Page 133 of Play Me
I scream, jumping up and down, as the time hits zero. Gianna and Audrey form a group hug, all of us bouncing around too much to do much but knock a beer out of a guy’s hand who was sitting beside Gianna.
“Roy-als! Roy-als! Roy-als!”
We join in the chant, tears streaming down my face as I watch Gray run around the pitch in celebration with his teammates.
I glance at Hartley. He’s chuckling, standing like a proud parent—practically beaming. He looks over his shoulder at me and grins.
“I wish our parents could see this,” he says, biting his bottom lip and struggling to stay composed. “They were so proud of him.” He smiles. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“You brought my brother back to me. I can’t thank you enough.”
Fucking emotions. Tears stream down my cheeks as Hartley pulls me into a hug. It’s not as warm as Gray’s, nor as strong, and it doesn’t smell as good either since I got Gray to start using fabric softener. But this hug feels different. It feels important. It’s one I won’t forget.
“Miss Lawsen?” A man wearing a security suit pokes his head around the side of Jasper. “Follow me.”
“Go,” Hartley says. “He’ll take you down to Gray.”
I look over my shoulder at my friends who shoo me away.
“Tell him we’re proud of him,” Hartley says as I walk by.
Jasper smiles at me as I slide by him, and Cathy pulls me into a quick hug. Rivers of mascara streak her cheeks. I hope Gray gets to see that today.
The guard says nothing as we pick our way down the stairs and through the crowd. I stick close to him through a gate and step onto the grass. Despite the mass of bodies and the pure pandemonium, my gaze immediately finds Gray’s.
I run to him, ignoring the guard telling me not to run and meet Gray in the middle of the pitch. He gathers me into his sweaty arms, hauls me into his soaked chest, and swings me around in a circle.
I feel like I’m floating in a dream.
“You’re amazing,” I whisper into his ear. “We’re all so proud of you.”
He finds the spot he loves in the crook of my neck, and presses a kiss there, letting it linger a few long moments. Even though we’re surrounded by players and their families, and by the media and the team staff, it feels like it’s just the two of us. Maybe it is just the two of us.
“Good work today,” Breaker smacks Gray on the back.
Gray pulls away and looks up at him. Something happens between the two of them, something I can’t hear or understand. But Gray nods at him.
“You too, Break.”
“I want to apologize to you, Astrid, for the other day in the locker room,” Breaker says. “I was an ass.”
What?“Um, yeah. Thanks, Breaker. I appreciate that.”
Gray clasps Breaker’s hand before he walks away.
“I didn’t expect that,” I say, shaking the shock out of my system.
Gray grins, his dimples setting deep in his cheeks. “I did.”
Yup. Something happened between them.
I stretch my arms over his shoulders and gaze up into those pools of expensive chocolate—like the kind you get on Valentine’s Day. “How do you suggest we celebrate this victory, Champion?”
“I suggest we celebrate by moving in together.”
His response catches me off guard. Instead of answering, I just stare at him like a goof.
