He opened his laptop. “I’ll set you up as an admin, and you can start now. If you want to,” he added quickly, as if thinking he was pushing.
“Yes, why not? You need to find a place and get things set up. As luxurious as this suite is, I’m sure you don’t want to live in a hotel any longer than you have to.”
“Yeah, I’m already sick of it. But since I don’t know the city at all, I’m in your hands.”
“Don’t worry,” I reassured him. “I’ll find you the right place. Do you want to be downtown, near Dev and Brody, or you don’t care?”
Crossing his big arms, he reclined on the sofa. “At this point, it doesn’t matter all that much since I’m away so often during the season. But yeah, I’d like to be nearby so I’ll know at least two people I can meet for a beer.”
“That narrows it down.” I typed away. “One or two bedrooms?”
“At least two. My parents and I are real close, and they come to stay with me a lot. So they need their own space.”
“Got it.” Waiting for the page to load, I let my mind wander. Did my parents think about me at all? I’d stopped contacting them years ago—every holiday I’d call but they never reciprocated or asked about me or my life, and they made no attempt to see me despite living less than two miles away, on the Upper East Side. I knew I was a disappointment to them—I didn’t measure up to Rory. They’d lost the one son they’d loved. But Rory loved me and always told me to be myself because there was no one else like me. And though Dev had tried his best and I loved him and would forever be grateful for all he’d done, I really missed my brother. I blinked at the tears burning my eyes and concentrated on this new chapter of my life.
“How much do you want to spend? The median price for a two-bedroom in Tribeca ranges from between three to four million dollars.”
Trick whistled. “Damn. Dorothy, we are not in Kansas anymore.”
“I’m sure you’re used to prices like that, living in Southern California.”
“I grew up in a little house—we didn’t have much money. Part of the fights that broke up me and both my ex-wives was that I didn’t want to live in a huge mansion with all the luxuries. I wasn’t home much, so it didn’t make sense to me. There wereno kids yet, so why bother? A small, two-bedroom condo was enough for me.”
“But not them?” This painted such a different picture of whom I believed Patrick to be.
His smile was wistful. “No. Not them. They thought the life of a football player’s wife meant going to events, premieres, and partying. They didn’t want to travel with me or even come to my games unless it was postseason. Neither lasted more than a season.”
“Guess they tried to play you.”
His brows shot up, and my stomach flip-flopped.
Shit, what the hell did I just say?
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t worry about it.” He chuckled. “You’re right. But I’ve settled down now. Fact is, Dev’s been a great role model. He’s not that much older than me, but I look up to him. He’s the toughest competitor on the field and no drama off it.”
“He’s a great guy.” Dev truly was, but I wanted to hear more about Patrick’s personal life. “So you’ve gotten rid of your properties in California?”
“Yeah. Each ex got the condo we lived in when we were married—I sure as hell didn’t want the apartments, but funnily enough, in the end they did. I kept a small place by the beach I bought years ago, before I got married. It was a dump, but I fixed it up. It’s quiet, and I go there just to get away from it all. Or to lick my wounds after a loss.”
“And you’re from Kansas?”
“Yeah. Small town about fifty miles from Kansas City. Nothing like this, that’s for sure.” He tipped the bottle of beer to his lips, and through lowered lashes, I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. His neck rose up thick, tanned, andstrong, and I could see the faint blue vein running up the side. I remembered licking it, tasting him.
Concentrate, idiot.
I bit my tongue and listened to Patrick speak.
“After a game, we’d head out to the lake and hang out. Fool around…you know, stuff like that.”
No, I didn’t, but I listened. Sports didn’t dominate our high school culture. We would hang out in the park, or at someone’s house, playing video games. Maybe one of the guys’ older brothers would buy us beer. Inevitably, guys and girls would pair up and sneak off to make out. I’d kissed a few girls so no one would guess my secret.
“Where do you live?” Trick asked. “Do you have a partner—a boyfriend?”
My fingers fumbled. “I, uh, live a few minutes away from Dev and Brody. It made it easy if he needed me in a hurry. And no, I’m not dating anyone, so you don’t have to worry about my personal life taking precedence over work.”
Trick frowned. “Hey, that’s not what I was asking. You can find out all about my private life from the news.” His eyes glimmered with amusement.
