Page 10 of Scoring Slater
Vince nodded. "Joseph and I will too."
"Count me in for one also," Celek promised.
Rod lifted his drink. "I'll do one too."
Then Leo said, "Kelsey will want to share it from the team's accounts. You should send it to her."
"When I posted the photo of us all a few minutes ago, I saw that she'd already shared it from my account. She's really efficient."
"My wife is awesome."
"Everyone thinks so." Slater gave Leo a punch in the arm. "And since you've been so nice to me tonight, I can't even say anything snarky to you."
"I swear you act like my brothers more and more."
Grinning, he thought of Leo’s warm and welcoming family, so different from his own parents. They cared, of course, but their careers had always come first. Before each other and before him. With the Brennans, family always came first. "I’m an honorary Brennan. Your dad said so on his last visit here."
"Anyone want a refill?" The scraping of a chair on the floor accompanied Noah's question. He pushed away from the island and grabbed another beer from the fridge.
Vince frowned and mouthed,Is he okay?
Slater shrugged.
Joseph leaned back on his stool and draped his arm around Vince's shoulders. "So, they win a date with you?"
"Yeah. Technically the dates are supposed to happen Saturday night after the All Star game or Sunday while everyone is still in Chicago. Or I guess depending on where they live, we could work it out sometime later."
"I wonder how much you'll go for."
"I just hope someone bids on me."
Leo burst out laughing. "Slater. Really? Did you not see the comments under that post? There are a ton of enthusiastic people saying they'd go to Chicago just to try to win a date with you."
"Talk is one thing. Following through is another."
Noah plunked his beer on the table and took his seat. He turned the bottle cap over and over in his hand, glaring at the small circle of metal. "People will bid on you. Knowing you, you'll probably live stream the thing and that'll start a bidding war."
"I'm definitely posting something from the stage. Some of the fans asked me, so they could feel like they were there."
"Are you going to live stream your date too?" Noah tossed the bottle cap at Slater, and the ping as it hit the island's granite surface in front of Slater rang in his ears. "I'm sure they'd love to see that. In fact, if it doesn't work out, why don't you turn the rest of the season into your version of a reality dating show? Pick a guy in each city during our road trips, take the fans along on your dates, then let them decide who you should choose."
"What's your deal?" Slater zinged the bottle cap at Noah, pegging him in the center of his chest. His stomach twisted as he glowered at his jerk of a roommate. "Just because you didn't want to do the auction, and don't think I should do it, doesn't mean that you can be an asshole about it."
Deafening silence flooded the room as they glared at each other. Slater's lungs heaved as he exerted more effort than imaginable to steady his shaky limbs. In the corners of his vision, he was aware of Celek, Joseph, Vince, Rod, and Leo staring at them.
Noah held his gaze as the sparks of anger and tense muscles faded into the impersonal, disinterested mask he wore during media interviews. "You're right. I won't say anything else about it."
Surprise and hurt and anger swirled together in an uncomfortable concoction. Slater stared at him, unsure of what to say.
"What are everyone's plans during the All Star break?" Leo's question pierced the quiet room. He casually lifted his bottle of water as though nothing had happened and glanced at Rod. "Are you and Arielle going anywhere?"
"We're taking Jacob to an indoor water park. It should be fun."
"Cool. Kelsey and I are doing a quick trip down to Philly to see my family. Vince and Joseph?"
Vince leaned into Joseph's side and smiled when his fiancé's arm encircled him. "Since Joseph has to work, we'll be hanging around here."
Celek turned toward them. "I want to surprise Victoria with a weekend away, but I need to find someone to watch her dogs first. Would you guys mind doing it?"
