Play Along(6)

“Is tonight the night?” Travis slows his strides to walk in the back of the group with me.

“Is tonight the night for what?”

“Is tonight the night you talk to someone other than your teammates in the club?”

“Don’t really see the point in that. I’m on a team-bonding trip. I’m bonding with the team.”

“Yeah, we’re all on a team-bonding trip, yet you’re the only one of us who has gone home alone both nights here.”

“Not interested,” I say with a casual shrug. “And that’s not true. Lautner, the rookie from Oregon, hasn’t gone home with anyone either. Kid has got zero game.”

“Who the hell are you, and what have you done with Isaiah Rhodes? When have you ever not been interested? And since when did you stop being the life of the party? Last year in Miami, we had to promise a cop two tickets behind home plate just to keep him from arresting you. You started stripping naked right on Ocean Drive.”

“We were in Florida. It was hot. And I’m still the life of the party. I just don’t continue the party once we leave the bar anymore.”

Travis shoots me a pointed glance out of the corner of his eye, telling me he knows exactly why.

In fact, the entire team knows why.

There’s been only one woman who has held my interest and now that she’s no longer wearing another man’s engagement ring, spending my time with anyone else holds zero appeal.

My teammates have also encouraged me to let go of that pipe dream because in their minds, it’s never going to happen. They believe that the one and only woman on our team staff would never try something with one of us, least of all me. Sure, I’ve given Kennedy Kay more shit than anyone else on the team, but that’s only because I made a promise to her that I would.

And I always keep my promises.

When we get to the next hotel over, the line to enter the club seems endless, wrapping and looping, bodies squeezed together in an attempt to get inside quicker, but thankfully Cody gets a phone call telling us to use the backdoor entrance, allowing us to skip the line altogether.

As we pass the waiting patrons, walking in the opposite direction, a hand reaches out to grab my bicep.

“Hey, I know you,” a feminine voice says. “You play baseball for Chicago. Number nineteen.”

I follow her hold on me to find a woman with light hair and glittery makeup.

“That’s me.”

Her hand trails down my arm. “Rhodes, right?”

“There are two Rhodeses playing for Chicago now, but yeah, I’m Isaiah.” I hold out my hand for hers to shake, being sure to use the one that would force her to stop touching me.

“Bridget. So, what brings you to Vegas?”

“Team-bonding trip.” I gesture to the guys halted around me.

Her eyes sparkle before motioning to the handful of other girls around her. “We’re here for my birthday.”

“Well then, happy birthday to you.” I wink at her because old habits die hard and I’m a fucking idiot and now she thinks I’m interested, judging by the smirk tilting on her mouth.

“Do you guys have a table? We’d love to join you.”

“We do have a table.” I attempt my best disappointed tone, hoping not to hurt her feelings. “But it’s guys’ night.”

“It’s most definitely not guys’ night,” I hear Cody pipe up from somewhere behind me.

“You understand, right?” I continue as if no one heard him.

“Sure thing.” Bridget’s eyes flicker and I think it’s with embarrassment more so than disappointment.

“But hey,” I interrupt her thought process. “Find us inside and I’ll make sure the bartender puts all your drinks on my tab, yeah? Can’t have the birthday girl paying for all her own drinks, can we?”

Her shoulders straighten, a bit of confidence returning to her face. “No, we absolutely cannot.”

“Have fun, ladies, and happy birthday, Bridget.”

Her body sways in a flirty way. “Thanks, Isaiah. See you inside.”

Hands in my pockets, I continue to the back door as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Because nothing out of the ordinary did happen.

“First of all,” Cody says, continuing to walk with me. “How the hell can you turn someone down and manage to have her still drooling over you afterward? I need some of that Isaiah Rhodes charm.”

I scoff. “You pick up more people than I ever have.”

“She was beautiful, by the way.”

“You should go for it.”

“I just might.”

“And second off,” Travis cuts in. “You’re an idiot. Please for the love of God, let this go. Cody, if you don’t use your dick, does it fall off? Is Isaiah going to die a born-again virgin?”

“I couldn’t tell you. I use my dick plenty.” Cody stops in his tracks. “Wait, born-again virgin? Still? That was because of Kennedy back there?”

“You two can both fuck off.”

Travis laughs to himself.

“Isaiah, you have got to let that go. It’s been three years.”

“It hasn’t been three years.”

“You’ve been into that girl since the day she walked into the clubhouse for the first time.”