AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He pulls me in close. “Just say the word, sweetheart, and I’ll run away with you…as long as you promise to sing to me from your knees.”
This isn’t the first time he has said something like that to me. I pull my head back and look him squarely in the eye.
“What are you going to do when one of these days I say yes to that offer?”
“I’ll pack my bags and tell you to pick the location.”
“I think you actually mean that.”
Derek raises his eyebrows. “I don’t say things I don’t mean, not to you, ever.”
Chapter thirteen
The prospect of ringing in the New Year in Denver, with TJ, filled me with more joy than I will admit, even to myself. Clearly I’m in some state of denial when it comes to him, because the utter disappointment that knocked the wind right out of me when TJ informed me he would not in fact be in Denver for New Year’s, was a blow I hadn’t expected.
“We’re playing in Pennsylvania that day. Winter Classic, annual New Year’s Day outdoor game.”
Of course. What an idiot. Of course, they won’t be in town because I’m playing in their arena. Guilt that I hadn’t realized that fact clawed at my gut.
“Please don’t read anything into the fact that I can’t seem to keep up with your schedule.” I sound pitiful, even to myself.
TJ just laughs it off. “Nandy, I would never expect you to keep up with my schedule, especially with the one you have. Newsflash, I don’t have yours committed to memory either.”
That makes feel marginally better.
But what doesn’t feel great is the fact that I rang in yet another new year as if it was just another day. I went to bed early. There was nobody to kiss at the stroke of midnight. Nobody to stroke either. I grin to myself as I gaze out upon the city and mountains off in the distance. A cloudless bluebird sky day in Colorado.
Happy New Year
I send the text. Wait a moment. Nothing. He must be on the ice. Morning skate. I’m still not altogether sure what that entails, but they happen in the mornings before games. Sounds a lot like their version of my sound checks.
I hear movement in the living room of my hotel suite. Randall is sitting at the round table by the window, laptop open, phone in one hand, typing frantically on both. I’m not his only client. And that has never bothered me. I make him the most money. And that is why he always, always travels with me. And that, that is bothering me. A lot.
“You know I don’t need a chaperone.”
He raises his head momentarily and looks at me, but a ding on his phone steals his attention again.
“Wouldn’t one of your other clients appreciate personal attention occasionally?”
He neither answers nor gives any indication he heard me at all.
“I want a hockey jersey.”
“You want a what?” That he heard.
“I want a hockey jersey to wear during the concert. The Grizzlies are playing a game today, a big outdoor thing in Pennsylvania. So, I thought maybe halfway through the concert I would put on a jersey to show my support.”
“But you aren’t playing in Pennsylvania.”
I sigh. “I know, but I am playing in the Grizzlies arena.”
He finally looks up from his phone. It’s a wonder sometimes that he hears anything I say. I’m greeted with a scowl.
“Never mind, I’ll figure it out.”
He waves his hand dismissively. “I’ll send someone over early to get one.”
“It has to be a specific one.”
