Page 248 of On His Team

I ignore her and check my phone. Nothing from Rowan. Five minutes later, I check again. Still nothing.

Mara watches me. “Do you want me to take your phone away?”

“No.”

“You’ve looked at it twelve times.”

“Stop counting.”

She watches me. “You’re so anxious.” She sits on the end of the bed opposite mine. “Do you want me to distract you?”

I like that idea. “With what?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I could start a fight.”

I almost laugh. “Don’t start one with me,” I warn.

She laughs. “I meant generally.”

That gets a laugh out of me.

By six, Rowan finally texts.

Rowan: Lobby at 7:40.

Me: Our lobby?

Rowan: Mine.

Me: Right.

Rowan: I assumed you knew.

The family window is exactly as chaotic as Rowan warned me it would be. There are parents, siblings, girlfriends, grandparents, kids running between chairs, staff moving through without ever really stopping, and about forty people pretending none of us are checking the clock every three minutes because everybody knows this is temporary.

Rowan is near the far wall when I walk in. He sees me immediately, and it’s still one of my favorite things. There can be an entire room between us, and somehow his eyes find me first.

I smile before I get close enough to say anything.

He meets me halfway. “What’s up, G?”

I grin. I love hearing him say that. I put my arms around his waist, and he hugs me hard enough that I can feel the tension in him even before he says anything.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

I pull back just enough to see his face. “That was a real yeah?”

He smiles slightly. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” I say, pinching his ribs lightly.

His hands stay at my waist.

I ask, “What did you do today?”

He answers, “Practice. Meetings. Video.”