Whiplash: A Sports Romance by Tabatha Kiss Read Free Book Online Page B

nothing but quarters. “Let me know if you need anything,” he says, his wrinkled eyes shifting between us. “Refills, more tokens…” he leans closer to Junior, “mood music.”
    “I’ll let you know,” Junior chuckles. He juts his head back, signaling for me to follow him.
    I grab my plate and drink and we navigate through the sporadic minefield of tables and running children, all the way into the back where a lonely table for two sits off to the side in the quiet corner.
    “I guess you and your sister come here a lot?” I ask, taking the seat across from Junior as he sits down.
    “Sometimes,” he answers. “Not as often as we did growing up, but sometimes.”
    I pause. “You grew up here?”
    Junior picks up his pizza, easily balancing it in one hand. “No, about twenty minutes more down the highway. Frank’s an old friend of my dad’s, so we came here… almost every weekend when we were kids.”
    I glance around, trying to imagine what Junior was like as a child. I can barely even remember what I was like as a little kid. I certainly didn’t get to go to places like this very often… if at all. “It’s nice. I like it.”
    “Wait until you try the pizza,” he says, chewing softly. “I’ve never had better — but you might have, I guess. You’re from New York, right?”
    “I am.” I slide my plate a little closer. “Let’s give this a try…”
    I pick up the huge slice with both hands and fold the crust to make it easier to hold on to before taking a big bite of it. The cheese melts the instant it hits my tongue, mixing with a thick sauce and an even thicker pepperoni. My taste buds dance.
    “Oh, wow,” I say, setting it down and covering my mouth. “That’s good .”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “It…” I swallow it down. “It kind of reminds me of this street vendor near the boarding school I used to go to...”
    Junior takes a swig of his soda. “Boarding school?”
    “The drop-off zone for absentee parents everywhere,” I say. “Cary Pierce wasn’t exactly around and my mom… well… she liked to enjoy herself.”
    “Ahh…”
    “Could have been worse, I guess.”
    “Where is your mom now?”
    Her face flashes in my memory but only for a brief second. “She died a few years ago.”
    Junior’s face falls. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
    “No, it’s okay,” I say. “Strange enough, I didn’t really know her that well. I’ve kind of looked after myself my whole life, for the most part.”
    He stares at me for a moment, no doubt dying to ask more question but he keeps it simple. “Do you miss it? New York, I mean?”
    “Yeah,” I nod. “But it was either stay there without the ability to pay for it or come here to live with dad…”
    “Tough choice.”
    “He promised me it’d be worth it. Not sure why that promise felt more legit than every other one but here I am.” I take another bite to avoid Junior’s inquisitive eyes, licking my lips to get as much of that delicious cheese flavor I can. “But… I kind of like it around here, too.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah, everyone’s so nice and welcoming in the Midwest.”
    He shakes his head. “They just want in your pants.”
    I laugh, nearly choking on my soda. “Well, I guess that explains it then.”
    “I mean… I don’t want to speak for everyone, but …” He scratches his cheek, smiling wide. “Once word gets out that all it takes to get you to go out on a date is flashing you , they probably won’t be so nice anymore.”
    My jaw drops. “Yeah, that and straight-up blackmail. ”
    “I did not blackmail you…” he defends. I sit back, staring hard. “Okay, there might have been a little blackmail.”
    “Uh-huh.” I cross my arms, holding back a laugh at the back of my throat.
    “Hey, the age-old trick and coffee, compliments, and condoms didn’t work. I had to improvise.” He fires another grin, this one sparking a wave of warmth from my head to my toes.
    I wipe my lips with a napkin, strategically