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He’s practically bouncing where he stands as he nods enthusiastically.
A few minutes later I’m blowing him a kiss and waving as he leaves with Teddy’s family.
Stepping back into the apartment, I find Rux waiting for me. He’s on his feet, leaning against the back of the couch.
This is it.
We’re alone. But instead of Rux stalking me across the room and using his body to pin me to the door, he’s staring at his shoes.
I move into the open spot beside him and let my hand rest on his.
His head drops low and he sighs.
“There are rumors of a trade.”
My chest goes tight as I grip his hand tighter. “What? When?”
Finally his eyes meet mine. “I have no idea. Management isn’t talking, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
I know from Julia and being around this team for so long, that sometimes a player is the last to know, and sometimes a player will have trade rumors floating around them for years without ever amounting to anything.
“Have there been rumors about you before?”
He shakes his head. “They’re from reliable sources. Julia was going to call you, but I told her I was on my way over.”
I try to pull a breath, but my lungs don’t want to work.
“It was just a couple of games,” I offer weakly, like somehow my words could impact actions potentially already in motion.
“Important games. The ones where they’ve been watching to see how I would perform.”
This can’t be happening. The Slayers would never let Rux go. They can’t. He loves Chicago. He loves this team.
No wonder he’s been acting strange lately.
“Doyouthink you’re going?” I ask quietly.
“Honest to God, I have no idea.” Then after a long breath, he shakes his head. “Look, Cammy. There’s a lot of uncertainty in my life right now. Even if I don’t get traded, the adjustments with the team—”
“It’s a lot,” I whisper, seeing the truth of it in his apology-filled eyes. I hate what comes next, but I need to be the one to say it. “Even without adding a friends-with-benefits package into the mix and the feelings that may or may not go along with it.”
The breath that leaves his chest is relieved, if a little uneven. When our eyes meet, I try to smile and even if it doesn’t work very well, for once, Rux doesn’t point it out.
Taking my hand in his, he pulls it into his lap. “I don’t want to lose you, Cammy. I don’t want to lose Matty.”
“You won’t,” I promise, blinking at the tears threatening to fall.
“So, friends?” he asks, pulling me in front of him and looping his arms around my waist.
It’s not the kind of stance we would have found ourselves in before all of this started, and I’m guessing it’s one we won’t revisit going forward. But in this minute, I can still rest my hand against the solid planes of his chest, I can still brush the stubble of his cheek with my thumb.
“Of course. Friends,” I say, quietly enough I’m hoping he can’t hear the way I struggle to say it. “Always.”
His eyes close in what must be relief. He turns into my palm and kisses the sensitive skin, making my heart ache all the more.
A minute passes, but neither of us move. Neither pulls away.
I don’t know what his reason is. Comfort probably. Reassurance.
