Page 2 of The Marriage Rebound

I scoffed. “Wouldn’t make a difference. You know that schedule is just as packed, not to mention by the time we get Vuitton through quarantine, we’d be coming back. Because leaving him behind ain’t an option with her.”

Tension settled in my shoulders at the thought. I craned my neck left then right, trying to alleviate the pressure. No letting the stresses of life drag me down tonight. Instead, I’d hang on to the high of the win, and the celebrating we’d be doing at home.

Shae slung her bag over her shoulder, nodding, and I did the same. “I guess I get that.” She paused like she was measuring her next words, but said nothing.

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah, but there’s a whole lot not being said.”

Shae shook her head. “I’m the last one to give advice. Dijah and I are still working out the kinks. You’re three years in.”

“And still working out kinks,” I replied with a sardonic laugh.

She nodded but had no comeback. We said our goodbyes before she headed back to the training room to wait on Khadijah to finish up. Sasha stood in the hall, scrolling through her phone.

“You ready to go, baby?”

She darkened the screen before sliding the device into her small clutch and graced me with a big smile. “Yeah, where did y’all decide to go celebrate?”

I held my hand out toward her. “No idea where they headed, but we’re goin’ home to spend some time together like you want.”

Instead of slipping her hand into mine, she crossed her arms and cocked out a hip. “You say that like you don’t want to spend time with me.”

Damn, I really needed to work on my delivery since Shae had just accused me of the same thing. I let out a slow breath. “That’s not what I meant.”

She smacked her lips and narrowed her eyes. “That’s what it sounded like.” She raised her voice just enough when she spoke that it got the attention of some of the people milling about.

Fucking hell. I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the tension attempting to settle in again.

“Sash, baby, seriously. Can’t we just go home?” I closed the gap between us and slid my hands around her waist. “I want it to be just me and you and our private celebration.” I placed a small kiss on the corner of her mouth.

The slight frown she’d been wearing morphed into a sly smile. She rested her palms on my arms before stepping back and interlocking our fingers together. I said a silent thank -you that a potential argument had been averted, as I let her walk ahead of me a little so I could get a view of how her ass jiggled ever so slightly with each step. It was her ass that had caught my attention the first time I saw her dance, and three years in, I remained mesmerized watching the way it moved.

When we got to the car, I tossed my bag on the back seat of her F-Pace before sliding onto the plush caramel-tone leather passenger seat. Once we got on the road, I laid my hand on her thigh, rested my head back, and replayed the game over in my head, going through what we did well, and mistakes made.

“You over there nitpickin’.”

“What?”

She cut her eyes at me then returned them to the road. “You. I know you’re over there thinking about what plays you may have messed up on. Stop, and just enjoy the win.” She covered my hand and gave it a squeeze.

Chuckling softly, I lifted her hand and placed a kiss on her palm. “You’re right, I’ll worry about that tomorrow. Tonight is about us.” I winked and she giggled in response.

Under the sporadic passing streetlights, I lightly trace the designs on her nails. Like with her hair, she’d had them done in team colors, with the artwork on her left ring finger being a mini replica of my jersey, and on the right was the Cannons logo, but underneath was a little trophy. Her nail tech had done an amazing job, and Sasha had been so excited to show them off to me. Initially, I thought the trophy addition was bad luck, but she said she was claiming it for me and for the team. Putting the win into the universe. I wasn’t really into all that, but I didn’t rain on her parade and I appreciated her being in it and supportive. I kissed her palm again before linking my fingers with hers and resting our joined hands back on her thigh. Whatever she’d put out into the universe was clearly working, and it needed to keep going for one more game.

We made it home, and Vuitton jumped at Sasha’s ankles as soon as we entered the house. I didn’t mind the tiny dog. He mostly did what I intended him to do, which was give her company and be something to focus her energy on when I was gone, but he was an attention whore, and sometimes I hated having to compete with him. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her back against me before she could bend to pick up the tiny, spoiled animal, which would result in her ignoring me for the next hour at least.

“What happened to us celebrating?” I spoke the words against the soft skin just below her ear.

She placed her hand over mine while pushing her plump ass into me. The high of the game had basically worn off, but some residual energy remained, and I wanted to use it in the best possible ways.

“We are, baby, but he’s been alone for a while, and you know he ain’t used to that. Let me just give him a treat and some cuddles, then you get my full attention.” She turned in my arms, slinking hers around my neck. Sasha smiled before giving me a quick kiss and freed herself from my embrace.

“You know it’s a little fucked up I’m second to him, right?”

Sasha picked up the tiny Yorkie, who was decked out in clothing matching his namesake. “You only have yourself to blame.”