people.”

“He's … something,” Maya said.

Travis was smart. Smart enough to pick up on what Maya was thinking.

“You don't like him,” he said.

“I wouldn't say that.” Maya wondered how she could change the subject from Jake back to New York, New York.

“Because you're too nice,” Travis said. “But I know he's a jerk.”

Maya contorted her face, less to protest than to conceal how thrilled she was that Travis saw Jake was a jerk, too.

“Don't get me wrong,” Travis said quickly. “I love him and all that. He's my brother. But he's worse than a third grader sometimes. I try to stick up for him, but it gets harder and harder the more ways he finds to embarrass himself. And my family. Since my mom's not around, he's just gotten worse.”

The waiter came and refilled their water glasses. Travis didn't continue until the guy was out of earshot.

“Sorry, you can never be too careful,” Travis said. Maya wondered if that was one of the quirks of being born famous. “Where was I?”

“Your mom,” Maya prompted.

“Yeah, well. She's in Hamburg or Prague or Milan or who knows.” Maya could see the subject of his mother was not an easy one to talk about. “Bumming around Europe on the never-ending vacation. She keeps saying she'll be back next week or the week after. It's been months. Meanwhile, my dad's parenting solo. He and Jake are oil and water and … oof.

“I know he's saddled with me as a brother. My dad likes me more—everybody likes me more. I don't lord that over his head, but that doesn't stop other people from doing it. It's a lot to live up to. But I work hard, and I'm grateful for what I've got and I take advantage of it. Jake just pisses and moans. He doesn't even like football; he just plays so he can rage out on other guys.”

Maya laughed again. But again, that wasn't a joke.

The waiter arrived with their first course. He placed two plates in front of them, then moved on.

“I hope you like mussels,” Travis said.

“I can't help but notice your muscles,” she said.

He didn't respond. He didn't need to for her to know she was going down in flames.

“Look,” he said finally, leaning in. “Obviously tonight was a mistake.”

Maya's heart buckled.

“You live in Watson,” he said. “You obviously didn't grow up with what I grew up with. Even this restaurant is making
you nervous.” She couldn't speak. This was it. “How about I take you someplace where we can just take it easy?”

Maya lit up. Oh thank God, he wasn't dumping her on the spot.

“That would be great,” she said.

“Cool,” he said. “I had something else in mind anyway.”

Travis dropped cash on the table and walked Maya out.

After waiting for the valet, they got back in his car. It was a beautiful night, and as the wind blew through Maya's hair, she prayed she wouldn't humiliate herself any further on this date.

Finally, Travis pulled into a parking lot.

And that's all it was. A crappy parking lot in an abandoned warehouse district. He cut the engine and the headlights, and they sat in the dark.

Maya was suddenly flooded with the realization of what was really going on here. Of what Travis had in mind. She was humiliated. He figured that since she lived in Watson, that she came from nothing, she'd be more than willing to put out for him. More than thrilled to have just a few minutes of his precious time.

Before she could verbalize her thoughts or ask him to drive her home, Travis motioned to someone unseen. They weren't alone? Suddenly, a giant light flashed on the building in front of them. The entire side of it became a massive movie screen.

He'd created his own drive-in, for two. Maya looked at him, overwhelmed.

“I wasn't sure what kind of movies you liked,” he said. “So I went for a Peyton Smith movie. I don't know if it's any
good—it hasn't come out yet. But girls like him, right?” Peyton Smith was like a young Ryan Gosling, all sophisticated smolder and Bambi eyes. Yes, girls liked him. But something told Maya even he'd be intimidated by Travis Reed right now.

Travis put his arm around her, drawing her close. He smelled amazing.

It was the perfect scene. The perfect night. So why hadn't Maya loosened up yet?

“Check out the glove compartment,” Travis said.

Maya did. Movie snacks poured out.

“I was going to bring popcorn, but the popper wouldn't fit in my trunk,” he said, smiling.

“Who needs popcorn?” Maya asked. “It's just corn. That's popped. With heat.” Maya hated herself. She hated everything that was coming out of her mouth. “I'm sorry,” she said, her whole face changing. “I can't do this.”

“You can't do what?” Travis asked.

“This, this date,” Maya said. “Whatever this is.” Suddenly, everything that Maya had been bottling up unloaded like a shaken can of soda. And it exploded all over their night.

“I've never been on a date before,” she confessed. “I mean, a couple times I went places or whatever, but hello, this? I don't know what to do. I'm so nervous I can't even speak actual sentences. ‘Popcorn is just corn that's popped'—what is that? I'm actually kind of a smart person, but you'd never know it. I was babbling at the restaurant. I'm literally shaking here. Look.”

