Final Play (Matchplay Series) (2 page)

She gave me a wicked little smile and it sent a bolt of electric
ity through my body, an endorphin rush that made me tingly, hot and giddy.
Giddy
was not the most masculine choice of words perhaps
euphoric
would be a better word—more manly.

“You’ve got bigger balls than I gave you credit for.” I wasn’t sure it was a compliment but she put out her small hand for me to shake. “I’m Ella Warner,” she said.

I felt a rush of adrenaline pulse through my body when our hands touched and when I saw Ella’s breathe catch, I knew she felt it, too.

“You’re Evan’s sister?” I tried to hide the surprise in my voice.

She nodded then leaned in and said, “I don’t like having that fact spread around.” There was nothing about her that even remotely resembled her brother. Evan had a reputation for being a womanizer and kind of an asshole, so I could understand her reluctance to be associated with him.

Since I was being bold, I decided to go all the way. “Can I get your number?” I ventured.

She shook her head. “No.”

I don’t know how such a small word could feel so painful but I felt like she slapped me again.

“I don’t have a phone,” she clarified.

How was it possible in the 21st century not to have a
ny kind of phone? “How can I contact you?” I asked.

“If it’s fated, we’ll see each other again.”

I wasn’t a big believer in anything but science and mathematics so I didn’t know how much I was willing to rely upon fate to bring us together again. I would have preferred to rely on our own initiative.

“I’m starting to feel very confined here,” she said. “I’m going to take off.”

I wasn’t ready for her to leave. I felt like she was a supernova and when I was in her presence, she illuminated everything around us with her bright light.

“Can I ask you a question?”

She grinned. “You can ask me anything but it doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”

“Why do you take medication?”

She bit her lip as if she was thinking about whether or not to respond. Or maybe how to respond. I don’t know. She was extremely difficult to read.

Finally she said, “I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But it’s just a label. It’s a way for people who need to describe things to describe why my mind doesn’t work like everyone else’s.”

I thought about what she was saying. I thought she was just a free spirit and different than everyone else. I guess I wasn’t prepared for her to tell me she had a mental illness. I didn’t know what to think or feel about that. I had never been close to anyone who was mentally ill.

She pulled a prescription bottle from her handbag and held it up for me to see. “Do you know what this is?”

I squinted as I tried to read the label on the bottle but it was too small and a little too far away for me to make out what it was. I shook my head.

“It’s a cage for my mind.” Her words were filled with resen
tment.

“What do you mean?” I
probed.

“I take these pills because my doctor says they help to make me normal and stable—which they do—but it’s also a way to make me fit in—to do and say things that other people want or expect.”

I wondered why she seemed so cynical when she said it. I always did and said what people wanted or expected. It never occurred to me that there was any other option.

She continued. “But it’s not me. When I take these pills, I feel like I’m being put in a box where I can only access a small part of myself. I can’t fully express all that I am.”

The inevitable question, of course, was
what else was there
? She was already one of most unique and unusual people I had ever met. And that was her
inside
of a box. It actually scared me to think about how much more there was
outside
the box.

And I wondered, for the first time, if I was living in some kind of box. And if so, were there things outside of the box that I had never allowed myself to
experience? It was a philosophical question that I wasn’t sure I wanted to explore. If I was inside of some kind of box, it felt good and I was comfortable there.

“I really need to skate,” Ella announced and I assumed it was her way of saying she needed to make a quick exit. I still didn’t want her to go.

Before I could protest, Ella leaned up and kissed me. I was stunned but to my surprise, I didn’t back away. I relaxed into the heat of the moment and kissed her back.

It was by far the most intense and passionate moment of my life. Not that I’ve had a lot of experience in the romance depar
tment. I’d dated and I’d been intimate with a few girls but I’d never experienced anything like that kiss.

It was as if my entire world closed in and infinitely expanded at the same time. I was rendered nearly breathless. I had never
experienced a moment in which I knew for certain that my life had irrevocably changed—until that one.

“It’s been fun but I
gotta run,” Ella said as she turned and started away. I tried to grab her but she was too quick and wily and she once again managed to escape.

I heaved a huge sigh as I contemplated my next course of action. As I stood there, thinking about Ella and the amazing kiss, I heard a familiar voice yell my name.

“What are you doing?” my sister, Olivia, asked as she headed in my direction. Her girlfriend, Marney, was right at her side.

People always said my sister and I looked a lot alike although I failed to see the resemblance. Olivia was tall and thin with long strawberry
-blonde hair. She was wearing an emerald green bridesmaid’s dress and matching pumps. It was the first time I ever remember seeing my sister in heels. I guess when you’re the maid-of-honor in a wedding, it’s a requirement. My sister had been roommates with the bride, Rainy Dey, until she moved in with Aaron Donovan, the groom. Olivia and Rainy remained the best of friends, despite the fact that they’re as completely different as sugar and spice. (Rainy, being the sweet one, of course, and my sister being as spicy as chili pepper.)

It was no surprise that
Marney, my sister’s girlfriend, was dressed in all black. She was always in all black and I didn’t think a wedding would be any exception. Today, she was wearing a black suit, much like the one I was wearing, except she looked a lot better in it and much more masculine than I would ever be. What surprised me was that Marney had removed her facial piercings for the wedding and it made her look just a bit less counter-culture. Her eye makeup as also a little less dominate and I noticed for the first time how bright her brown eyes actually were.

