Page 16 of For the Boys
“We should do it again sometime.”
“Maybe. I’m not in town very often.”
“Well, call me next time you are. I’ll put my number in your phone.”
Not wanting to be rude, Brent pressed his phone into her outstretched palm. Her fingers flew across the screen as she put her information in.
Thankfully, she left her contact up on the screen when she handed it back, reminding him of her name: Kendra.
Then the phone buzzed in his hand, alerting him to his arriving Uber.
“Well, there’s my ride.” Stepping toward her, he gave her an awkward one-arm hug before moving past her, navigating through the small apartment to the door.
Mitch called as he settled himself in the car. “Bro, where are you?”
“Heading back to the hotel,” Brent said. “Could you find me some Advil or something?”
Mitch chuckled. “Sure can. How was your night?”
“Good?” Brent said. “Although, I don’t remember much after leaving the bar, so who the hell knows.”
“Did she say she wanted to see you again?”
“She did.”
“Then you definitely had a good night. Or at least she did.”
“I mean, I am a professional hockey player,” Brent said with a smirk. “You know…stamina for days.”
Mitch’s laugh echoed in the small car, and the driver made uncomfortable eye contact with Brent in the rearview mirror.
“That’s my boy,” Mitch said. “Get your ass back here and you can tell me all about it on the plane.”
Brent laughed. “I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll have Advil and Liquid I.V. waiting for you.”
“My hero,” Brent said before hanging up.
The further from Kendra’s he got, the more sanity returned, and the heavier the weight settling in his stomach became.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
Hadn’t he just told Berkley he wanted to get to know her? Hadn’t he just made a big deal of messaging her and then talking to his teammates about her? And here he was, in yesterday’s clothes, underwear in his pocket, heading back to the hotel after a one-night stand he barely remembered. He wouldn’t let himself regret it, because he technically hadn’t done anything wrong, but this was presumably not the kind of behavior she was looking for in a significant other. He didn’t know her all that well, so who was to say what she was looking for, but he would bet good money it wasn’tthis.
But, because he was in Nashville, she would likely never find out about this little transgression.
It was time to get serious, to really stop fucking around and get Berkley’s attention. But he was going to need some help.
Once the plane had reached cruising altitude on their way back to Detroit, Brent got up and moved to the back, where Mitch was chatting with a couple of the rookies and the Warriors captain, Jordan Dawson.
“What’s up, Jean?” Mitch said.
“Uhh…” Brent said, suddenly uncomfortable. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
Mitch looked up, seeming surprised. “Yeah, sure, man.”
They moved a few rows away and sat down in a couple of empty seats next to the wings. “What’s up?”
