Page 87 of The Replay

"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make, if you make up for it with mindblowing sex." I shrug.

He grins. "That's a given."

"I'm counting on it then. I leave at the end of the bye week for a few days, but we'll make time before I go. Cora asked me to go with her to negotiate a few things with other teams."

"What I'm hearing is that you can give and take away, too."

"Yeah, we'll have to get used to it."

"You'll ruin me," he sighs.

But he kisses me goodbye, and it feels so natural, I smile as I fall asleep.

Chapter 28

Mariana

The mood between Dom and me at the club is one-eighty from the last time we were here. We're laughing and chatting with his friends, and sometimes we even engage with each other. We're not sitting side by side this time, and a few smiles have been shared across the space. He's on the booth bench against the wall, between Saint and Evie, and I am at an angle from him on an armchair next to Bear and Pen, and Nat and Damián.

He's trying not to gaze at me too much, but I'm failing at doing the same. Impossible not to want to drink the view of him, wearing light tan pants and a chocolate brown button down, both fitting him so well I wonder if he had them handmade. In my head, a very lucky someone got to stitch his outfit right onto him. Pulling and tucking fabric in all the right places. Trying desperately to appear professional, when the man's pheromones could make anyone dizzy.

"We're doing good. We're fine," Bear says. "Our first loss in thirteen weeks is still strong, especially on the way out to a late break. Just one game lost."

"And we're out tonight, having fun," Damián adds. "We'll take time to recover and come back stronger for our December games."

"Logically, sure," Dom argues, "but please. We all hate losing."

A mix of groans and understanding sounds fill the mezzanine.

"We need to have fun." Saint stands. "Ames— dance with me?"

He offers her a hand and she gets up with a grin and shining eyes.

"Here?" she asks, with a tone that says she wouldn't mind. "Let's ask them to play bachata."

Saint smiles back and brings her close. "Let's. But we may want to go downstairs. You know how we get with bachata."

"There are cameras everywhere," Bear says. "Remember that."

Saint winks at him. "Not everywhere."

"And you're just telling us now?" Pen asks.

They laugh, but this is a story I don't fully know. I was part of the meetings where the team discussed official consequences for Bear and Pen, after a video of them leaked from the club, but I don't know how all that came to happen. I steal a glance at Dom. All he does is wink at me.

"Rafa," Saint calls. "Do you want to go meet someone downstairs and dance the night away?"

The offensive tackle is out with the group again tonight. From what I've heard through the night, he's only been out with the group once more than I have, and it's still a pretty rare thing.

"Nah," he says. "I don't know if this is my scene after all."

Nat frowns. "No? We can find other things to do if you still want to go out more."

"Brunch is always an option," Saint suggests.

"And if you want to meet someone, we can help with that too," Bear adds.

Rafa smirks and stares back at his friends. I study him. He's as tall and attractive as the rest of the guys, with some bulk to him that comes from muscle as much as light padding. Like Bear, though smaller. Dressed in black trousers and a sand-colored sweater that looks incredibly comfortable and soft. If he wanted, he wouldn't have trouble meeting someone.