“You both look great,” I said casually. They both waited for me to follow it up with some kind of joke, because the three of us were rarely ever serious with each other about anything
. But I wasn’t in the joking mood and truly did think they looked good.

“Seriously,” I assured them and my sister smiled. I loved
it when my sister smiled; it lit up the space around her.

Like the bride, my sister and
Marney had just graduated from college. But while Rainy was off to a prestigious graduate program in Art History, my sister and Marney were anxiously searching for jobs in a tight market. I’m two years older than Olivia, Marney and Rainy, so I’ve been out in the workforce for a while. I was fortunate to land a job right away with the same engineering firm I interned with in college. My sister and Marney both majored in Communication and even though they competed on the school’s national championship-winning speech and debate team, the market for people graduating with a Communication major was still competitive.

“I have to find Evan,” I blurted before I had a chance to
stop myself.

“Why on Earth do you want to do that?” My sister’s eyes went wide in horror.

Evan was one of the groom’s best friends and he was Aaron’s best man. But he was not someone that my sister or I would consider a friend, or even an acquaintance. Evan came from an extremely wealthy family and he had a reputation as being a womanizer. He came across as an egotistical jerk. Although since he and Keira Whitley had gotten together, it seemed to mellow him out a bit and make him a little nicer. Well, maybe not exactly nicer but at least a little more approachable. Evan seemed to have a similar effect on Keira, who had been dubbed The Queen of Mean by our group. Even though Keira had a serious falling out with Rainy and Aaron during Rainy’s sophomore year of college, they seemed to have patched things up because Keira had been invited to the wedding.

“It’s a long story,” I stated. “And it’s not really the time or place to get into the details.”

My sister frowned. My sister and I are very close and we tell each other everything. I knew she didn’t like being shut out of whatever was going on with me. “You’d better tell me all the details later,” she said. “I mean it.”

I heaved a sigh. “You know I will. We’ve got a very long car ride back to town. I’ll fill you in then.”

My sister didn’t look convinced or very happy about my hesitancy to spill the beans but I still needed some time to work out in my own head what had happened, before I could explain it to her.

“Fine,” my sister finally agreed. “But once we’re in the car, you’re talking. I want to hear everything.”

I nodded. “I promise.”

“Evan’s over by the chocolate fountain.” My sister turned me in that direction. “Now go talk to him before you lose your nerve.”

I approached Evan with equal amounts of trepidation and resolve. As much as he scared me to the core, I felt like he was the key to me finding Ella again.

Evan was engaged in a conversation with a guy I recognized as being from The Clubhouse, the social club they belonged to when we were in all college. It was the social club for all the best looking and most popular guys on campus. A social club to which someone like me would never have been invited for obvious reasons: I was never accused of being good looking and I certainly was never popular.

I wouldn’t say the conversation Evan was engaged in was deep. I would never put Evan and deep in the same sentence. Although as of late, Rainy had become somewhat of an Evan advocate, which surprised me. She always seemed so uncomfortable around him. But ever since he and Keira became a couple, Rainy seemed to believe he’d changed for the better.

I cleared my throat to get the big guy’s attention. We were both the same height, about six feet
, but Evan was massive. If Evan were to fight the Hulk, it would be a pretty even match. When Evan turned to face me, I froze. He was such an intimidating presence; I nearly lost what I wanted to say.

“What’s up?” Evan asked as he gave a nod in my direction.

I held out my hand and tried to manage the trembling as Evan shook it.

“I’m Lucas,” I reminded him.
“Rainy’s friend. Her college roommate’s brother.” We had seen each other a few times but I had no reason to believe I would even register on his radar or that he would remember me.

Evan nodded. “Yeah, I remember. Weren’t you friends with Ian Miller?”

I nodded. “Ian was my roommate until he joined The Clubhouse our junior year.”

Evan stood there and looked at me, waiting for me to conti
nue. “I met your sister, Ella,” I said finally.

Before I could say another word, Evan held up a palm. “Whatever she said or did, it’s not my fault, dude.”

I frowned not really knowing what to make of his comment or how to proceed. “I think you misunderstand. I wanted to know if there’s a way I can get in touch with her.”

He laughed. “Why? Did she steal your wallet?”

I shook my head. “No, I thought maybe I could invite her for coffee or lunch perhaps.”

Evan shook his head.
“No way, man. You seem like a nice guy. I would never do that to you.”

He must have noticed the puzzled expression on my face b
ecause he followed up with, “Luke, my sister’s nuts. You don’t want to go down that road or anywhere near it. Trust me.”

I never actually told him to call me
Luke
but I guess Evan did what he wanted. I got the feeling he was the type of guy who always did what he wanted. But what I wanted was a way to get in touch with his sister and I was determined not to leave without it.

I swallowed and tried again. “I’m willing to take my chances, if you’d just give me a way to get in touch with her.”

“Oh, man,” he groaned. “I can’t believe you’ve got the hots for Ella. All the fine tail here and she’s the one you pick. Seriously?”

“Aren’t you engaged to
Keira?” I asked. It seemed odd for him to be looking at all the fine tail when he apparently already had some of his own.

“I can still look. I just can’t touch. Don’t you think
Keira looks, too? It’s human nature.”

All the years I was infatuated with Rainy, I found it extremely difficult to look at other girls. Whenever I did, they paled in comparison. Now that Ella caught my eye, I didn’t think I would notice anyone else.

“Please,” I said and I knew as soon as the word came out of my mouth, it sounded like I was begging. “If you could just give me a way to contact her.”