Page 123 of Playing Dirty
Longer this time.
Then locked my phone.
Because now it wasn’t just distraction.
It was expectation.
And I didn’t know which one of us started that.
Twenty One
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ROWAN
New York smelled like too much of everything at once.
Noise. Heat. Exhaust. Movement that didn’t stop even when nothing important was happening.
The airport exit felt like being pushed into a different version of reality where everyone moved like they had somewhere urgent to be, even if they didn’t.
I adjusted my bag strap for the third time before we even reached the transport bus.
Serena walked beside me, scrolling through her phone.
“You’re quiet,” she said without looking up.
“I’m observing.”
“That’s what you call avoiding thoughts.”
“It’s not avoiding.”
She finally glanced at me. Smirked. “Sure.”
The team bus was already parked outside.
Blackthorne banners on the side.
Players loading luggage underneath.
Chaos pretending to be organised.
Caleb was already there.
Of course he was.
He waved when he saw me.
I gave a small nod back.
Then I saw Mason.
Not immediately.
That was the problem.
I noticed him second.
