Her perfectly arched eyebrows rise. “You’re serious?”
“I am.” I nod.
“Then can we make a wager?”
“No.”
“Come on. I bet you sleep with the man before this is all over.”
I shake my head. “I can’t sleep with him. He’s a client now.”
She shakes her head. “One day you’ll realize rules are meant to be broken, Saige. Especially when he’s got a body like that.”
I wish I could say I disagree with her.
Chapter Nine
Aiden
I arrive in Philly with the team and head straight to the room I’ll be sharing with Maksim. The plane ride wasn’t too bad since we ended up playing the Oh Hell card game, which is the whole reason Ford is ignoring us—even though we’re on the same floor and our rooms are right next to one another’s.
“Rematch, Jacobs?” Maksim eggs Ford on as we head down the hall, towing our suitcases. We all end up outside our rooms, key cards in hand.
Ford waves his card in front of his door and it buzzes. He enters, leaving Tweetie shaking his head at us.
“Thanks a lot, assholes,” Tweetie says. “Now I’m stuck with a pissed-off roommate.”
“He’ll get over it,” I say, and we enter our room after Tweetie flips us off.
Once we’re in our room, I take off my jacket and hang it in the closet before sitting on the edge of the bed to take off my shoes. Maksim, on the other hand, flops face-first on the mattress.
“You’re gonna get wrinkled,” I tell him even though he doesn’t care. He never does.
He rolls over. “So how are we playing this? The old sock thing?”
I take off my other shoe and lie back on the bed, exhausted after being up all night debating if I made the right decision with Saige. It’s hard to trust that people will do what they say when you’re in the public eye. But if she’s helping me, it’s only right I do the same, especially since she didn’t ask for anything to begin with.
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“Your girl is in the hotel. It’s cool if you want to get it on. Just let me know. I would be pissed if someone saw my girl naked.”
“Do you have a girl I don’t know about?”
“Hell. No. But if I did, no one would see one inch of her skin.”
“So what? When you find the girl you want to marry, she’s gonna have to wear a sheet over her everywhere she goes?”
He sits up on the bed and toes out of his shoes. They drop to the floor one by one with a thud. “No, I’m just not cool with people seeing what’s mine.”
“Lucky girl,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
“You’re dodging.”
“I’m not dodging. First of all, she’s not my girl. Second of all, all I need from her is to throw a drink at me. End of story.”
He shrugs out of his jacket and tosses it on the chair across the room. Maksim and I are close in age. We’ve been roommates when we travel since we started with the Fury and he’s my boy, but he’s also the biggest slob I’ve ever met.
“You’re delusional when it comes to her.”
I glance at him, my forearms resting on my thighs. “She’s dating Joran.”
“Since when does Joran date? I swear he parties with us just to get into women’s pants.”
Maksim has a point, but who am I to say which girl can reform a playboy? One day I’m sure there’ll even be a woman who will win Ford over. Saige is awesome. She’d be a game-changer for a lot of guys.
“He’s my agent and he’s done a lot for me.”
Maksim unbuttons his shirt. “Let me get this straight. Joran is wherever he is. You’re here. Saige is here. You’re going to be the go-to guy to keep her company. She’s traveling with us to every city, staying in the same hotel as us, just to throw a drink in your face.”
I nod.
He stands from the bed, his shirt joining his suit jacket haphazardly thrown on the chair. He claps me on the shoulder. “Good luck, man.”
“What does that mean?”
He stops before entering the bathroom. “You don’t have the willpower to resist her.”
The bathroom door shuts, and I sit there for a moment, thinking his words through. Of course the jackass has a point.
Luckily my phone interrupts my spiraling thoughts. Not lucky—it’s the woman in question.
Saige: We’re here. Room 320. Let me know when you need me.
I pretend I’m not thinking dirty thoughts over her choice of phrase. But I have some time to kill before the game and I’d rather spend it with her than listening to Maksim snore. I’m too wired to rest.
Me: Want to go tour Philly?
The three dots appear and disappear, then reappear.
Saige: Sure. I’ll meet you in the lobby in 10?
Me: Perfect.
Maksim comes out of the bathroom wearing only his boxer briefs, throwing the rest of his clothes on the chair.
“I’m heading out,” I say.
“Great.” He slides under the covers on the bed and grabs the remote. “I’m gonna watch some porn and take a nap before the game.”
I’m thankful he doesn’t ask me where I’m going and who I’ll be with. Then again, he knows I usually go out in the cities we travel to. Why would I stay holed up in the hotel when my job allows me to travel the country? Nothing worse than spending time in a city and only seeing the airport, the hotel, and the arena.
I quickly change into jeans and a sweater, grabbing my winter coat since Philly is fucking freezing. My skull hat might keep me from being recognized, so I put it on, and I grab my sunglasses before I’m out the door.
Saige is already downstairs in the lobby, looking over the brochure area for tourists. She’s bundled up in a jacket, scarf, hat, mittens, and boots. She looks adorable and I wish I was the lucky bastard who could peel away those layers until she was naked in front of me.
I lean forward and whisper in her ear, “Hey.”
She jumps. “You scared me.”
“Which would be the point.” I tug one of the braids on either side of her face. “Cute.”
“Well, plane hair sucks and I figure I’ll spray them black and white for team spirit tonight.”
“You trying to get on the Jumbotron?” I mindlessly pick up a brochure about a science museum.
“Never.”
“Oh, come on. The Kiss Cam?”
She knocks her shoulder into mine. “What on earth about me would make you think I’d enjoy kissing someone on camera in front of thousands of people?”
“Some girls dream of that.” I put the brochure back. “Shall we?” I wave my arm for her to follow.
“Well, not this one. Tedi handles that for both of us.”
I laugh as we circle through the rotating doors onto the streets of Philly. It’s just as cold as when I exited the bus a half hour ago. I stuff my hands in my coat pockets.
“What’s up, Wisconsin boy? Too cold for you?” She smiles at me.