I'll Find You

Love Me Now

I don't know who's gonna kiss you when I'm gone
So I'm gonna love you now, like it's all I have
I know it'll kill me when it's over
I don't wanna think about it, I want you to love me now.

——Love Me Now, John Legend

March 15, 2018

He was nervous.  Grayson only occasionally was actually nervous before a game, but today he was. 

But things started out pretty well.  He made the first two threes that he took, before missing a couple.  Iona hung tough for a little while, but Grayson buried a three just before halftime to send them to the break up by 14.

He'd finish with 16 and they had a 22 point win.  And the starters even got some rest at the end, although Grayson couldn't resist jumping up when J-Rob threw down a dunk. 

The kids had handled the first game pretty well. It was a good start, but once it was over, Grayson knew they couldn't celebrate much. Rhode Island awaited.

March 16, 2018

They had practice on the day off between games. Grayson was free for dinner though and he told his parents that they were on their own. He wanted to have dinner with Cait, just the two of them.

He made a reservation at a restaurant right by the hotel, so they could walk. Coach had gotten wind of his plans and had someone contact the restaurant to make sure they would be tucked away in a corner. And if there would be a couple of members of the Duke security staff nearby, well Grayson could think that was a coincidence, but Coach K would know otherwise.

His mom took care of finding the flowers while he was at practice and he knocked on the door to Cait's hotel room, holding the calla lilies. She opened it, wearing a brilliant green silk blouse with a square neckline, a short black wool skirt with threads of the same color green in it and those black suede boots. And Grayson all but dropped over.

The blouse made her eyes pop. And her long legs in those boots gave him seriously unholy thoughts. He tried to push those aside. "You look amazing," he whispered.

Cait actually blushed a bit. "Just glad to be able to wear regular clothes again," she said softly. Grayson knew that she'd been relegated to wearing sweats or leggings while she still had swelling from the surgery. And now he noticed that her collarbones were more prominent and she looked thin. He handed her the flowers, then reached a hand toward her and she turned her cheek into his large palm.

"You're beautiful," he said quietly.

"So are you," she smiled at him a bit shyly.

Grayson wanted to skip dinner, push her into that hotel room and lock the door. But he knew she wasn't healed enough for that, so he settled for pasting on a smile.  "Let's go, before they give away our table. Let me help with your coat." He helped her into it, gently pulling her hair out and over the collar, and offered his arm. "Your dinner awaits," he grinned.

The corner table didn't stop a few autograph seekers, but Cait had smiled and told him to go ahead. She seemed to be feeling better, didn't look quite so tired. He didn't know that was mostly due to the makeup covering the dark circles under her eyes.  And she assured him that she was getting caught up on her school work.