Page 6 of Best Year Ever
“You’re getting there….” she says, her smile getting a little wider.
“Good to know.” Neither of us have stopped our eye contact, and I see a new expression slip into her eyes.
“So…” She draws out the word. “I came here to network with sponsors, but I’ve done my duty for my agent, I think.”
I hum in response and bring my hand to her neck softly, gliding down it to her shoulder, stopping on her smooth skin there. The gesture’s maybe too intimate for our new acquaintance, but…I don’t know, I can’t resist.
And now I am hoping this night might get a little more intimate.
“Rori…”
“Yes?” she asks, her eyes gleaming.
“Do you want to get out of here? Come hang out in my room?”
“Let’s go,” she says simply, her lips tilting up a little more.
“Okay, we should take a few minutes to say our goodbyes separately and then meet back up.”
I grab her cell phone, program my number in her contacts, and text myself so I have hers too. “This is my number if we can’t find each other within ten minutes.”
She nods. “I’ll stay here for a couple minutes, so you can leave first.”
Ten minutes later, we find each other on opposite sides of the elevator bank, pretending not to be together. She has a big smile on her face as the elevator doors close, leaving us alone.
“I’m on the fourteenth floor,” I tell her, hitting the button.
“This is crazy,” she says. “Not what I expected when I flew up here this morning.”
“Trust me, I planned to be on my best behavior.” I look her in the eyes and wink. “Not sure I can keep that promise now.”
She laughs, the mirrors in the elevator letting me see it from all angles. “I hope not.”
“You even laugh pretty,” I tell her. My comment has her beaming, her eyes big and wide.
I watch as she straightens up a beat later, looking a little impatient at the slow passing of the floors. It’s clear that, like me, she’s looking forward to seeing where the unexpected twist to this evening goes.
I grab her hand as the elevator door finally opens onto my floor. We need to move quickly to try to avoid any prying eyes. Leading her down the hall to my room, I swipe the hotel room card as fast as I can, and then we slide in as soon as I get the door open.
“Do you want more water?” I ask her as I flip on some lights.
Like the room downstairs, the New York City skyline shines outside of the large windows in the living area of the hotel room. I’m thanking my lucky stars that I’d decided to get a suite instead of a standard room for the night, so she isn’t staring at a bed right away as we explore whatever is happening tonight.
Something about Rori has me a little unsettled, even though this shouldn’t really be different than any other night I take someone home from a party. I don’t want her to feel like I’m using her. Maybe because of her status as a fellow athlete?
Don’t overanalyze it, idiot,I tell myself.She clearly wants to be here and is about to go to Australia, halfway across the world.
“I’ll take some water,” Rori responds as she walks further into the space, nearing one of the couches. “Have you stayed at this hotel before? What a view.”
“I don’t think this one, no,” I say, grabbing the drinks from the mini-fridge. “I haven’t been to New York City too often. My life is largely down in Florida now. Although I’ll be traveling overseas once all of my football duties are done later this month.”
I walk toward her and hand her a bottle of water.
“You said you didn’t make the playoffs,” Rori saysas she sits on the top edge of the faux leather couch in the center of the room. “Is that tough? Sorry if it’s a sore subject.”
“Sure, it’s disappointing,” I admit. “I actually won’t even be playing in next weekend’s game, which is the last one of the regular season. I tweaked my ankle mid-season, and the coaches don’t think it’s worth me playing Sunday since it’s a meaningless game.”
Rori peers down at my ankle on instinct.
