Page 131 of Waiting Game

“Want me to sign it?”

I grin at him. “Good man.”

He digs out a marker from somewhere—unlike Gracie and apparently Gagné, I’m not a walking stationery shop—signs his jersey and helmet, then tosses it to me as I autograph a bunch of my gear too.

Noticing one of the housekeeping staff emptying the trash, I call, “Yo, dude, you got an empty bag?”

The guy blinks at me as if he’s used to being nonexistent, which kinda makes me feel like crap, but he passes a roll of trash bags to me. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” I tell him as I rip off four. “I’ve seen you around, man. What’s your name?”

“Brody.”

I bump his fist.

He shoots me a shy smile and returns to his business as I dump a bunch of stuff in each bag.

As Gagné grabs a hat from his cubby and tosses it to me, he flinches.

“You okay, bro?”

“Just didn’t fall right.” His shrug is dismissive as he departs. “I’ll see you later.”

Whistling, I leave the locker room with the bags in my hands ten minutes later and get caught by Gracie, who’s done for the day too.

“You in the middle of a heist?”

I wouldn’t ordinarily care, but seeing as this is for the bar that betrayed her… I wince. “Maybe.”

She snorts but apparently gets distracted when she misreads my guilt, making me feel even worse. “You okay? Don’t let that Finnegan POS get to you?—”

“This isn’t my first press rodeo, G.” Together, we stride down the tunnel toward the parking lot. “Is Liam waiting for you?”

“Of course he is,” she says with a laugh, then she twists back to point at something. Which is when I spy the two-man team following us. “You didn’t hear them?”

“No.”

“Where’s your head at?” she asks, amused.

“Nowhere.”

“Back in the locker room?”

“Nah, thinking about a couple plays that went wrong tonight.” I flick a look at her and realize her eyes are a touch puffy. “You been crying, G?”

“You know, for a pain in my ass, you always notice shit.”

“It’s a gift.” Though she chuckles, it’s watery. I gently nudge her with my elbow. “Everything all right? Do I need to beat the crap outta Liam?”

Her lips kick up in a smile. “No. I was talking to Lacey Kerrigan earlier, that’s all.”

Oh.

“How is she?”

“Dying,” is her flat response.

“That—” I blow out a breath. “—sucks.”

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