Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“That’s surprising,” I said. “They seemed like they were really into each other when I met them at the club last night.”
“They did. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with those two.”
We pulled up to the main entrance of Paris, Las Vegas a few minutes later. Hal unfastened his seatbelt and planted a lingering kiss on me, which left me breathless. He smiled and said, “See you soon,” before picking up his coffee cup and climbing out of the SUV.
I watched as he strode confidently to the glass doors with his head held high. After he disappeared inside, I whispered, “Damn.”
What a wonderful, incredible, sexy human being. I couldn’t wait to see him again. I put the SUV in gear and pulled away from the curb, my lips still tingling from that mind-blowing kiss.
Hal texted me a few hours later: Hey. How did the game go?
I replied: We lost by one point. We were up by two, but then they scored a drop goal with six seconds remaining.
Tank was sitting beside me, and he leaned in and tried to read my screen. “Is that Hal?”
“Mind your business.”
“This is my business. You wouldn’t have met him if it wasn’t for me.” He had a point, but I still didn’t feel like telling him everything.
Hal wrote: I’m sorry to hear that. What are you doing now?
I took the team to lunch. We’re just finishing up. How goes the search for a wedding venue?
He typed for a long time before the next message popped up: Not good. Even though it’s a fake wedding, Embry still wants it to be nice for the photos. Everyplace we’ve seen so far has been pretty cheesy, and we’re running out of options. We even considered asking a wedding officiant to meet us at a park, but we’re worried about getting in trouble without a permit.
I replied: Yeah, that’s probably not the best idea.
Hal’s next message said: I know this is a lot to ask, but do you think we could use the backyard at your rental house for the ceremony? I only caught a glimpse of it, but it looked nice. We could be in and out in fifteen minutes. Feel free to say no if I’m totally overstepping.
I called out to my teammates, “Does anyone have a problem with our friends from last night getting married at our house this evening?”
Boomer chimed in with, “That sounds fun! I love a wedding.”
Someone else called, “Will there be cake?”
I asked, “Anyone opposed?” When there were no objections, I wrote: Your friends are more than welcome to get married at our place. I just asked the team, and they’re all for it. There’s a nice gazebo out back that’ll be perfect for this. No hurry either, take all the time you need. Come over whenever you want, and let’s plan on celebrating afterwards.
Hal replied: That’s amazing, thank you. Would it work to have the ceremony at sunset? If so, we’d love to arrive a couple of hours early to get everything ready.
My next message said: Absolutely. Tank and I are about to head back to the house. We’ll be there whenever you want to come over.
After I sent him the address, Hal told me they were going to track down a wedding officiant, and that he’d check in soon. I was grinning as I returned the phone to the pocket of my flannel shirt. “Look at you, all aglow,” Tank teased. “You really like this guy, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. He’s amazing.”
“So, are you going to see him again, after this weekend?”
I muttered, “God, I hope so.” While I was talking, I retrieved my credit card from the check holder, added a tip, and signed my name to the bill. My team had played their hearts out today, and throughout the tournament. As their captain, I thought it was only right that I treated them to a nice meal.
“That won’t be easy though, since he lives in San Francisco.”
“I know.” I didn’t want to think about that now, so I changed the subject by calling, “Who needs a ride back to the tournament arena, and who’s headed to the casinos? Tank and I can drop some of you off before we go back to the house.”
Chaos temporarily ensued while over a dozen guys talked at once and tried to decide who was going where. Finally, we loaded up one of the rented SUVs and dropped off some of our teammates at the sports complex, so they could watch the championship match for first place.
Even though I hated losing, part of me was glad I didn’t have to get back out there this afternoon. My back and knees were aching, and almost every inch of me felt bruised and battered.
Tank was almost as sore as I was, which was why we were going back to the rental. As much as we didn’t want to admit it, as some of the older guys on the team, we needed time to rest and recover.