“Let’s play the question game,” I suggested. I liked being able to ask her anything, without her being able to avoid the subject.

“Sure,” she said. “You start.”

“How many kids do you want?” I asked.

“Maybe like four or five. What about you?”

“I think two is enough,” I said.

“I like kids,” she said. “I always wanted brothers and sisters to play with.”

I agreed. “Your turn,” I said.

“What’s your biggest fear?” she asked.

I thought for a second. “Probably something bad happening to my mom. Or spiders. I really hate spiders. You?”

“Being buried alive,” she answered immediately.

I laughed. “That’s such an irrational fear.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be afraid of it happening.”

“I promise,” I said. “When you are presumed dead, I will double check before you can be buried.”

“Thank you,” she said, giving me a peck on the cheek.

“What do you want to do for a job?” I asked. I knew she was stressed about her future, so I didn’t ask many questions but I was curious.

“I want to be a teacher. And I’d like to be a cheer coach, too.”

“I know that, but are you planning on applying for jobs right away?”

She hesitated. “To be honest, I want to know where you’re going first. I don’t really have ties to any one place in particular, and I can be a teacher anywhere. If I can choose where I want to live, I want to choose wherever you are. Is that okay?”

That was more than okay. I had been wondering how to bring up this topic with her. I knew she was fiercely independent and didn’t want to insult her by asking her to follow me around. I just couldn’t bear the thought of her not being close to me.

A life with me wouldn’t always be easy. If I couldn’t get on a team this year, I wouldn’t have much money coming in. I didn’t think the two of us could get by on a teacher’s salary. Especially since Alexa had a lifestyle that required more cash.

“I would love for you to come with me. Nothing would make me happier. I just want to make sure you know what you’re in for. There could be a lot of money, or there could be no money at all. I might not be around a lot. Is that something you can handle?”

“That’s not a problem,” she said. “You’re the most important thing to me. I want to make this relationship work.”

“What if you don’t get a job right away?” I asked. “If I go pro, you can travel to my games. You could try out for the cheer team.”

“That would be fun,” she said.

The thought of Alexa being on the sideline while I played pro games was better than I ever imagined in my future fantasy. Eventually, she would get tired of going to all of the games and want to start a career. Then what? Marriage? Kids? I was so lost in my daydream that I didn’t even hear her question.

“Martin, did you hear me? I wanted to know what your least favorite foods are. If we’re going to live together, I need to know what I shouldn’t buy from the grocery store.”

I could see her smile in the moonlight coming through the window blinds.

“I hate bananas. I love just about everything else. We’re going to be doing a lot of grocery shopping. When I lived at home, my mom went three times a week.”

“Oh, great,” she laughed. “What did I get myself into?”

“What would your dream house look like?” I asked when it was my turn. “I need to know in case I get a million dollar contract.”

“It doesn’t have to be too big, but I want a nice backyard,” she said. “I want to be able to plant flowers and fruits and vegetables. I also want lemon trees everywhere. There has to be plenty of open space for a soccer and football field. Maybe a concrete slab for playing basketball or tennis. Oh, and a fence so we can get a few dogs.”

“Is that all?” I chuckled. “What kind of dogs?”

“I like Corgis. They have cute little legs.”

“I like Golden retrievers,” I interjected. “We can get one of each.”

“Perfect,” she said.

Things were happening so quickly, but I wasn’t even scared. I used to shudder at the prospect of marriage or starting a family. Now, I could see myself doing so in the next few years.

For now, I just wanted to have fun with Alexa. We could travel to places I’ve never been before and explore new things. I could teach her everything there was to know about the sports she never got to play, and she could teach me all about the places and cultures she experienced in her youth.

“Do you feel like you’ll be missing out on the professional athlete lifestyle now that you have a girlfriend?” she asked.

“What lifestyle?”

“You know,” she said. “You always hear crazy stories about athletes that party hard and have sex with a models and actresses. I bet you could have that if I wasn’t hanging around.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “That typically happens to the players that either didn’t have anything growing up, or had too much and were never told no. I witnessed first hand what happened to my dad. He couldn’t control his partying and spending habits. I promise you that that lifestyle is the last thing I want. I just want to be normal.”

