Page 48 of Play Along

Dean: But Isaiah was?

Staying towards the back of the line, I wait for the players and coaches to grab their room keys from the table by the front desk.

Hotel check-ins would be a nightmare with how many people we travel with if it weren’t for the team coordinators who have everyone’s hotel keys ready and waiting for us as soon as the buses pull up outside.

The crowd ahead of me disperses until it’s my turn.

Searching the table lined with key cards, I look for the paper sleeve with my last name. There’s only a handful of rooms left, and none of them are mine.

I look around, trying to find one of the team travel coordinators to inform them they forgot a room, only to find Isaiah leaning on a pillar in the lobby, too knowing of a smile on his lips.

He’s the only player still down here. Everyone else has gone up to their rooms.

It’s been a week since Opening Day and things have been better between us around the clubhouse. He hasn’t gone off on my boss again. In fact, he’s swung in the opposite direction. Now, he’s bordering on too professional. He hasn’t once publicly hit on me the way he had for the past three years.

I kind of miss it.

I wheel my luggage towards him. “My key is miss—”

Isaiah holds up a single room key with “I. Rhodes & K. Rhodes” clearly printed on the sleeve.

“K. Rhodes better be referring to your brother, because there’s no way in hell I’m sharing a room with you.”

“Guess again.”

“No,” I hear myself say.

Isaiah chuckles. “I’m a cuddler, Ken. Are you a snorer? I hope not, but then again, I’ll probably snuggle you so hard you won’t be able to breathe anyway.”

My eyes narrow. “Was that supposed to be romantic? Telling me you’re going to suffocate me?”

“But in a loving way. I’m going to suffocate you in a loving way.”

I shake my head in disbelief. I married this guy. Drunkenly, yes, but still.

“We’re not sharing a room. No one else shares a room.”

“No one else is married either.”

Frantically, I look around the lobby, finding Glen, our main travel coordinator, speaking with Reese.

I take my luggage with me to sort this out.

“I book our hotels as soon as the schedule comes out,” he explains to her. “They typically fill up, and we were lucky this year...” He spots me waiting to speak to him. “Oh, hey, Kennedy, I was just telling Reese how lucky we got that you and Isaiah are sharing a room this season, so I was able to give your hotel room to her.”

Shit.

“Oh.” My tone is too high, too forced. “That’s... perfect. I just wanted to check in with you and make sure it was okay for Isaiah and me to share a room?” Please say no. “I wasn’t sure with the team rules...”

“My grandfather gave the approval,” Reese cuts in.

Fucking fantastic.

“Well, isn’t that... thoughtful of him.”

Glen chuckles. “You two are newlyweds. Even if I booked you two separate rooms, you’d just end up in one anyway. Man, with how long you guys were sneaking around, you two could have saved us a lot of money by just rooming together the whole time.”

Reese and Glen share a laugh.

---