“That obvious, huh?”
She chuckled. “Just a little. I’m Tori,” she introduced herself, extending her hand to mine. “I’m Keyshawn Randolph’s wife.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Cassidy.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Who are you here supporting?”
“Number twenty-two, Hendrix…”
“Croft?” she answered before I could finish.
“Yeah.”
“So, how long have you two been dating?”
“I’m not sure that’s any of your business,” I replied, instinctively protecting my privacy.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, but some of the players bring girls up to the suites days after meeting them. You know, here one day, gone tomorrow type of flings.”
“Hendrix and I are far from afling,” I assured her.
“Oh, good. I didn’t get that vibe from you, but I just wanted to be sure.”
“Sure of what?” I inquired.
“Just before I introduced you to the other women, of course. A lot of the players’ girlfriends and fiancées have learned a lot from almost everyone in here. We’re a mix of entrepreneurs, CEOs, models, mothers, and everything in between. We don’t share the knowledge of the game withone hit wonders,as we call them.”
I smiled at her gesture. “Again, I’m not aone hit wonder, or whatever you call it. Hendrix and I are together. No matter what you’ve read in the blogs or what you’ve heard, I’m his woman. I’m good on the knowledge but thank you though.”
She nodded before letting out a harmless chuckle. “I get it. I was just like you when I first started coming to Keyshawn’s games. Reserved, guarded. I thought I knew everything about my man and had all these other bitches on notice that I was his and he was mine, but it doesn’t always matter to some.”
She seemed to speak to me from past trauma and experience.
“This is just all…a lot,” I acknowledged, taking in the sight lines across the arena.
“Oh, trust me, I get it. Some of the ladies can be very…”
“Intimidating?” I asked, finishing her sentence.
“I was going to say bitchy, but intimidating works too,” she joked.
The two of us shared a gum-baring laugh. “Merry Christmas, by the way.”
“Oh, thank you. Merry Christmas to you, too. It’s been slipping my mind all day that it’s actually Christmas Eve. When it’s game day, nothing else really matters.”
“Christmas is my favorite holiday.”
“It used to be my favorite, too.”
“Used to be?” I queried.
“Well, when the season starts, we’re always here or there. I travel when he travels, so if we’re lucky, we can spend Christmas at home, but more often than not, we’re in some hotel suite somewhere, where it hardly ever snows. So, I kinda lost my love for the holiday over the years.”
“Mmm, gotcha. Well, at least you get to spend it together, right?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“How long have you been married, if you don’t mind me asking?”
