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There was no formal rule with the Mavericks about employees dating, but it still wasn’t professional. I was a woman in the very male-dominated field of professional sports, so sleeping with one of the players wasn’t a good look.
I had to make sure Nash understood that we couldn’t do that ever again. I had a job and a reputation to think of, and he probably wasn’t interested in anything serious anyway. Once I pointed out that the only way we could date was if we were serious, he’d definitely back off. A professional athlete like Nash undoubtedly had girlfriends in every city the team played in, and he wouldn’t give all that up for me. No matter how good the sex was.
Feeling better about my decision, I focused on work until Mo and I went to lunch. We had a good time and it reminded me that I hadn’t spoken to Dee in over a week. I saw even less of her now that I worked for the Mavericks and a tiny bit of guilt crept in. I’d been so busy talking to Rob, spending time with my new friends within the Mavericks organization, and lusting after Nash, I hadn’t made time for my best friend. Which was a shitty thing to do, especially since she’d requested a day off work to help me move in just over a week.
“Invite her next time we go out,” Mo said when I mentioned it to her. “And if she’s your bestie, she’ll understand. You’ve had a lot going on.”
“Oh, I know. I just was never the type of woman who would put a man over her girlfriends.”
“Technically, you’re not. We’ve gone out, what, three or four times since you started here? All you do is work, occasionally see your family, and pack. You deserved a night like last night and she’ll understand. Then you’ll bring her along when we go out, she’ll be surrounded by hot hockey players, and she’ll forget all about it.”
We laughed as we got off the elevator.
“Okay, I have work to do,” I told her. “See you later.”
“Bye.” She went toward her office and I sat down at my desk.
“Hey, did you hear the news?” Kevin looked up from his laptop.
I shook my head. “What news?”
“Sawyer Cain’s wife died.”
Chapter Twenty
Nash
* * *
I switched off my radio, deciding to finish my drive to the arena in silence. The lyrics to every song were getting to me this morning.
Just after arriving at my house to shower and let my dogs out, I’d gotten a call from Wes telling me that Annie Cain had died late last night. Or early this morning I guess. The whole thing felt so surreal.
It was also just fucking unfair. She was a sweet woman who had been ravaged by cancer and fought hard to reach remission, and she had, for a while. But the cancer came back with a vengeance, and it took her quickly.
Sawyer had to have known, but he didn’t let on how bad the situation with Annie’s health had been. It was crushing to imagine what that was like for him. Wes said on the phone that Sawyer had told him she wasn’t doing well, but she’d passed away faster than the doctors had predicted.
Every time my mind wandered to thoughts about Sariah’s warm body in my arms last night, or the way her little laughs and sighs of pleasure lit me up from the inside out, my mind went to my teammate Sawyer. He’d never hear his wife’s laugh again, or hear her voice wish him good luck. When he was on the road, they talked on the phone constantly. There was no filling the void that had just swallowed up a huge part of his world.
“Mornin’, Mr. Reilly,” the parking attendant at the arena said to me, touching the brim of his hat.
“Morning, Moses.”
“Pretty sad one today.”
Moses had been working for the Warren Center for many years; he was part of the family here. Usually he had a huge grin on his face, but not today.
“She was a bright light, wasn’t she?” I asked.
The corners of his lips tipped up in a smile. “That she was, sir. I’m gonna miss that beautiful smile.”
“Me too.”
“You guys win that game tonight for her, you hear?”
“Yes, sir. I know she and Sawyer will be on everyone’s mind.”
After parking in the player lot, I steeled myself before walking through the player entrance. I kept my head down on the walk to the locker room, not in the mood for the usual grins and fist bumps.
The last time I saw Annie was when several teammates met up for dinner at Giovanna’s Italian Bistro. Her hair had grown back, and even though it was short, it was obvious that having her own hair back meant a lot to her. I’d noticed her running her hands over it and smiling several times while she, and Lars’s girlfriend Sheridan, had thrown back a couple bottles of wine together, laughing like only close girlfriends did.
