The Casanova Experience: A Friends to Lovers Romance (Ballers Book 2)

by Mickey Miller

  I nodded, thinking meds, high altitude and alcohol would be a rather dangerous concoction. “I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

  “You don’t sleep on planes?” she asked, instead, clearing her throat and looking away. In other words, ignoring my invitation.

  “Nope. Never have been able to.”

  She gave me a cute, sleepy-eyed look and started to get up. “I’d better get back to my seat—”

  “No,” I said quickly, about to block her from exiting. I had to force myself to relax and not get aggressive and scare her back to her seat.

  “What?” she asked, a little startled but not trying to leave me.

  “Stay?” I posed, more serious than I’d intended. “And we can finally have that one-night stand I’ve been wanting.” My smirk returned.

  It sounded like a tease but I wasn’t teasing. She knew it too because she stared at me for the longest time before finally speaking. “I don’t think I’m allowed to be up here since I don’t have a ticket,” she finally said softly.

  Like when we’d been in Barcelona in college, the smallest change in her was so obvious to me. I liked being able to spot these nuances in her expressions and moods like no time had passed at all. There was no awkwardness or unease—just familiarity, and a hunger to be near her again.

  “I think the stewardess still owes me for helping her out with you.”

  She made a face at me that had me grinning. “All right,” she said, relenting and settling back down.

  I watched, amused, as she tried to get comfortable for a full minute against the window without success. Apparently, she wasn’t into leaning her seat back to sleep, like most of the passengers were doing. The seats were comfy and plush but I had a feeling she liked something more…comfortable.

  She finally looked at me, and I was waiting for it. “You okay?” I asked.

  She gave me a sheepish smile. “Hey, you don’t mind if I rest against your shoulder? My pillow’s all the way back in coach and you’ll do just fine, I think.”

  “You sure know how to friendzone a guy,” I joked.

  She grinned then fought back another yawn. “Sorry for cockblocking you. I won’t do it again.”

  She snuggled into me. I loved the way her tiny head and soft hair felt against my shoulder. “It’s okay. You can cockblock me all you want.”

  “I’ve missed you Chandler,” she murmured, probably already drifting into dreamland.

  “Goodnight, Squirt,” I said, watching her for a few seconds.

  Without opening her eyes, she wrinkled her nose. But in a few minutes, she was fast asleep.

  It was like no time had lapsed. We were picking up right where we’d left off five years ago. The old feelings and memories battled within me, all the highs, and lows, too. Me thinking we were getting emotionally closer, and then her cutting me off.

  After I’d left Spain and returned back to North Carolina, I’d just tried focusing on basketball and graduating. Forgetting about Amy as best as I could even though she’d gotten under my skin and the ghost of her had always been there, with me.

  The way we’d said goodbye had always confused me. Her reasons for instilling the pact had never made sense to me but I knew it had been her way of protecting herself—from me. I had realized that back then but had ignored it. It was later on that I fully realized her hot-cold towards the end of our program. I didn’t like that she felt I would have hurt her on purpose, even though now I realize that it was a likely outcome. That old Chandler wasn’t any different than this Chandler. There was no controlling another’s hurt but Amy had decided she wouldn’t risk it. And I couldn’t really fault her for that.

  Life had continued, and I never heard from her. There had been many times I could have reached out and connected but it almost seemed like it wasn’t meant to be even though it had felt so right. And, as I had seen, it’d seemed like she’d moved on as well. For all I knew, I was a bad memory, or no memory at all.

  So I focused on my life, and moving on, too. My old buddy, Tony Le Ral, had convinced me to opt out of the Draft to join the Euroleague after school. I had only marginal interest from the NBA but I was getting some lucrative offers from the European sector. While I was very good at the game and my stats were in the top tier, my height had always limited me. And you had to be cream of the crop to even have a chance in the U.S. as a professional player. So I played in Europe, became a local star and got paid decently. The third choice seemed like as good an idea as any other. And, at the time, the idea of being in a different continent from Amy was the most appealing thing ever, like the distance would scrub her from memory. It was also a good way to keep my life uncomplicated, in general—just basketball, having fun, and women but none of them like Amy.

