Chapter 16 #2
It took almost an hour to get a ride share from the stadium, and it took another hour to break away from the stadium traffic and get back to the hotel. When the car pulled up in front of the hotel, Rowan was waiting for me. He did not look pleased to see me.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in Tucson?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
I grinned what I knew was a shit-eating grin. “No, I wasn’t supposed to travel with the team to Vegas,” I told him as I walked closer.
“No, I’m pretty sure you were supposed to stay in Tucson.”
“See, here’s the funny thing,” I chirped at him, my grin growing bigger, “I am capable of buying a plane ticket. And a game ticket. And a hotel room. I told you I wanted to come to Vegas with the team, but since Coach Cal wouldn’t budge…”
“He’s going to kick your ass.”
“No, he isn’t.”
“He might.”
I didn’t want to admit that he was right there, so I didn’t.
There was always a chance that Coach Cal would see me in the lobby and rip me a new one for coming to Vegas on my own.
But there was also a chance that he’d find this whole thing amusing, especially after the team had just won a big game against a major opponent.
And really, shouldn’t that be what we were focusing on?
“I didn’t tell him, by the way,” Rowan told me as he motioned for me to walk into the hotel with him. “I figured that was your business.”
“Where is he, anyway?”
Rowan shrugged. “No idea. A few guys were talking about hitting the strip tonight, and Coach Cal just covered his ears and said he didn’t want to hear anything we were talking about.
He’ll probably spend tonight hiding in his room so he can claim that ignorance is bliss when certain teammates’ shenanigans hit the light of day. ”
I laughed. That sounded about right for Coach Cal. I hit the up button on the elevator. “Are you one of the guys that was planning on hitting the strip?”
“No, I was planning on spending the night in my room. Alone.”
The elevator doors slid open and two people stepped out. “That sounds boring,” I told him as we stepped over the threshold onto the elevator. “I think we should join the group going to the strip. I mean, how often are we in Vegas? And how often do we get to say we beat the Gladiators?”
“I’ve been here before,” he told me with a grin. He took a step closer to me, and my breath caught in my throat. “And the Foxes used to beat the Gladiators about every three years? Less?”
“Well, I’ve never been to Vegas, and the Scorpions haven’t play—” My argument was cut off by his lips pressing against mine.
I smiled into the kiss as I melted into his arms. It didn’t matter that I’d kissed him goodbye in Tucson the day before.
I was addicted to the way his lips felt against mine.
When he pulled away, I’d completely lost my train of thought.
He took a step back and looked at the climbing red numbers over the elevator door. “I guess we can hit the strip, but I need to change first. I’m not wearing this,” he motioned down to the gray suit he’d worn into the stadium that afternoon, “out on the strip.”
“I don’t know,” I teased, dancing my fingers along the buttons of his jacket. “It looks really sexy on you.”
Rowan grinned and took another step back. “I’m changing.”
“Fine,” I huffed. “Lobby in thirty minutes?”
He nodded and jabbed the button to where I assumed the team was staying, one of the highest floors in the building. I got off on my level and watched as the elevator doors closed, taking him with them.
Hitting the strip was a great idea.
Rowan and I met up with Jonesy, Liam, and a few other teammates in the lobby.
Everyone was both surprised and not surprised to see me standing in a hotel lobby in Las Vegas.
The more we drank, the harder it became to keep my hands off Rowan.
He was just so attractive. He was a big, red-headed man mountain, and I just wanted to climb him.
But I couldn’t climb him, because we were at a bar or a casino or a bar with a casino or something.
We were in public, a fact I had to keep reminding myself when he’d do something cute like talk or exist.
Liam and Jonesy were just as handsy, and they’d gotten that way earlier than I had with Rowan.
It had driven away most of the teammates we’d gone out with, or maybe they’d just wanted to go out and try their luck at the tables or to catch a show or to do any of the other things that my driver earlier had mentioned.
There were a lot of things to do in Las Vegas, after all.
After a few more drinks, Liam and Jonesy decided to go back to the hotel.
“Should we go back?” Rowan asked after they left.
I put my hand on his thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“No. I think we should have another drink. I like this,” I told him with a big smile.
He raised an eyebrow. He didn’t understand what I was saying.
“Like this,” I repeated, waving my hand around at the crowded bar.
“Not in the condo. You know, we need to tell Coach Cal about us so we can be like this all the time.”
Rowan smiled and covered my hand with his. “I like this too,” he told me softly. I had to lean closer to hear him. “I really like you, Milo.”
“I really like you too, Rowan.” Of course, he already knew this. It wasn’t new information. “I think we should go.”
“Back to the hotel?”
I shook my head. “Noooo, we should go find somewhere else. Maybe somewhere to dance or something. I want to do things. I want to move. We’re in Vegas, baby!”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to be dancing yet.”
“I have the all clear,” I told him as I stretched out my injured leg, just to show him that my knee was in perfect working order. “But fine. No dancing. Let’s go walking. Let’s explore. Let’s do… something.”
“Like what? If not dancing?”
I thought for a moment as I tapped my finger on the glass of liquor in front of me. I had the stupidest idea in the world. I knew it was a stupid idea, but we were in Vegas.
“We should get married.” Rowan’s eyes went wide. “By an Elvis impersonator. It’s the most Vegas thing ever.”
Rowan laughed and finished his drink. “I don’t even know where we’d find an Elvis impersonator,” he pointed out.
“Okay not an Elvis. We can just get married. In Vegas. It would be real cool.”
Rowan laughed, but he didn’t argue the idea. Instead, he finished his drink and offered me a hand. I laced our fingers together and followed him out of the casino.
Notes
Look, I know that it’s not very likely that a football team is staying in a hotel on the strip, but this is my world and I don’t care.
Reality is for people who live in it. Fanfiction is for us to give the middle finger to reality.
Plus, they kind of needed to be near the strip in order to get drunk married, and I didn’t feel like figuring out any other logistics.