Page 63 of Offside Rules

Later that night in the hotel, after we played our asses off and got our asses handed to us, I get a text from Baylor.

Baylor: If I end up getting hired for this foundation event, any chance some of the guys might be coming to the gala? I could use a few hands to bring in the boxes, and Ellie thought it was worth asking.

With an ice pack on my shoulder, it’s hard to text well enough with my left that I decide to just call her.

She answers on the third ring. "Wolf?"

"Hi. Your message about the venue—"

"Is everything okay?"

I sit up a little, making sure the ice stays put. "Yes. Why?"

"You called."

"Am I not allowed to call you?"

"You usually text." There’s a faint sound on her end, then she exhales. "I thought something happened to you."

"Nothing happened. I was going to tell you that most of the guys are going, and I’ll ask tomorrow, but I doubt it will be a problem. I’ll be there to help too."

"Okay. Thank you. You don't have to talk if you’re busy tonight. Out with the guys or whatever."

"I’m not. I’m icing my shoulder. No one's in much of a celebratory spirit anyway."

"That was a tough game."

I don’t have to ask anymore if she watched. I’m starting to get the idea that she doesn’t miss a game that I play.

I look at the time. "Are you still baking?"

"No. I finished."

"Tasting samples?"

"The baking is. I’ll finish the fresh frosting in the morning."

"Then where are you?"

She pauses long enough that I wonder if she’s gone downstairs and doesn’t want to tell me I’ve called while she’s trying to sleep.

"Your bathtub," she says.

I stop looking at the clock and just about swallow my tongue.

I clear my voice. "You’re in the tub?"

"You said I could use it."

"I know what I said." I lean back against the pillows. "You answered the phone in the tub."

"Because you called. I just told you I thought something was wrong."

I look across the hotel room at the closed bathroom door. That bathroom has a shower, towels folded over a rail, and nothing I’m particularly interested in. Mine has Baylor in it. My bathtub. Off my bedroom. The one she put her hand on when I offered it to her. She’s there now while I’m sitting in a hotel several states away holding a phone to my ear.

"Wolf?"

"I’m here."