  I pulled out my book and started reading again. I noticed Renee in the front trying to get comfortable. I didn’t care that Amy had cockblocked me.

  Besides, this was the cutest cockblock ever. She was like a little koala bear snuggled up next to me.

  I had to chuckle myself as her breathing slowed and she slept on my shoulder. No one knew how to friend zone me besides Amy. And she did a damn good job of it.

  I didn’t sleep the whole night, as was per the norm for me on flights. Mostly, I just thought a lot and enjoyed the feeling of Amy’s peaceful body next to mine. The hours passed quickly. I loved watching the sun rise on the plane. I leaned across Amy as she slept so I could see the beautiful combination of oranges, reds, and purples that filled the sky as the sun crept out over the horizon.

  The flight attendants coming down the aisle with the coffee cart signaled it was time for breakfast.

  “I’ll take two coffees,” I said, when she arrived to Amy and me. The attendant poured two cups and handed us some cream and sugar packets, which I put on the tray table in front of me.

  “Mmmmm,” Amy moaned as she nuzzled her head into my shoulder. “I smell coffee.”

  “Finally coming to life, I see.” After a long night of not sleeping, my voice came out deep and extra scratchy.

  Amy opened her eyes and darted them from me to the coffee before she stared at me in disbelief. “Chandler? What the hell? How did I get here?”

  I laughed from my belly. “Jesus. You were that blasted last night? Here, this is for your hangover.”

  I handed her the warm paper cup of coffee, which she gratefully took in her hands, blowing on the hot liquid to cool it down.

  “Wait, let me think,” she said, looking off and her expression extra thoughtful. “I remember I had a Gin and Tonic. And then that made me even more sad about David. So then I had another one. And then I got sad about my life in general and that Gin and Tonics were the only things I had left to make me happy. Which, ironically, drove me to have another Gin and Tonic. And then, apparently, I ran into you?”

  I laughed out loud. “So you don’t remember anything?”

  Amy continued. “No! I don’t. Oww.” She winced, using one hand to massage her forehead. “My head hurts. I don’t even know what I’m saying right now. I’m still drunk.” She took a sip of her coffee. “But damn, I am really glad I randomly ran into you, bestie.”

  I sighed. There she was again, putting me right square in the friend zone. For all my charm, why was she the one girl who had managed to keep me at a distance, and never close? Of all of the women I’d been with over the past years, there was only one who I still hadn’t totally figured out.

  “Chandler, my head hurts. Can you hold it?”

  She looked up at me with pouty lips and puppy dog eyes. If there was a man in the world who could say no when big brown eyes like that looked up at him with a semi-sad expression, I’d like to meet him.

  “Of course.” I wrapped my hands around her head where she said it hurt.

  “That’s good. Mmmm, perfect,” she mumbled, eyes closed. “Where have you been, Chandler? I need a friend like you back in my life again.”

  With my hands wrapped around her head—which was a somewhat awkw
ard position for me—she held on to her coffee. After she finished her first coffee, I was allowed to have my hands back and we looked out our window, seeing Spain below us.

  We flew the remainder of the flight into Barcelona without saying another word. Side by side. Together.

  * * *

  “So, where are you staying?” I asked as we walked with our rolling suitcases toward the exit of Barcelona-El Prat Airport.

  Amy wore big, bug-eyed sunglasses, which shielded her from the sun and doing more damage to her hangover. Even though it was January, and winter in Barcelona, it wouldn’t get below freezing and we both wore jeans and light jackets.

  “So, here’s the thing.” She paused and took a deep breath as we approached the automatic doors. “I don’t know. I bought these tickets for David and me a couple months ago, and he bought the hotel room for us. When we broke up last week, he canceled the hotel because he didn’t want to pay for it.”

  I looked over at her while we continued our way outside. “You didn’t book another place?”

