Page 266 of On His Team

GIANNA

I have four hundred and seven pictures and videos on my phone from last night. That is not an exaggeration. Ever since I landed in Vegas, I stopped being a person and became a documentary crew, and now I’m lying in a hotel bed in Las Vegas at eight in the morning going through all of them one at a time.

I pretty much filmed the entire game. I have Benson on the ice with both arms up. Benson getting buried. Benson coming down the tunnel with his helmet off and his hair completely wrecked. Lucy crying in the seat next to me with both hands over her face after they won. Stanley screaming with his arms up while Aspen cheered for him. Percy under six people. My mom, who does not take photographs, holding up her phone like she suddenly understands why everybody else does.

And Rowan.

I can’t stop staring at the pictures Benson took of us in the corridor. I think we’re perfect together. I’m in Rowan’s arms, and he’s holding me like I weigh nothing. In one I’m kissing him. In another I’m smiling at the camera. My ass looks nice and round, which is obviously important historical documentation.

That’s my boyfriend.

I open our texts.

Me: Good morning, national championship boyfriend.

Rowan: Good morning, G.

Me: How are you?

Rowan: Bad.

Me: Sorry.

Rowan: I’ll live.

Me: What’s your day look like?

Rowan: Food, treatment, film, skate, meetings.

Me: So no one can come to brunch?

Rowan: No.

Me: Okay. Have a good day. I miss you.

Rowan: Miss you too.

Rowan: Girlfriend.

I smile, satisfied.

By the time I make it upstairs to brunch, Aspen and Penelope are already waiting. Lucy, Mara, and Melly come with me, and Stanley’s mom is here too. My parents are meeting us here. I stop beside the table before I sit and look everyone in the eye.

“National. Championship.”

Stanley’s mom makes an excited sound, and I already like her.

I raise an eyebrow at Aspen and Penelope. “I’m making sure everybody at this table fully understands what is happening tomorrow.”

Mara laughs. “We were there.”

I glare at Mara. “I don’t think you understand.”

“Oh, I understand,” Melly says. “Blue almost gave me a heart attack twelve separate times.”

“That’s different. Benson scored the goal that sent them here, and Rowan is playing for a national championship, and Stanley—”

Aspen looks at me.