They both laugh.
“It’s an excuse to hang out with my boys across the league.”
“What about for you?”I ask Brooke.
“I get to party and decide which of a few hundred attractive male specimens gets the prize of hooking up with me.”
“You’re not gonna hook up with someone,” her brother objects.“Not now, not ever.”
“I already have.”
Jay straightens.“Tell me his name and I’ll end him.”
“Which year?”Brooke breezes into the room, leaving her brother muttering behind her.
I came to the all-star game to support Clay.Even if he’s been before, it’s a big deal.He asked me to stay with him, but I said no, wanting a little bit of space and also for him to have time with his guys.
Brooke and I are sharing a room, one I insisted on paying for with my latest paycheck from the Kodiaks.
But I am wearing the jersey Clay had delivered to my door—a special all-star edition bearing his name and number.It arrived with a handwritten note.
This one has a fireproof coating.
CW
“The bathroom?”I ask as Brooke and Jay head inside.
“Yeah.It has to be in the shower so when he pulls the curtain back, there’s Michael," Brooke explains.
They take turns positioning the cardboard cutout.
“No, wait, like this.”Jay steps inside the shower with both feet, making the cutout assume an awkward and provocative position.
“Why Michael Bublé?”I ask.
“One year, Jay kept listening to what he called his hype music but wouldn’t let anyone in on it.Turned out it was Michael Bublé’s Christmas album.The guys never let him live it down,” Brooke says under her breath.
We watch Jay step out of the bathtub and brush off his hands.
The sound of laugher in the hallway makes us freeze.
“Shit!”I curse.
There’s no time to get out.Brooke grabs me and Jay and sprints out of the bathroom as voices stop outside the door.
There’s nowhere to hide.
Jay dives into the closet, pulling it shut behind him.
“Traitor!”Brooke hisses.
Pulling her with me, I lunge for the curtains like people do in the movies.
The door clicks.I listen to him walk into the bathroom and turn on the sink.
“What the…?”
Brooke and I hold our breath in anticipation.