  “No. I figured I could find a place easy. But I haven’t booked one yet. My mind has been all over the place this past week.”

  The warm air greeted us as soon as the doors opened. The warmish temperatures were a welcome contrast to Chicago, which was currently in the middle of a harsh winter.

  “Oh, that air. It feels so good,” Amy said, inhaling deep. She dropped her bag for a moment, took off her sunglasses and closed her eyes, and stood with her arms at her sides with her palms facing out.

  I just stared at her, still in disbelief that she was in my life again in the flesh. “Yeah, it does feel amazing to be out of that freezing Chicago winter.”

  I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that it had been five years since we’d last seen each other, and she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Those soft, honest brown eye, the flowing brown hair, the way she smiled all combined to give her this aura about her.

  We had a lot to catch up on but for now, but I was content to keep staring at her like a creep. It wasn’t even her physical presence that was making the dirty wheels of my mind churn, thinking about all the things I would love to do with her in bed. It was her essence. She was a free spirit who wasn’t afraid to feel and to embrace the weird parts about herself. While she stood just feeling the air blowing past her, I got a crazy idea. But I’d be pissed with myself if I didn’t at least take a shot at it.

  “Hey, Amy.”

  Her eyes quickly darted up at me. “What?”

  “How long you here for?”

  “About ten days. Why?”

  I calculated that out. Today was Thursday. That was a lot of Amy Time. “You really have been having a shit-go of it with this David guy,” I noted, going for casual. “If you want, you’re welcome to crash at my place for a few days, or more, until you find a hotel.”

  “Really?” She put her sunglasses back on. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

  “I have basketball practice during the days anyway, so you’ll have the place to yourself.” I paused. “Well, you and Jessica.”

  I saw her face tighten. She swallowed. “Oh. I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”

  I laughed, enjoying her reaction. “Yep. Jess has kind of stolen my heart.” I winked.

  Amy sighed. “Well, if you don’t mind and she doesn’t mind. I could use a nap on a real bed to sleep off this hangover. And then I’ll get out of your and Jessica’s hair,” she said, tension still on her face and body. “Are you sure your girlfriend won’t be jealous of you inviting a strange woman into your apartment?”

  I gave her a shit-eating grin. I loved seeing Amy worked up. As if she wasn’t sexy before, when she got all energetic she was even sexier. “Don’t worry. I think Jess will be okay with you.”

  Fifteen

  Chandler

  Amy stood beside me as my keys jingled at the door of my apartment. I heard Jessica’s quick footsteps inside as I opened the door.

  “Jessica! Come here girl!” The sixty-five pound black Labrador retriever ran toward us with her tail wagging, nearly bowling me over. “Awwww. You missed me didn’t you?”

  I knelt down to give Jess a proper hello as Amy stood with her arms crossed. She still had her sunglasses on, but I could tell that underneath her eyes, she was rolling them. “This is Jessica?”

  “What, you don’t like her?”

  She shook her head. “You let me believe the whole ride over here that you had finally gotten a girlfriend.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Aww. Are you disappointed? She’s so cute though.”

  “Yes, I am disappointed.” she said. She started sniffling a little bit. “I just, I can’t believe that you would lie to me like that…”

  “Oh shit,” I muttered, taken aback. I stood up. “I’m sorry, Amy. I didn’t mean it like that. I just thought I’d play a harmless prank on you.”

  Amy took off her sunglasses and looked like she was about to launch into full crying mode, her face buried in her hands. I put my hand on her shoulder to comfort her but then she looked up at me and within seconds changed her frown into a giant smile.

  “Gotcha.” She winked.

  I removed my hand. My jaw dropped, then I laughed. “Nicely played,” I conceded.

  Amy still had the ability to stay one step ahead of me, and there was no doubting she’d flustered me. Maybe it was how angelic she seemed on the outside, but I always forget what a little devil she could be when she wanted. I shook my head with a grin.

