Page 56 of Dibs
“It should only take about two hours unless traffic sucks. Do you want me to stop and get you some food?”
“Sure.”
I pulled into the McDonald’s drive-thru and placed his order.
“You’re not going to get anything to eat?” he asked.
“Nah. Chase and I are grabbing a bite after I get to the hotel to discuss tomorrow’s games. He’s got some questions since it’s his first tournament.”
Technically, that was true, but not the full truth. A couple of days ago, Jamie helped Chase and me devise a plan to sneak in some alone time during our weekend in LA. She offered to take all four kids out for ice cream and then they’d watch a movie. When I asked Tyler if he wanted to join them, he’d agreed, much to my relief.
While Jamie kept the kids entertained, Chase and I were going to grab a late dinner and then go back to my room. I couldn’t wait. It had been too long since we’d last been together, and I was looking forward to devouring every inch of him.
Once Tyler had his food, we pulled onto the freeway and were met with a sea of red lights. What should have been a two-hour drive ended up being closer to three thanks to the heavy Friday night traffic.
After we finally checked in and took our stuff to our room, I sent Chase a text:
We’re here. What room are you in?
My phone buzzed immediately:
Fucking finally. We’re all waiting in Jamie’s room. #335.
“Let’s go meet up with your brother.” I grabbed my room key, slipped it into my pocket, and handed Tyler the spare.
We took the elevator up two floors and headed to Jamie’s room. As soon as I knocked, the door flew open.
“What took you guys so long?” Dylan asked. “We’ve been waiting to get ice cream forever.”
I entered the crowded room where Chase, Jamie, and the kids were all waiting. “Sorry, buddy. There was a lot of traffic.”
“All right, kids, put on your shoes so we can take off,” Jamie instructed.
While they were busy following Jamie’s directions, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and whispered, “Thank you.”
She grinned. “No problem. Just remember you guys owe me.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Chase chuckled but kept his voice low. “If you need us to return the favor, we got you covered.”
A pang of jealousy passed through me, watching their playful banter. I’d give anything to have an amicable relationship with Lisa, let alone a friendship like Chase and Jamie shared.
When all the kids were ready, we made our way down to the lobby and headed outside. After they all piled into Jamie’s car and took off, Chase said, “I found a steakhouse down the street that looked good. You want to try it out?”
“Sounds great. Are we going to walk?”
He nodded. “My map app said it would only take about ten minutes.”
“All right. Lead the way.”
Once we were away from the hotel, I reached down, laced our fingers together, and admitted, “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too. As much as sneaking around is fun, I’m tired of going days at a time without seeing you.”
We walked up to the restaurant, and before Chase could reach the door handle, the door was pushed open from the other side.
“Hey, Coach,” Nathan Lewandowski, one of Dylan and Jase’s teammates, greeted as he walked out of the steakhouse with his parents.
Chase and I broke apart immediately, and I wasn’t sure if any of them had noticed we’d been holding hands. Although we weren’t ashamed of our relationship, I knew neither of us wanted word to get back to our kids before we had a chance to talk to them.
