“I’m sorry, August.” I shake my head helplessly and brush at the tears. “I-I can’t say yes yet.”
“I know, baby.” He tightens his arm around my waist and tucks his chin into the curve of my neck. “That’s why I’m not asking.”
49
August
“Good game, Rook,” Kenan says as we get off the bus.
“You, too.” I grin at him, lowering my duffle bag to the ground while we talk. “We’ve put together a little winning streak here lately.”
“Little bit.” Kenan’s stern face yields a smile. “Next year we’ll be a plus five hundred team.”
“You think?” He and I start toward the hotel entrance.
“If Deck and the front office play their cards right in the draft this summer and get us some more key pieces, hell yeah. We’re doing well for an expansion team.”
“Yeah, we’re starting to gel. Tonight was great.” I grimace. “Minus the snow. The last place I want to be is stranded in Denver an extra night because of weather.”
“You called Iris to let her know?”
“About to. Once we get settled in the room, I will.”
“How’s her cousin?”
I stop in the hotel lobby and stare him down. “Do you want Iris to put in a good word for you with Lo or something?”
“What?” He looks at me like I have two heads and an extra nose. “Why would you think that?”
“Obviously because you keep asking about her.”
“Has … she ever asked about me?”
I’ve never seen Kenan “Gladiator” Ross tentative, but the expression on his face is probably about as close as he’ll ever come.
“Never,” I answer unhesitatingly, my lips stretching into a smile.
Kenan rolls his eyes and gives me a middle-finger salute.
“August, hey.” Decker walks over to us from the front desk, a file in his hand. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure.” I fist-pound Ken
an before he walks toward the elevator. “What’s up, Deck?”
“Come sit.” He gestures to a nook just off the bank of elevators.
It’s late and I have no idea what this is about, but I hope he makes it quick. I want to call Iris as soon as we’re done since she’s expecting me tonight.
“Um, I just got off the phone with Avery,” he says, watching me closely.
“Cool.” Now I really don’t know where this is going. “How’s she doing?”
“Good.” Decker hesitates and then goes on. “How much do you know about Iris’s relationship with Caleb?”
Predictably, my hackles rise. The hackles on my hackles rise.
“I know it’s over.” Even I hear the tension in my voice.