Swish

Timeout - Eli

Hands sticky with sweat and heart racing at a horse's pace in my chest, I lingered in coach Bruins' study while waiting for Virginia and the other guests to arrive. 

Upon first visit, he'd offered me a drink of whiskey or bourbon, but I immediately declined, which he approved of.  It wasn't like I drank anyway, but knowing that it was a test for him and that I'd passed the first one I felt a bit more at ease, until I heard Virginia's soft and affecting voice outside in the hallway, that is. 

After exchanging pleasantries with her family, I snuck into the kitchen where I could hear a glimpse of their conversation, and my ears perked up when someone asked Virginia if she'd met me. 

And then I got a sudden ego boost when Virginia asked the girl how she knew about me in the first place. 

"Are you serious? Your dad won't shut up about him. He's all, 'I've never seen anyone with his talent since I was on the court seven years ago' and all that. He says the NBA are going to draft him when May comes around, since he wasn't nineteen yet this May to be drafted."

"Yes, there was a surprise that I was going to make in just a few minutes, but...have you two already met?"

I held my breath, waiting for the inevitable. 

"Yes, I met him, and then he proceeded to insult me in the very same breath. Don't get your hopes up about that one dad, he seems like a pretty boy dud to me."

Ouch.  Okay, maybe I deserved that.  Okay, I really deserved that, but standing in the kitchen hiding out and waiting for her dad to call me in, I was already growing embarrassed at the conclusions the family was already making of me.  

"Ooh, you think he's pretty," the girl from earlier taunted her, and I imagined her being somewhere around thirteen years old.  Did she have a younger sister? 

"Oh, the guy's freaking gorgeous, but that doesn't help with his attitude problem."

I allowed Virginia's declaration to simmer in the air before a smile broke out across my features.  That was not what I was expecting her to say in the slightest, but it did do my ego some good, not that I needed any more boosting in that department. 

"What?!"

I was already laughing picturing the look on her face when her dad would call me out into the dining room from the kitchen but I didn't have to wait too long before that happened. 

"Virginia, I was going to wait a few minutes until we got dinner out here, but there was someone that I wanted you to meet if you hadn't already. Eli?"

That was my cue. 

Trying to make sure the trembling in my legs wasn't obvious, I strode through the kitchen's swinging doors and stood at the entrance to the dining room, mouth curled in a half smirk at Virginia's snarky remarks and crossed my feet at the ankles while leaning against the wall, soaking her in with excruciating detail. 

A baby blue dress hugged her generous curves, her gorgeous chest on display and for a second I couldn't breathe, but I reigned it in before speaking. 

"I didn't realize I'd made such a lasting impression on you, Virginia."

And I really hadn't, but I was ill prepared for the next words she threw my way. 

"Yeah, well, when you insult someone and basically call them a wannabe groupie-"

"I never said groupie," I interrupted, glancing over at coach Bruins to make sure that hew wasn't already having second thoughts about mentoring me.  He didn't know how much I needed this.