she answer before she returned to their hotel room.
“If it’s a yes, then wink into the camera. At least give me that,” he said, pouting when she dressed for the ceremony. She was set to announce a selection during the first round and Ryder hadn’t yet recovered from their return trip from Scotland to check out a distillery he was thinking of investing in.
“I make zero promises,” she teased, kissing him soundly as she finished dressing and left the bathroom. When Ryder crashed onto the bed, Reese stood next to him, nudging the mattress with her knee. “Are you gonna watch? This is kind of a big deal, you know.”
“So was my question…”
He was probably asleep, likely still irritated at her non-answer, but she still looked right into the camera, smile twisting and a little flirty before she winked. If he didn’t get that, he didn’t deserve an answer at all.
This was a moment Reese never got. It was the shift in attitude Gia had ushered in for herself and every woman that followed after them. The tide turned with each contract Gia signed and every upright Reese shot ball after ball through.
The crowd expected this. The media had discussed the prospect of this draft being different than any other ever held and it would be because this was the year the old boys’ club had its narrow doors blasted open.
Reese leaned forward, holding the draft card in her hand, surrounded by a royal blue NFL Draft banner behind her. “With the eighteenth pick in the first round, the Denver Broncos select the placekicker from Duke University…Grace Reynolds!”
There were loud, roaring noises, all hoots of joy, a spattering of low, booing cries from a few Broncos fans, but Reese did not pay attention to anything except the woman walking toward her. She was athletic and tall, taller than Reese by at least five inches, but her legs were not as defined, and her quads were not as thick. There were tears already brimming in her eyes and her dark skin was flushed bright pink around her cheeks. Just like Reese, Grace Reynolds had been trained by her father, Coach Noble at Duke. She had the goods and now the world would know about them.
“Thank you!” Grace said, hurrying to Reese to wrap her arms around the woman’s neck. “Oh, God, thank you, Reese!”
“I just announced it. You did all the hard work,” she told the girl, helping her hold up her Denver jersey as the commissioner stood on her other side and all three smiled for the cameras.
There would be more tears for them all, especially for Grace when her cell rang, and she picked up the call, following Reese as she led them away from the stage and behind that thick curtain.
“It’s your dad,” Grace whispered.
“Tell him I said hi and I’ll see him next weekend,” Reese said, taking Grace’s hug before the woman went down the small steps and toward the waiting queue of reporters, their mics already out, waiting for her to speak with them.
Reese glanced at her own phone, expecting at least a text from Ryder, but found only an email notifications. “Awesome,” she said, sighing then stopped next to a water fountain at her right as she spotted Gia, standing twenty feet in front of her, shaking, her head lowered.
She seemed to be hiding from Pukui who spoke animatedly to a man with his back to Reese and it looked like neither man noticed Gia at all. They seemed focused on each other and not the leggy brunette at their side, staring up at the man Pukui spoke to with a horrified expression on her face.
“Gia?” Reese called, her voice carrying over the noise of the cheering crowd. It was enough that Pukui and the man he spoke to looked up. Reese’s mouth dropped open when she spotted Kona Hale next to Pukui, his hands in his pockets.
Kona looked at Reese, the right side of his mouth twitching as he seemed to recognize her, offering the kicker a low nod of approval before his gaze shifted and he turned completely to look at Gia.
“Jilani?” Kona asked, earning a frown from Gia and an awed look of surprise from Pukui.
“You know Gia?” Pukui asked Kona, both men turning. Pukui walked to her side, his face confused as he looked down at her. “Gia…you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Kona’s smile lowered, and he looked solely at Gia now, head moving. “Well,” he said, expression