Page 26 of Crew
Just as the band started to play, I exhaled, rubbed a hand over myface, and pushed back from the table. “I’m heading back to the hotel. I’m not in the mood to celebrate.”
Singleton was already moving to stand. “I’ll walk with you.”
Latham arched a brow but didn’t question it.
“You don’t need to do that. Stay and watch the band.”
He shook his head. “It’s cool. I don’t mind.”
“All right.”
I could feel the weight of my teammates’ stares as Singleton and I stepped outside together.
“You sure you’re good?” Singleton asked.
“No idea,” I admitted. “It’s a lot to think about.”
“It is. But you’ll handle it one way or another.”
I scoffed, shaking my head. “You think? Because my mind’s going a million miles an hour, and none of it makes sense. One second, I was having a drink, and the next—” I looked up at the sky. “How the hell am I supposed to deal with this?”
He stopped walking, turning to face me. “You asked for the test. That’s step one. You’re not running from it, Stratton. That says a lot.”
“I guess.”
We kept walking, the quiet stretching between us, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Just something steady in the middle of all the chaos swirling in my head. After a moment, I blew out a breath. “What does this mean for us?”
He slowed his steps, glancing over. “Us?”
I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck. “Yeah. I mean ... this changes things, right?”
10
Knox
His question caughtme off guard. While I’d recently started to realize I was developing feelings for Stratton, I hadn’t given much thought to what might have been going through his mind.
I opened my mouth to respond, but he looked around and shook his head. Likely noticing we were out in the open and someone could possibly overhear us.
“We can talk in my room,” he said as we walked toward the hotel entrance.
The doors slid open, and we made our way over to the elevators. A couple followed us inside, ensuring the ride up remained silent.
Once we were finally locked in his room, he grabbed a small bottle of vodka from the minibar and tossed it back. “Want one?” He shook the now empty bottle.
“Nah.” I picked up a water from the counter and twisted it open before asking, “What did you mean by ‘this changes things’ for us?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know. If I’m going to bea dad, I need to focus on the kid. Not …” He trailed off, staring at his feet.
I stepped closer to him. “Not what?”
“Not messing around with a teammate.”
Logically, I knewmessing aroundwas what we were doing. My position on the team was temporary, and when Long came off the IL, we’d likely go our separate ways. But what we were doing had started to feel like more than hooking up—at least it had for me. I had no idea how Stratton was feeling.
“Can I ask you a question?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
