Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
But there must’ve been an influx in fans heading to the airport to watch our game or something, because literally every single person we came into contact with today knew who we were.
“Y’all aren’t married?” Joe asked as he watched the floors go by one by one.
“We’re not married,” Ari explained. “It was just something that happened when we were at the water park, and we never corrected them.”
“Ah.” He lifted the keycard to scratch his forehead with it. “Well, just know that Kay fuckin’ hates everyone and everything that goes against her. Likely, she won’t be the nicest person in the world.”
Ari shrugged as if she couldn’t care less. “Oh well.”
“Oh well, is right,” Titus grumbled. “That bitch has gone out of her way to make our lives a living hell since she came on. Do you remember that one time she screamed at Annabelle? I’ve never wanted to tackle a woman before, but goddamn if the thought didn’t cross my mind when I caught her cursing at her.”
“What?” Ari asked, outraged on his behalf.
“Exactly!” Titus nodded.
“Briley had taken Annabelle to the trainer’s room to get a pack of ice because she’d fallen down a few steps on the bleachers. Titus was watching them go, and when they got to the trainer’s room, Kay came barreling out and ran them both over. Annabelle hit the ground and started crying again. Titus was heading toward them when Kay started cursing at the two of them that ‘they shouldn’t be allowed to roam free.’”
“So how bad do you three love the Liners?” Ari looked like she was mad on Annabelle’s behalf.
All three of us said, “Enough to deal with a bitch for an owner.”
It was like we’d rehearsed it or something.
The elevator dinged, signaling our arrival at our floor.
Ari and I got out, but Titus pointed up but didn’t make a move to get off the elevator. “I’m gonna go grab a drink in his hotel room before we have to be at practice this morning.”
We’d gotten very little sleep after the incident on the plane.
When the oxygen masks had deployed, the skies around us had been rough.
After hastily cleaning up and reaching for the masks, the captain had come on the speaker and said he’d ‘accidentally deployed them’ and ‘he was sorry.’
In the meantime, the few of the men on the plane that absolutely despised flying had lost their shit. Titus included.
The flight hadn’t been great. Everyone had been irritable.
Needless to say, when we’d landed and the coach had said we still had to come to practice, none of us had been happy.
Though, he did say that he would end practice early to allow us to catch up on our sleep.
I gave them both a chin lift before the doors closed, and then followed Ari to the end of the hall where our suite was.
“This is huge,” she said when she entered.
“Probably not any bigger or smaller than usual,” I guessed.
She pushed through the doors to all the areas and said, “When you sleep in a ten-by-three-feet space, let me tell you, anything is ‘huge’ in comparison.”
I laughed.
“You’re right,” I said. “You sleep in a bunk?”
I was only assuming that was what she meant by ‘ten-by-three-feet space.’
“We do,” she confirmed. “We have a master bedroom on our bus, but we actually use it as a closet. We all have a shit ton of clothes.” She paused. “At one point, that was where our father slept. But when he died, we turned it into our walk-in closet.”
“That sounds suspiciously like a bit of a ‘fuck you’ to him,” I pointed out.
She shrugged. “It was. Our dad was…”
“Was…” I waited as I pushed into the closest room and dropped our bags onto the floor at the end of the bed.
“A force of nature,” she finished as she followed me into the room. “How long until you need to leave?”
I looked at my Rolex.
“An hour,” I said. “We need to meet down in the lobby, and the bus will take us to the stadium.”
“I’ll shower fast.” She clapped her hands. “I’m so excited to use a real bathroom.”
Then she was gone, leaving me alone to my thoughts.
I collapsed onto the bed and threw the crook of my arm over my eyes.
I was fast asleep in less than a minute.
When I next woke, it was to wet hair trailing along my cheek.
I blinked open bleary eyes to find her hovering over me with her face, the tail end of her Dutch braid in her hand as she dragged it along my cheek.
She must’ve braided it while it was wet.
“Hello,” I said gruffly.
“I woke you up with like nine minutes to spare,” she said. “Do you need to get changed or anything?”
I leaned upward and caught her lips with my own before falling back down. “No. I’m ready.”