She showed him her hand. It was shaking, all right.

“And it's not just the dating thing. You're Travis Reed. It's just a name to you, but to me it's a mythical creature I've built
up in my head like Godzilla or Santa Claus, and now I'm having this crazy, romantic night with you, and I can't even enjoy it. Because it feels like I'm on some other girl's date. Who am I?” She couldn't stop right now if she tried. “Don't get me wrong, I have self-esteem, but, I mean … Travis Reed! Travis Reed, who is now looking at me like I just escaped from the insane asylum and I don't know why I vomited all this up all over you and I'm still talking and I can't for the life of me—”

Travis held her hands, stopping her. He wasn't running away like she'd assumed he would. Instead, he looked at her with an intense amount of … was that sympathy?

“Oh wow,” she said. It was sympathy. “I'm so embarrassed.”

“Don't be,” he said finally. “You're not the one who had to be a show-off.”

“A show-off?” Maya had no idea what he was talking about.

“Did you not see the restaurant I took you to?” Travis asked. “We were the youngest people there by, like, thirty years.”

“I thought it was nice,” she said.

“You were supposed to,” he responded. “Just like you were supposed to be blown away by this drive-in and tell all your friends about all this amazing stuff I did for you. You care too much about what I think. I care too much about what everyone else thinks. So it looks like we're both messes.”

It was the first real moment on their entire date. Actually, the entire time they'd known each other. This was Travis Reed the person, not Travis Reed the legend.

“Your hands aren't shaking anymore,” he said, still holding on to them.

She smiled. “I guess you warmed them up.”

For the next hour and a half, they watched the movie and laughed. They cracked jokes. And they gorged on the snacks he'd brought, which were way better than mussels.

Finally, the movie ended. As the sound of the spinning film reel echoed in the parking lot, there was nothing left to do but drive back to campus. But instead, they sat there. Maya knew what was coming next. Travis would make his grandest gesture yet. He would kiss her.

It would be a kiss, she resolved, that would wash that one with he who shall remain nameless out of her mind.

Bathed in the white light of the projector, she got her wish. Travis kissed her. Mission accomplished. And then some.

“I'm sorry, a drive-in?” Cleo asked. “In the middle of a parking lot?”

Maya sat on the quad with Cleo and Renee recounting every last juicy detail of her date. She knew it sounded crazy. “I'm telling you, we pulled in and it was just the abandoned parking lot, and I swear to God I thought all he wanted to do was have sex with me.”

“Which would've been bad why?” Renee asked. Cleo swatted her.

“We kissed after the movie, though,” Maya said, ignoring Renee. “After he told me how obsessed he was with impressing me …”

Renee's jaw dropped.

“That never happened,” Cleo said.

“Believe it or don't believe it, I don't care,” Maya said. “As much as I sweated through that fancy dress, I still wouldn't
change a thing about last night. It's the beginning of a beautiful love story, mark my words.” Suddenly, Maya mocked hearing something in the distance. “Wait, do you hear that …?”

Cleo and Renee got quiet.

“Wedding bells,” Maya whispered.

They all laughed. Maya had never been at the center of even a halfway juicy story, so she couldn't help enjoying it. And wringing it out for every last ounce it was worth.

“Seriously,” Renee said. “Why didn't you have sex with him?” Maya and Cleo just laughed some more.

“Have sex with who?” Travis appeared out of nowhere.

“Nobody,” Maya jumped, red-faced. She tried to make a quick recovery. “Renee was asking, uh … Cleo, about … someone who's not here.”

Recovery fail.

“Okay, then,” Travis said. He obviously had more important business at hand. “You got a second?”

“Yeah,” she replied. He pulled her away, but Maya could see a nosy Cleo and Renee eavesdropping on every word.

“Last night was …” He just smiled.

“Yeah,” Maya agreed. His smile was infectious.

“I hope this doesn't sound weird but … it will,” Travis said, poised with a question.

Cleo and Renee angled in more.

“Do you want to hang out again tonight?”

“Sure,” she said. “What's so weird about that?”

“At my dad's,” he added. “He wants to meet you.”

“He wants to meet me?” Maya asked, dumbstruck. “He's
already met me. Twice. The last time, he kicked me out of the Academy, remember? You were there …?”

“That was Maya the troublemaking rebel,” he said. “This is Maya the girl I went out on a date with.”