from her bottle, her lips cherry red. He was mesmerized enough to miss his phone ringing, but she heard it and gestured with her beer.
“One of your legions of fans?” she said, grinning. “I knew you were famous, but I’ve never had to dodge the press like that before.”
That was nothing, but he didn’t bother telling her that. Instead, he glanced down at his phone and cursed. “It’s Coach. Your plane was late, and that threw off the schedule.” He’d begged her to come a day earlier, but there was some faculty something or other that she couldn’t get out of. He understood. He really did, but that didn’t make him any happier. And now he had team stuff to do.
“I’m sorry, Mike. You didn’t have to pick us up—”
“The hell I didn’t.” He took a deep breath. “Look, I’ve got team stuff this afternoon, and then a media press-the-flesh thing tonight. I got you passes to get in—”
“We’ll be fine,” she interrupted.
Damn it, he didn’t want her to be fine. He wanted her with him. “Tori—”
But she was talking to the driver. “Take Mike wherever he needs to go. Then you can drop us off afterward.”
“You’ll be there tonight, right? Sammy will pick you up.” He wanted to be a dick and “accidentally” forget to add Edward to the guest list, but that was too mean. He wanted to stay friends with her even if nothing else was possible between them. And that meant being nice to the dick who didn’t deserve her.
“Of course,” she said.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Edward added.
Mike didn’t curse the bastard out, but he did glance that way. “So how is it that you ended up taking her father’s seat?”
He started to answer, but Tori interrupted. “He paid my father to get sick.”
“What?”
“Damn it!” Edward cried. “He wasn’t supposed to tell.”
Tori rolled her eyes. “Paid him to catch the flu.”
Edward huffed out a disgruntled breath. “Negotiated like his life depended on it. He’s a lot smarter than he looks.”
Tori grimaced. “Dad wouldn’t tell me how much, but—”
“I understand,” Mike said, his voice dropping. Not in threat. More like frustration. “Edward wanted to make this a special trip.” Just like Mike had.
It took him about two breaths to get his head on straight. Edward wanted to play big man on the town this weekend? Well he was gonna lose that particular game. This was New York City and Mike was a mega-star here. And Mike wanted to spend it with Tori. “So the media thing ends around ten. I thought afterward you could come by my place. We could talk. Have some beer.”
Tori’s eyes narrowed. Worse, her excited expression slipped. “You have a game tomorrow. Don’t you have curfew or something?”
Oh right.
“And a system?”
The damned system. For the first time in his life, he was considering throwing it away. He could sleep with Tori tonight, and maybe the sex would boost his play. Lots of players claimed…
He cut off his thoughts. Maybe that worked for other guys, but a night in sexual antics had only ever weakened his play. Being sated and low on sleep made him fat and lazy on the court. And he had to play well tomorrow. It was important to come out strong and give the fans a good show. Important to prove to the coaches and Mr. Dolan that he hadn’t lost a step. And important to his own peace of mind. This was his life.
So he nodded. Reluctantly. “Yeah, early bed for me. But you can keep the car. Sammy will take you wherever you want to go.”
“That’s a great idea!” Edward said with a grin. “We’ll have an awesome night.”
Fucking great.
Chapter Eighteen
Tori was speechless. And way out of her element.
She knew Mike was a superstar but hadn’t really processed exactly what that meant.
They were at the night-before party, and he had made a beeline straight for her as soon as she and Edward had arrived. He’d smiled at her, looking at her the way he had back in Evanston. Part hunger, part amusement, and all what she loved about him.
Except, of course, he was clearly stressed. There was a haunted look in his eyes and an annoyance every time someone tugged on his sleeve. Not surprising, really. Someone was always tugging on his sleeve. But then he smiled, added a little swagger to his motions, and got on with the business of being a superstar.
She’d come here hoping to get a private word with him. She wanted to explain about