She was smiling at him and laughing at something he said when all of a sudden a strange expression appeared on her face.

"Everything OK?"

She sighed and said, "Yes. I was thinking how much I like spending time with you, and I thought about how incredibly close I came to losing you. And how stupid I was about how I felt. It made me sad and a little scared at the same time."

He looked at her fondly and pushed a lock of tousled hair away from her face. "That's in the past. We both know how we feel now."

"And how is that, exactly?" She looked at him playfully, but with the tiniest hint of apprehension in her voice.

"We're in love."

She smirked, "You know that isn't the same as saying it, don't you?"

He smirked back at her.

She said, "Well all you have to do is listen right now." Taking a deep breath she said, "I want you to know that I'm not holding anything back emotionally from this relationship. I'm not going to overthink things, I'm going to go with my gut and stop listening to my brain as much."

"So, you're saying you won't be using your brain in this relationship?"

She swatted him lightly on the arm. "Ha ha. You are a laugh riot."

"What I'm saying is that I'm all in. Giving 110 percent." She paused.

He looked at her playfully and said, "I'm impressed with your use of classic sports cliches."

She said, "Oh, I've learned them all. Some of my clients speak almost entirely in them when they first come to me."

He laughed, "I never thought of that, but it make sense. Well, I'm glad you shared a few with me."

She looked at him and arched an eyebrow. "Oh, I have a few more I could apply to you, mister."

"Go ahead, dazzle me."

"You, Nico, you have silenced the naysayers. You are the real deal."

"Thank you."

She grinned wickedly. "I'm not done yet. You can really make things happen out there. You have great hands. You are as good of a player as there is in this league." She punctuated each cliche with increasingly longer kisses.

"I'm flattered."

She stopped kissing him and looked into his eyes, and said softly. "You are the heart and soul of this team."

He looked back at her and said softly, "Well, it's because I'm finally playing my natural position."