SUNSHINE

thirty-two

"He probably does that with every girl he sleeps with, Al."

"Do you think he would have given you his pair of Birks if he didn't want to see you again?"

"He has enough money to buy a thousand pairs of them without making a dent in his bank account." She huffed, putting her hands in the front sweatshirt pockets. Her fingers grazed a piece of paper that was in the pocket, and she stopped, causing Alex to stop as well. She pulled it out and showed it to Alex, and she watched her eyes light up.

"Well? Read it!" She encouraged, and Casey chuckled as she opened the piece of paper.

"Don't think of this as a one-night stand. I want to see you again, Casey Radcliffe, even if I have to wait another year. I'll wait." She read aloud, and she felt her stomach do a flip.

"Casey! He totally digs you!" Alex squealed as they got onto the elevator. She held the note to her chest and gave a little squeal as well.

"Okay, so maybe it's not a one-night stand." Casey said as they got off the elevator and met up with the rest of the team.

"It looks like you're gonna have to make some more trips to Chicago." She muttered in her ear as Jill began to speak to them.

--

"Happy game day!" Alex practically screamed in her ear to wake her up, and Casey was up with a start.

"Shit, I slept through my alarm." She said, rubbing her eyes.

"Don't worry, I grabbed you some breakfast and whatever shake Dawn designed for you." She assured, nodding to the table in the corner of the room. "I don't think I've ever seen a day that you don't go do your insane morning routine."

"Yeah, I don't remember the last time I missed it." She agreed, sighing.

"Have you heard anything from Alessio?" Alex asked, changing the subject.

"Alex, it's been like two weeks. If he wanted to talk to me, I'm sure he would have messaged me by now." She sighed, standing up and stretching, her back, wrists, and knees all cracking at her movements.

"That doesn't mean anything. Are you sure? Have you even checked your DMs on anything?" She responded, and Casey sighed, getting her phone out and looking through Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Since she got so many random requests, she never paid any real attention to what she received in her messages. Sure enough, Alessio had tried to contact her last week, and she had completely ignored it.

"Well look at that, you're right." She told her as she sat down on the edge of her bed and ate her breakfast. He had messaged her on Instagram, the one app she never checked.

"What did he say?" She asked encouragingly, plopping down on the bed beside her. Casey opened and approved the message so she could respond.

"Hope I'm not reaching out at a bad time, but I'd love to fly out and take you on a real date. I meant it when I said I'd wait for you, I meant it. I'll be in Orlando for a business meeting next week. Hope to see you then." Casey read aloud, and it made her heart flutter. Was Alessio Miller really that interested in her?

"Casey! This is your chance." Alex urged, grabbing her phone from her.

"Hey!" She whined, setting down her plate and grabbing for it, but Alex had a good advantage on her.

"Too late, I messaged him saying you'll be free the entire week except for practice." Alex told her, handing her back her phone.

"I don't want to start something we're not going to be able to finish. He lives in Chicago, we live in Orlando. Not exactly a good basis for a relationship." Casey sighed defeatedly.