Only One Mistake (Only One 6)

I laugh. “Thank you for all those challenges.”

He looks down and then looks back up. “Can I get your number?”

“Yeah,” I say, smiling, and he takes out his phone.

“What is it?” I give him the number, and he presses send, putting it to his ear. My phone rings from the counter, and I walk over to it. Grabbing my purse, I slide to answer. “Hello.”

“Hey,” he says, and I can hear the echo in the room. “It’s me.”

“Hi,” I say, smiling at him.

“Now the ball is in your court.” He hangs up. “Call me.” I nod as he opens the door. I wait for him to walk out, and he’s halfway out of the door when he turns back and comes in. He doesn’t say anything to me. He just stops in front of me and brings his hands up to cup my cheeks.

“Call me,” he says softly before bending and kissing me. Though the kiss is like so many we’ve had over the night, it always feels like the first one. “Call me,” he reminds me again. I just nod and watch him walk out. The door closes softly behind him, and I raise one of my hands to my lips.

I walk over to the coffee machine and start the coffee when there is a knock on my door. For some reason, my stomach flutters, thinking it’s him. A smile fills my face when I open the door and see my sister there bending over and picking up a hat from the side of the wall. “Hi.”

“I swear to God,” she huffs, coming over with the hat in her hand. “You are so lucky that you share your location with me, and I saw you were home because I was about to send out a search party,” she says, and I laugh, turning to walk back to the kitchen. ”What happened to you?”

I look over at her. “I’m fine.”

“You are walking like you have a baseball bat stuck up your ass.” She points at me and then looks down at the hat in her hand. Her eyes go wide. “You brought him home.”

I shake my head, grabbing a cup of coffee. “I did not,” I deny, and I’m not lying, but she can see the glitter in my eyes.

“You brought someone home,” she accuses, gasping and looking around. “Is he still here?”

I shake my head. “He is not,” I say, and she shrieks and puts the hat on the counter.

“You little hussy,” she teases, shaking her head. “I want all the details.”

I know that I share everything with her, but something stops me from sharing Michael. “The only thing I’m going to say is you know those pictures you see on Instagram?” I look at her, and her eyebrows pinch together. “The one where the guy has the set of abs and then the side abs?”

“Those are airbrushed on.” She shakes her head. I shrug.

“I can confirm that they do exist.” I laugh, taking a sip of my coffee and wondering when will be a good time to call Michael.

Chapter 11

Michael

Five Months Later

I slip on my cashmere jacket and grab my backpack as I open the hotel door and head out. “I need a coffee,” I say when I see the captain, Manning, standing at the elevator with his own cup of coffee. “Did you go out already?” I ask, and he smirks at me. He is wearing pretty much the same thing I am wearing but with a black hat covering his head.

“My wife sent it to me,” he says, and I swear he gets googly eyes talking about her. From the talk in the locker room, they met one night, and it was all it took.

“How did you get coffee?” my cousin and linemate, Cooper, says from beside me. I look at him and see that we have the same jacket, but I’m not surprised since our aunt Zara, who is a professional shopper, probably bought it for both of us. “There was nothing in the room.” We’ve been on the road for the last fourteen days, two whole fucking weeks, and I, for one, can’t wait to not see these guys for a few days. Everyone is fed up with each other, and it doesn’t help that we lost the last four games.

“His wife sent it to him,” I say when the elevator doors open. I walk into the elevator and look at Cooper, who looks at Manning, who lifts his coffee to his lips as he walks in beside me, leaving Cooper to look up. “Why didn’t your wife send you one?” I roll my lips when he glares at me, walking into the elevator next to me. “I’m just asking. I thought maybe it was a wife thing.” I shrug my shoulder as Manning tries not to laugh at him.