Chapter Twenty-Six
“So, let me get this straight. You paid Roxy five figures and she finally agreed to be exclusive with you?”
Callan rolled his eyes as he straightened his tie in the mirror on his vanity. Christian had asked the question from the family room where he was waiting for Callan to finish getting ready for the team party. They had decided to share a chartered car for the evening and Callan’s condo was closer to the party venue than Christian’s rental home.
He wished Christian’s joking comment wasn’t so close to the truth. It reflected his innermost insecurities about his relationship with Roxy.
“Don’t be a dick,” he told his friend as he exited his bedroom.
“Sorry,” Christian chuckled from his spot on the sofa. “You know I had to give you a hard time. You really had to fight for her. I’m glad you found a way to make it work.”
“Me, too. You ready to head out?”
“Yep.” Christian got to his feet and straightened his tux jacket. “Why didn’t you invite her to this thing?”
Lord, he’d wanted to. Callan couldn’t wait to attend things like this team party with Roxy on his arm. He’d be the proudest man in the room.
But...
“Because meeting the team is the equivalent of meeting my family,” he replied as they headed to the door. “Roxy was hesitant to commit to a relationship with me in the first place. She’s never been in one before. Having her out to something like this less than a month after she finally said yes…”
“You’re right,” Christian agreed. “Bad idea.”
That didn’t make Callan any happier about it. But he wouldn’t risk scaring Roxy off by pushing too hard too fast.
“You mentioned the homeowners of that Cape Cod accepted your offer,” Christian said as they waited for the elevator. “Do you have a closing date yet?”
“Yes. It’s in a couple weeks. They’re willing to work around the team’s schedule so I can attend.”
Christian nodded and jostled his hand in his pocket, rattling his house keys. “Do you, uh, ever worry Roxy will move on once the house closes?”
Callan sent him a level stare.
Lifting his hands in a show of innocence, Christian said, “Sorry, man. Sometimes I have a skeptical mind. The timing of this is all just a little suspect.”
Callan hated that Christian had a point. He hated it even more that he’d absolutely had that worry.
“You know what?” Christian said as they climbed into the elevator. “Ignore me. You’re right. I am being a dick. Forget I said anything. Let’s go to this party and have fun.”
Callan let it go. His friend was just trying to look out for him, which he could only appreciate. If he happened to hit on Callan’s deepest relationship fears, that was just a testament to Christian’s insight.
They arrived at the party fifteen minutes later. The owners, Pat and Robin Cervetti, were hosting it in one of the local craft breweries they owned. It was closed to the public for the night, so the well-dressed people Callan saw socializing out on the patio and inside the brewery were all employed by The Siege or somehow related to them. The party would be attended by the players, the coaching staff, the training staff, the support staff, their significant others, and anyone else the owners felt warranted an invite. Callan had heard they expected nearly two hundred guests.
“Pretty nice place,” Christian said as they climbed out of the car.
“Yeah.”
The all-brick building had a lot of character, Callan observed as they headed inside. It was large enough to be both a working brewery and a restaurant. Through the garage-sized paned windows lining the front of the building, he saw a series of stainless steel brewing tanks lining the back wall behind a massive wood bar manned by four bartenders who were hard at work serving the many guests lined up to get drinks. A band was set up near the patio, allowing music to fill the venue and reach outside where a dance floor was already thriving with dancers.
The mouthwatering aroma of food preceded a liveried server bearing a tray of canapes. Callan and Christian each took one and popped them in their mouths, then grabbed glasses of champagne from another passing server before approaching the first group of people they recognized and started socializing.
“Does it feel like there are a lot of single women here to you?” Christian asked him later as they stood at the bar waiting for a couple drinks.
Callan glanced around and noticed that his friend was right. There were definitely more women there than men, which likely meant many of them were single.
“I’m guessing ownership wanted to give the single guys on the team one last shot at an easy score before the preseason opener so everyone’s focus is on their game,” Callan said, returning his attention to the bartender.
Christian studied him for a beat before laughing. “Damn. You are seriously gone over Roxy. I can’t believe you didn’t even notice all these women before I said something. Have you even looked at any of them?”
“Sure,” Callan said as he accepted his Manhattan and slid some cash in the tip jar.
And Roxy was sexier than all of them.
Christian laughed again as he collected his own drink. “All right, then. How about you make good on that IOU and wing for me?”
“You got it.”
They resumed their socializing, this time mingling more with the single ladies. Callan couldn’t help but remember that the last time he had done this with Christian, he met Roxy. It was a thought that made him miss her like crazy even though they had just gone to dinner together a few nights ago. She would have enjoyed the party. Hell, he would have enjoyed it ten times more with her.
It made him question why he hadn’t invited her to come with him. Maybe it wouldn’t have been as much pressure on her as he’d been thinking.
Then again, he had already been approached separately by Luke, Bass, Adam, and his wife, Lindsay, asking where Roxy was and when they’d get to meet her. There was no way they would have been able to resist telling Roxy how gone he was over her and what a miracle it was that she had managed to tie him down or something equally cringe-worthy.
Plus, he sensed something off with her when they talked on the phone the day before. There was something on her mind, he was sure of it. What if she was reconsidering her decision to commit to him?
No, he decided. It was much wiser to pace himself. He figured his first preseason game would be soon enough for Roxy to meet some of his teammates, especially since he had made a point to ask them to tone things down when they actually did meet her. He had cleared it with the team’s security for Roxy, Rashied, and his friend, Duane, to be approved to visit the team’s family room, a place in the stadium reserved exclusively for the players’ families. Callan’s parents were on a permanent access list, much as G-Man had been. If Roxy got through that first visit and wouldn’t freak out by him adding her to the permanent access list, he fully intended to do that.
One step at a time, he thought.
Before long, Christian found a woman named Melanie who caught his eye. Since Melanie was part of a threesome with her friends, Angelica and Brittani, Callan turned on the charm to keep the other two ladies occupied.