“But if you could be famous,” she said, “There might be some perks involved. Don’t tell me you don’t want to get into the hottest parties and mingle with celebrities.”

“Only if you’re by my side,” I said. “You’ll be able to navigate that world much better than I ever could.”

“My turn,” I said. “Where’s the last place you would want to move?”

“Florida,” she said instantly. “I love the beach, but the humidity does terrible things to my hair. I would look like a fluff ball all the time.”

“Same,” I laughed. “I’m not so concerned about my hair, but I hate the heat. That’s another reason why I want to go back to Colorado.”

We giggled. We disagreed about a lot of stuff, so I really loved it when we were on the same page.

“Just so you know,” I said. “I’m projected to go to New York or Washington. It’s not a sure thing, but if a pro team picks me up, it’ll most likely be either of those states.”

She grinned. “I can work with that.”

We heard a commotion from across the hall. It sounded like someone fell off the bed. We burst out laughing.

“Do you think Sasha and Reg will last?” I asked.

“I hope so,” she said. “They’re a lot of fun together.”

“Can you imagine what their kids would be like? They would be absolutely wild.”

“They would be impossible to control,” Alexa added.

“I think Reg is going to make his decision on where he’s going based on where Sasha is. Originally, he was going to follow Sam or I, but he’s totally hooked on her.”

“I’m not surprised,” she said. “He’s always followed her around like a puppy.”

We were quiet again, trying to think of a question we’ve never asked each other.

“What do you think Sebastian’s doing right now?” I wondered aloud.

“Oh, Sebastian,” she sighed. “I hope I haven’t caused him to go into hiding. There’s got to be a girl out there that’s out of options and needs to marry rich. Maybe my mom should just marry him since she’s so in love with him.”

“Then your dad and my mom could get together,” I said. “He could supply the money, and she could be completely normal!”

“Yeah, but then we’d be siblings. I don’t think I’m okay with that,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

“Okay, fine,” I said. “I’ve heard of weirder things.”

“Me, too,” she said. “You would be shocked at all of the inbreeding that happens in my world.”

“Seriously? I thought that was just for hillbillies.”

“Nope,” she said. “When marrying for money and connections is a requirement, there are only so many options. I know families where multiple siblings in one family marry siblings from another family. And weird affairs that result in secret love-children happen all the time. It can be hard to connect a family tree.”

“Aren’t you excited to get away from all that?”

“Incredibly. But I think it’s always going to be a part of me. I don’t think I can just pretend that I didn’t grow up with money. I was without my parents’ credit card for just a couple months and I didn’t think I was going to survive.”

“You don’t have any tangled bloodlines, right?” I asked.

“I don’t believe so. My dad was an outsider.”

“Did your grandma treat him like your mom treated me?”

“No, but he had money by the time they met. Maybe I should have introduced you after you get your multimillion dollar contract and starting position.”

“That reminds me,” I said. “I have a present for you.”

“You didn’t have to spend any money on me,” she protested. “I didn’t get you anything. Now I feel bad.”

“It’s nothing,” I said. “But I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and I want to give this to you.”

I reached under the bed for the box, but I couldn’t find it. I crawled out of bed and searched on my hands and knees. Finally, I found the tiny box and extended it out to her.

She gasped, wide eyed. I could see tears beginning to form, but she had a slight smile. It took me a moment to realize what she thought it was.

“Oh, God, no,” I stuttered. “I’m not proposing. We’ve been together for less than six months. It’s my championship ring. I want you to have it.”

I opened the box and placed the giant ring in her hand.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “This is a big deal.”

“I don’t wear rings and I don’t want it to sit on a shelf getting dusty. If you want to, you can wear it on a chain, like a necklace.”

“I love it,” she gushed. “Thank you.”

I felt my heart rate slow back down to normal. I hope she wasn’t disappointed that it wasn’t an engagement ring. I needed more money for that. I knew I was going to ask her to marry me one day- I was certain of that.

She was the most incredible person I knew. She was smart, funny, and sexy as hell. I wanted to give her the world, and I knew she wanted the same for me. Every day with Alexa was an adventure. We were learning new things about each other every day and she was constantly surprising me. I never wanted it to end.