Straddling the Line(57)

“I do.” He looked around. “Talk to any guy on the team tonight and every one of them will say the same thing.” He paused to take a breath. “Look, I know I tout myself as some kind of superstar. That I play two sports and I like to think I do both of them well. But at the end of the day, we’re a team. We win as a team and we lose as a team. And right now we the team think this sucks. And we’re going to continue to think it sucks until the start of next season, when we get together again, bound and determined to take the team all the way to the postseason again.”

She didn’t say anything else, so he stood. “I’m going to hit the showers.”

HAVEN FELT AWFUL FOR TREVOR—FOR THE ENTIRE Rivers team. It had been a grueling series with Atlanta. Both teams played tough. Both had exhilarating highs and both made mistakes. It could have gone either way. Unfortunately, this year it had gone Atlanta’s way, and they would be heading to the postseason, while the Rivers players would be going home.

The first thing she’d wanted to do in the locker room was put her arms around Trevor, tell him she knew how it felt, and commiserate with him. But with her camera guy in tow, she had to keep her professional face on and grill him about the game, about how it felt to be on the losing end this year.

She’d hated every minute of it, but it was her job and she’d had no choice. She told her camera guy to send her the film and she’d edit it later, then she waited outside for Trevor.

It was a while before he came out—before they all came out. Alicia and Liz were waiting out there with her. Liz had the baby with her, and oh, God, she was so precious, with red hair and the biggest green eyes Haven had ever seen. Liz even let Haven hold her, and Genevieve just looked up at her with those beautiful eyes.

“You don’t mind if I kidnap your daughter and take her with me, do you?”

“Not at all. But I will kill you,” Liz said. “And so will Gavin, who’s going to be in a bad mood for a month at least after that loss.”

“No, he won’t,” Alicia said. “Because you have Genevieve to take his mind off losing the postseason.”

Liz smiled. “That’s very true. I’ll remind him he has more time with his daughter now.”

“She’s an incredible consolation prize,” Haven said, handing Genevieve back to Liz.

“Thank you. I’m glad she’s with me on this road trip. I hesitated bringing her along, but she really is going to be a great comfort to her daddy right now.”

The guys spilled out. It was a quiet group, all of them going to their families for comfort. Garrett slung his arm around Alicia, who gave him a big kiss. Gavin took Genevieve from Liz and cuddled her close, kissing the baby on the top of the head before brushing his lips across Liz’s. Trevor finally came out and met Haven.

They visited with everyone for a few minutes, then said their good-byes and headed toward the team bus. Trevor hung outside with her.

“I’m sorry about the interview,” she said.

He frowned at her. “Never apologize for doing your job. You did what you had to do.”

“You could have refused. But it was an insightful interview into a player’s emotions after a particularly tough end-of-season loss. I know it was brutal, but you were very honest and I appreciate you giving me the time.”

“You’re welcome. And you need to toughen up.”

“Excuse me?”

“I thought you were going to hide in the corner of the locker room all night. It was a perfect opportunity to interview some of the players. As well as me.”

“You were all down.”

“And easy prey for a reporter. A lot of us were vulnerable and ready to spill our guts about how we felt right then. You could have swooped in and gotten some great interviews. You blew it.”

She sighed at the realization. “I know. I need to work on that.”

“Yeah, you do.” He looked toward the door. “I have to go with the team.”

“Yes, you do. And I need to catch my flight back to St. Louis. I’ll see you back there.”

“Okay.”

She watched him get on the bus, then got in her rental car and headed for the airport. She worked on the flight, writing some copy from her notes. By the time they landed, she was tired. She took a taxi back to the house.

Trevor wasn’t back yet. She knew his flight left after hers, and they probably had some team stuff to deal with, so she didn’t expect him back until late. She unpacked and got into bed, turned out the light, and was asleep within minutes.

She woke to the feel of a warm body next to hers, a hard cock brushing up against her butt, and a very large callused hand massaging her breast and teasing her nipple.