  “I know. Thank you. I’ll see you at the Oscars.” She took a bow. Jessica trotted over to Amy, wagging her tail furiously. Amy obliged by scratching her head, which Jessica loved.

  “My girlfriend likes you,” I joked.

  She looked up, raising a brow. “Well, if you did have a girlfriend and were flirting with that woman in first class, I might have really punched you.”

  I gave her a sheepish grin. “I’d let you,” I told her, honestly. “No way would I ever do that.” Amy nodded, appeased with my answer. I watched her and Jess with a smile, pleased that they liked each other. My dog was kind of picky. “I think you have her approval, so I guess I can let you stay.”

  She laughed lightly then straightened up when her phone pinged. She dug it out of her purse she’d dropped on the floor, “My dad,” she said, waving it at me and moving about my place leisurely as she had a quiet but quick conversation.

  “Everything okay?” I asked when she put her phone in her back pocket.

  “Dad’s just making sure I landed safely,” she said, looking over her shoulder at me. I followed Amy the way Jess was following me and probably watching me just as intently I was watching Amy. She looked everywhere, lingered on this and that, taking in my place like she was committing it to memory.

  At the entertainment unit, she picked up a picture frame of my family. I walked over to her, Jess at my heels. “That was right before I left for UNC,” I told her, taking the picture and putting it back.

  “You look so young,” she said, softly.

  I smiled, glancing at each face in the photo. Bob and Billy were grinning. Me and my mom, not so much. It was a weird picture but I didn’t have very many photographs of ‘family moments’.

  “Your mom is Stefana, right?” she asked, looking up at me.

  I nodded, surprised she remembered. “Yep. Bob and Billy,” I added, pointing to each person.

  “You and your mom look a little grim…” she observed.

  “Mom’s never been…very expressive,” I said, wondering how Amy always went to places about me and my past that I didn’t like talking about.

  “You’re not close to your family,” she stated, with a slight frown. “I remember that…”

  I felt a slight pang in my chest. It’d always been a touchy subject for me back then, and right now, and even right now I had trouble answering her. “Never really have been.” I paused, frowning as well. “It’s hard to explain. But you’re close wit
h yours.”

  “Hmm-hmm, especially my dad,” she said, quietly. After a second, she turned towards me, her expression considerate. “Hey. Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if it’s too personal.”

  “Of course,” I said, shrugging. “What?”

  “This is kind of random, but…I’ve always wondered,” she said, carefully. “Did you ever find your birth dad?”

  That totally caught me off-guard. I rarely spoke about my father, but Amy’s honest question blindsided me for a full minute. When I spoke, my voice came out shaky. “I don’t know. Honestly, no one has ever asked me these kinds of questions. Other than you,” I said. “Truthfully, I don’t think I’d ever want to meet him, you know? It’d probably be a disappointment.”

  “That’s understandable,” she returned. “And I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable…or pry.” She squeezed my hand briefly. “So…what now?”

  I sighed, relieved she wasn’t going to further pick at that scab. “You want to take that nap?” I asked, more than happy to move off the topic of my bio-dad.

  “I do, but I’m freaking hungry,” she said, looking around the rest of my apartment then at me. “Are there any places to eat in this part of town?”

  I looked down at my dog, who was patiently looking between us in a way that Doña Maria used to. “So, Jessica, you ready to go get some lunch?” I asked my ‘girlfriend’. The irony of this whole thing was that my dog was the only girl I’d ever committed to.

  She barked a few times and started scrambling around us. We didn’t waste any time, just leaving our suitcases by the door and headed out, the three of us. We didn’t say much as I led her to a local place for breakfast. I couldn’t stop thinking about her question about my biological dad.

  The more I tried to force the thought of him out of my mind, the more it crept in. I didn’t want him in my life, I knew that much. My mother had said the man was a woman jumper, going from place to place. Apparently he had kids all over. I wanted no part in that, and I was ashamed to even think I was related to a man who did that to women. I have a lot of failings but I was responsible and honest at least.