The kid’s hopeless.
“We’re actually gonna head home,” I say.
“We are?” Erin says at the same time Rudy pouts and whines like a kid who just had his spade stolen from him in the sandbox.
Rudy’s lips jut out. “But Ruby Roulette awaits us.”
“Let’s go for a little while. You deserve to celebrate, and I wouldn’t mind being spun around on the dance floor to a song or two,” Erin murmurs.
“I support this plan,” Rudy adds.
“You want to stay out?” I ask her.
“Yeah, Eighty-Seven, I want to stay out,” she says, and Rudy hollers even louder.
We get to the private bar. The music is loud, and the people covering the dance floor are having a great time. Erin stays close to my side, holding my hand as I guide her through the crowd.
I get her a Shirley Temple and a club soda for myself as I make my way back to the booth. She’s tucked in the corner talking to Hayes, who hasn’t stopped grinning since the final buzzer of the game went off. He’s giving proud dad vibes tonight, earning his nickname.
Erin’s gaze tracks Oliver, still at the bar chatting with the bartender. “What’s the deal between Oliver and Crawford?” she asks, her eyes flicking to Hayes.
“They played against each other in high school,” Hayes replies, his voice flat. “Always giving Oliver shit.”
We watch as Oliver shimmies to the dance floor, drink in hand, anger now forgotten.
“Watching them go at it… that shove seemed personal,” Erin says.
“Yeah,” Hayes mutters. His gaze never leaves Oliver, who joins Rudy. “She was the only one who ever called him Ollie.”
Erin pauses for a beat and then hums, reading between the lines. She lets the silence hang for a moment before shifting her attention back to the dance floor.
She laughs at Rudy and Oliver busting moves on the dance floor that should not be allowed in public because of how goofy they look.
When I look down at her, her eyes are glassy as she takes in her brother, who has the biggest grin on his face as he shakes his ass and wiggles his hips, completely lost in the music.
I throw my arm around Erin and kiss the top of her head. She melts into my side. “Talk to me,” I say in her ear.
“I’m just… I’m so proud of him. He turned his entire life around,” she says, and I kiss away the one tear that slips down her cheek. There’s this softness in her eyes, and it hits me hard—how much love she has, even after everything she’s lived through.
She looks up at me with her whiskey eyes.
“I’m so proud of you too, Eighty-Seven. You played amazing, and I think you can go all the way,” she says as another tear falls down her cheek.
“Thank you, baby.”
She nuzzles into me, and we stay that way for the next hour, wrapped up in each other as we laugh at Oliver and Rudy.
After a dance, we call it a night and head home. The second the front door shuts behind us, the noise, lights, and chaos of the win disappears.
It’s just us.
Ten minutes later, I make my way to the bathroom, but Erin still hasn’t come out. The silence makes me freak out. I knock, already bracing for I don’t even know what.
She opens the door, wearing the black satin robe I got her a few weeks ago.
“Everything okay?” I ask her.
“I love you.”
