“Damn. Your wife was so quiet, I figured she was just spacing out.”
“You think I married a space cadet? Get with it, LeBlanc. She’s twice as smart as me.”
I laughed, and my mind shot back to my wholebig braintirade in the immigration office.
“Something funny?”
“Look, thanks for bringing this to my attention. We’re good, right? The trade deadline is going to pass.”
“Yeah, we’re good, fingers crossed. Give it another month. My point is that Jackie is pulling the strings up in the office. So just stay under the radar, at least until then, for goodness sakes. Hey, maybe even kiss a little ass. Do more of that charity stuff. And in Chicago this time. No more Vegas.”
“Hey, it’s not like I can get shotgun married in Vegasagain,” I said.
Coach Slanch put his hand on my shoulder. “If anyone could pull it off, it’d be you.”
“I choose to take that as a compliment.”
He exhaled loudly. “So, are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on with you two? Or am I better off not knowing?”
I let my gaze drift outside the plane. The truth was, I was thoroughly enjoying my adventure with Cat, whatever name it had. Mutual benefits. Friends with benefits. Marriage.
It was all the same now.
Usually, the only part of my week I truly reveled in were the games. Now, I found myself excited to head back to Chicago, since she was going to be staying with me for a few days this weekend.
It had been ten days since we’d seen each other—the most time we had gone without seeing each other since we got married.
I felt my dick twitch just thinking about what was going to happen when we touched down in Chicago. She said she had a surprise for me.
Would she be waiting for me in a trench coat?
Maybe cook up one of those raw fish meals she was into—sushi or whatever.
“LeBlanc? You gonna answer?”
“My bad, Coach. Look, you don’t have to know everything. We’re happy. That’s what counts.”
He blew out an audible, frustrated breath. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Now I’ll leave you so I can get some shut eye.”
He headed to the back of the plane and I took out my phone, fiddling with the wifi. We were a couple hours from landing, and a little sexting would be a good way to get us both warmed up for the landing.
When I finally connected my phone to the plane wifi though, I felt my heart drop into my stomach.
Kit Cat:Why the fuck is there a naked woman in your apartment???
I swallowed, and a pit formed in my stomach. Well this was not good.
CHAPTER 22
CATARINA
I rolledmy suitcase from the Lyft down the sidewalk of Dustin’s street. The smells of spring were imminent, and I was grateful for the surprising relative warmth of the afternoon, though it was still below freezing.
An elementary school was across the street from Dustin’s brownstone, and moms and dads played with their kids in the park connected to the school, a fun Sunday afternoon activity.
Stopping for a moment, I saw a dad pretending to be a monster and chase his daughter while she screamed in delight. I smiled from the inside, and my mind went to Dustin’s whole ‘big brain’ routine. It was like he couldn’t turn off the joking side of him.
At the time, I hated it, but now I found myself wondering how he’d be as a dad.
