Page 105 of Delay of Game
“I had to ask.” Coach Simmons patted him on the back with a smile. “Enjoy your night.”
“He offered you a coaching position?” I took Rob’s arm, watching Mila as she bounded off into the sea of players and their loved ones. “You didn’t tell me that.”
Rob shrugged. “What’s to tell? I said no. I’d be a terrible coach.”
“I don’t think Ethan would agree.”
“Yeah, well, he’s not that clever. We’re sitting with Noa and Lena. Do you see them anywhere?” Rob narrowed his eyes, searching the crammed ballroom. “Over there.”
We waded through the sea of players and their loved ones, stopping every few seconds so another one of Rob’s teammates could express their shock and surprise that he hadn’t renewed his contract with the Breakers. Unlike the rest of his team, we’d had a season to prepare.
A week after the previous season had ended with the Breakers losing their conference championship, Rob sat the three of us down and told us this would be his last season. Notears. No drama. Just a determination to win the Super Bowl and go out on top.
“What about after?” Mila had asked, voice wavering.
He’d shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. Whatever comes next.”
“Rob!” Lena bounded up from the table with a surprising amount of grace for a woman in her last month of pregnancy. “I can’t believe you’re leaving us.”
“I’m not dying, Lena.” Rob accepted her hug at the same time Kalani wrapped herself around his leg. He let go of Lena and prized her daughter off, holding out the pocket of his tux until she pilfered around inside, emerging with a pack of gummies. “And as a retirement gift, management gave me a set of season tickets to home games.”
“He’s going to hate that,” I mock whispered to Lena.
“It’ll be a real pleasure to watch Rob Grant losing his mind from the stands instead of on the field,” Noa agreed, pulling Rob into a hug.
“Who else is sitting with us?” Rob shifted the conversation, nodding over to the two champagne flutes on the table.
“Ethan and Lily, but they’re grabbing a drink at the bar,” Noa said, scooping Kalani up into his arms. “Shouldn’t be much longer now. We were waiting for you to start.”
“And Trent.” Rob jerked his head back up to the staircase where Trent emerged in a peacock blue tuxedo, complete with a top hat and cane. Kit rolled her eyes at the top of the staircase, a smile on her lips. “That guy always has to make an entrance.”
“If we could have everyone in their seats,” the team owner announced over a microphone.
Dinner flew by in a blur. Gloria showed up in time for the entrees, and the kids stayed awake through the ring ceremony. On the count of three, the entire team opened the boxes with their Super Bowl championship rings and the ballroom erupted in laughing, crying, and a startling amount of screaming. Mila modeled Rob’s ring, putting it on two fingers and holding it up next to Noa’s.
Finally, Gloria whisked the kids upstairs, and the real celebrations began. Cassie pulled me out onto the dance floor while the team owner gifted Rob a Louis XIII Cognac that he immediately popped open to share with his teammates.
Before long, covered in a thin sheen of sweat and only slightly buzzed, I made my way back to Rob’s side.
“Are you having a miserable time?” I teased, glancing my shoulder against his arm.
“No,” he said, brown eyes lighting up. “But I’m ready to get out of here.”
“Already?” I glanced back at the party in full swing and shrugged. “Then I’m ready, too.”
Rob pressed his palm to my back, guiding me away from the staircase and toward a set of double doors beside the stage.
“I think the elevator is back there,” I laughed. “How much of that cognac did you drink?”
“Barely a glass. This way.” Rob put on the steely, commanding voice that sent a shiver down my spine.
“Yes, sir.”
“Right here.” He pushed open a door that led outside.
I stepped into a small garden overlooking the city center. Starlight twinkled overhead.
“Did you need some fresh air?” I ran my hand along the edge of a water fountain in the middle of the garden. Two cherubs dancing, a jet of water spraying over the top of them.
