Brian and Jeremy glared at each other. The eight-year old was giving the 24-year old a run for his money; Brian had not expected that. Jeremy finally began to dribble and look for an open man. He found someone and attempted to pass the ball. Brian blocked it, and one of his teammates, a small boy, grabbed it.
"Shoot it!" Brian yelled. The little boy turned around and shot the ball. It swooshed through the basket. Brian imitated the yells and cheers of a crowd going wild.
"Yeah!" he cheered as he ran over and picked up the stunned little boy.
"The game’s over, and we won," Jeremy announced proudly. "What are you so happy about?"
"Michael finally made a basket, and I’m proud," Brian answered as he lowered Michael to the ground. He then knocked off Jeremy’s cap and ruffled his hair. "You played a good game. You’re gonna be a great basketball player someday."
Jeremy swatted at Brian’s hand. "Stop it," he laughed. Brian stopped, and Jeremy replaced his cap.
They had been playing basketball for two hours, stopping for an hour for lunch and quiet time. Brian had gone easy on the kids, but Jeremy had given him a little bit of a challenge.
"Wanna play another game?" Jeremy asked excitedly, his brown eyes twinkling.
"No, it’s getting too warm out here. We need to do something inside for a while," Tessa interrupted. She had been watching the game from the swings and was now making her way towards the court. Amber was on one side of her, and Lyndsey, with a cast, was on the other side.
Jeremy groaned and started to protest, but Brian stopped him by sweeping him off the ground. The little boy yelled and demanded to be put down while laughing at the same time. Brian set Jeremy down, then smiled at Tessa. "I think you’re right. Come on, Jeremy, let’s round up the rest of the kids."
Everyone lined up, and they headed up the hill and into the daycare. Once inside, the kids sat down in their assigned spots on the floor. Brian and Tessa sat down in chairs in front of them.
"Alright, since there was just going to be a few of us today, I decided to bring my CD player and a few CD’s. Even Sharon brought a few of her CD’s for us. Now, since y’all have been good for our guest Brian today, we’re going to have a dance," Tessa announced. The kids started talking excitedly, and Brian looked up with interest.
"Now, don’t get excited. Boys don’t have to dance with girls." An ecstatic cheer rose up from the boys in the group.
"That’s okay," Kristina spoke up. "I’d rather dance with Brian." Several girls behind her nodded in agreement. Brian and Tessa exchanged looks.
"That’s fine with me," Brian said. "As long as my first dance is with your counselor." Tessa blushed as a loud chorus of "ooh’s" filled the room.
The kids began to sing: "Tessa and Brian sitting in a tree/ K-I-S-S-I-N-G/ First comes love, then comes marriage/ Here comes Brian with a baby carriage."
Brian noticed that Tessa’s blush became a deeper red. He leaned over to her. "it doesn’t take much to embarrass you, does it?" he teased.
She playfully smacked him, then turned back to the kids. "Now, you have to be quiet for five minutes while I get the CD player and the CD’s," she instructed.
She walked over to the counter and set up the portable CD player. Brian stood up and followed her.
"So, do I get to pick the first CD?" he asked as he absent-mindedly flipped through the CD’s.
"Sure," she answered. When everything was ready, she turned to the kids. "Alright, you can move, but no yelling."
"Spice Girls!" All the little girls chorused as they stood up.
"Okay, but I just want to play one song, then we can play the Spice Girls," Brian said as he found a CD he liked. It was Boyz II Men, and it had his favorite song on it. He placed the CD in the player, punched the "next" button, then pressed play. The opening strands of "Water Runs Dry" floated through the room.
Several of the kids stuck out their tongues and went to play with the Leggos. Some of the older girls tried to get Brian to dance with them.
"In a minute," he said, then turned to Tessa. "May I have this dance?"
She smiled. "Of course."
He led her out into the middle of the room, and they began to dance. The little girls formed a circle around them and giggled. Brian caught Tessa’s eye and they, too, started to laugh. He pulled her closer, and they continued to dance. The two figures were oblivious to the giggles around them.
Eventually the song ended and so did the dance. Brian walked over to the CD player and, keeping his promise, put in the Spice Girls. The music started, and he and Tessa danced with the kids.
The sounds of kids yelling and laughing in the hallway caught Tessa’s attention. She looked up at the clock and noticed that it was 3:00. She, Brian, and the younger kids had been having so much fun with their dance that she had lost track of time.
"Hey, Tess, how was your day?" Sharon asked as she strolled in with Kristin right behind her. She winked as she indicated Brian, who was dancing around with Amber in his arms.
"It went well," Tessa smiled. She had begun to gather her stuff. Diane had talked Karen into coming in at 3:30 to help Kristin.
"So, uh, how’s Mr. Right?" Kristin grinned as she nudged Tessa.
"Good," Tessa grinned back. "He’s been very nice all day. Hey, I’ll see you at home, okay? You know, I think I’ll take Brian back to meet everyone else, and maybe stay for dinner."
"Tess, you’ve got it bad," Kristin said as she patted her on the shoulder.
Tessa just smiled as she walked over and got Brian. He hugged all the girls and said his goodbyes to all the other kids. He then gathered his stuff, and they left.
"Here you go; she’s all fixed up. I’m surprised she was able to run this long. She was in pretty bad shape," Mike, the Exxon station mechanic, commented as he tossed the truck keys to Brian.
"I didn’t realize how bad she was when I rented her," Brian said as he handed Mike his credit card. Mike swiped the card and handed him the slip of paper to sign. Brian signed it, passed it back to him, and said thank you.
Mike returned to the garage, and Brian turned to Tessa, who was standing behind him. She was looking at the floor.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," he said. Tessa continued to look at the floor. He didn’t want to say goodbye. He didn’t want to leave her. He had so many things he needed to tell her; he just didn’t know how to say them.
Tessa looked up and smiled. "Do you really have to go now? I was kind of hoping you would stay for dinner and meet my other three roommates," she offered.
"Well, I promised the guys," Brian began. He could hear Kevin’s stern voice in the back of his mind. "But I could probably stay for dinner."
The sparkle came back into Tessa’s eyes. "Really? Great," she said. They walked out to her car and his truck. Before she opened her car door, she turned to him and asked, "What other guys?"
Brian bit his lip. "Uh, my four friends that I’m here with," he answered.
"How come you took off without them?"
Brian smiled. "I didn’t plan on getting this far."
Tessa returned his smile. "You’re still not going to tell me, are you?"
"Later."
They climbed into their cars, and Brian followed Tessa down the road.