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Reaching out, I give a playful tug on his shirt. “If you want… and you are under no obligation, you’re welcome here every night that you’re on your break.”
I put an end date so he doesn’t read anything more into it, even though I’m happy to have him here every night.
Bain’s smile is huge. “All right… I’ll be back tonight. I’ll call first to see if you can stomach some food. Anything else you need before I leave?”
I bat my eyelashes at him. “A big, deep, wet kiss?”
Bain grimaces. “No way, vomit breath.” But he leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead and for some reason, that’s even better.
CHAPTER 15
Bain
There’s a roaras Boone and I walk into Mario’s. We just defeated the Cold Fury 4–2 and the Titans fans can taste a playoff run. We’re the Cinderella team, the underdogs gone wild.
It’s become a regular occurrence for many of us to come here for beers to celebrate a win and mostly it’s a laid-back atmosphere. The fans have learned to let us have some time to ourselves as teammates, but they also know we’ll eventually indulge in photo ops and autographs. We had a spot just like this back in Phoenix when I played for the Vengeance—the Sneaky Saguaro. I loved that the players meshed with the fans and I was glad to see something similar here.
The vibe is different tonight. The energy is palpable and it’s standing room only. Defeating one of the hottest teams in the league has created an adrenaline surge in the fans, the players… hell, the city itself.
What’s weird is that I didn’t want to come out tonight. Normally, this would be my jam. I’d hang out with my new teammates, we’d bond over beers and relive the best plays of the night. We’d boast and our stories would get more exaggerated. We’d get drunk and then find hot women to fuck.
There’s a part of me that mourns the loss of my desire to do that, but a bigger part of me is irritated I can’t just go home to Kiera.
And it irritates me even further that I used the words “home” and “Kiera” in the same thought.
Boone winds his way through the crowd and I follow. We receive back slaps and flirty stares from women. The owners rope off a section in the back for us to hang out in and a good chunk of the team is there already.
Pushing a couple of high tops together, I stand with Boone, Camden, Hendrix, Stevie, Coen and Stone. Harlow’s missing as she’s in the middle of a big trial, and I can see how proud Stone is when he talks about her. Tillie’s back in Coudersport packing up her house as she’s making the very big and permanent move here to Pittsburgh.
The one person not here who I wish was is Kiera. I invited her to come to the game and Mario’s after. It was a casual request and I made it sound like I was cool if she did and cool if she didn’t. It was unspoken, but we’d have to act normal around each other, and by normal, we couldn’t be tearing off each other’s clothes, talking dirty or eye-fucking each other.
Not that that’s all we do.
On the contrary, there’s as much friendship as there are benefits lately. It’s become clear over this past week, given how much time we’ve spent together, that there’s more to us. Some would say feelings are getting involved.
Maybe.
Maybe it’s just that we can’t screw and sleep all those hours we’re together so we do other things. We talk, watch movies, cook dinner and play board games. Kiera’s fun to be around so it’s not been a hardship.
I like being around her, so yeah… I wish she were here right now. I have no clue if she’ll show. She was supposed to watch Drake’s kids. While Brienne often stays home with them when the team travels, as team owner, she’s expected to be at the home games. Kiera did say that Drake and Brienne are always happy to hire a babysitter so she can go to some games, but doesn’t take them up on it. This I’ve come to learn over the past week while staying with her. She definitely has a crisis of conscience when it comes to wanting to help her brother versus having some downtime. On top of that, she loves her nephews like they’re her own, so she truly loves the time with them. She has a lot to balance and then add in that I’m asking her to come to Mario’s after the game, even though we’d have to ignore each other.
It’s a bit fucked up.
“You got the invitation for our housewarming, right?” Coen asks Camden as they stand next to each other at the high top and I focus on their conversation rather than thinking about Kiera. I refuse to text and ask her.
Camden nods. “Yeah, man.”
“Well, you haven’t RSVP’d yet, asshole. You know we have to know how many are coming so we can prepare.”
“All right, dude. Chill out. This is my confirmation… I’m coming. When is it?”
“Next Saturday.” Coen turns his gaze to me. “And you’re coming?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” I don’t quite remember getting the invitation, but I do vaguely remember talk of a housewarming party. I make a mental note to look for it and also to get a gift. Maybe Kiera can help me pick something out and I wonder if she’s going.
Camden has his phone in hand and says, “I’ll be right back.”
I give him a chin lift and watch as he meanders through the crowd toward the exit. I almost turn away, but then I seeherwalking in.
