Page 88 of The Score

"Not that kind of marriage." Pen's eyes open wide, as if to stress the point. "We're not going there."

I'm not sure if she means going there in terms of talking about it tonight, or if she means she and I won't ever be going there. Regardless, her words confirm such a list exists… and now it's too late. I'm having thoughts I don't know what to do with already.

"Right, right," Saint says. "You did say you two are doing only the family-friendly stuff."

"And in terms of the fun stuff, that could be a great distraction—" Dom starts but he cutshimself off.

He stares behind me. We all turn at once to see Cora Sinclair, the new General Manager of the Strike.

Her confident aura didn't falter as Selena introduced her to a room full of people during the ceremony speeches, and it doesn't falter now. With a self-assured smile, she walks up to us like she owns the place.

She reaches us and we make room for her. She smirks in Dom's direction.

The tight end smirks back. "Still dressing to kill, I see."

Cora puts her hands into her forest green pantsuit pockets, and the gesture casually opens her blazer. It reveals an intricate black bodice I don't inspect too closely, but Dom seemed to expect.

"Dominic Wright," she says. "Haven't seen you in a long time."

"Never watched my games, then?" He shakes his head. "How sad. To think that at one point I thought of you as family."

"Surely we were far away from that? I didn't realize you planned to marry my sister back then."

"How's Mariana, by the way?"

Dom puts his hands into his own pockets, mirroring our new GM. His tone is casual, but I know him well enough to identify the tension around his eyes.

Pen and I exchange a quick look. This is juicy new information about our friend.

"Stressed, I'd say." Cora's mouth pulls to the side. "She's getting a divorce."

Dom barely moves, but the air around him seems to buzz. The tension on his face reaches his eyes. His mouth presses into a thin line.

Cora laughs. "Oh, how I hoped I would get to be the one letting you know."

"Is she okay?" This time, Dom's tone aims for neutral.

"You should ask her," Cora tells him. "She's going to join me and come work for the team, too. She'll be on the foundation side. Community engagement and charity work. Selena wants her to expand the department."

Pen and I glance at each other again, but it's different this time. Cora's words get her wheels turning, just like mine do.

Social workers could fit in that expansion. With Pen's experience, this might be an opportunity worth looking into.

"I see." Dom rubs his lips together. "Well, that's all good, and I don't mean to be rude. We know who you are, but you don't know all of us— at least not in person. Unless you've changed, you've read our rep sheets already."

"So you remember me better than I imagined." She grins at all of us. "Happy to meet you all in person, of course. You and your guests."

We get the hint.

Logan shoots a hand forward. "Logan King, QB, and this is my fiancée, Evie."

Evie shakes Cora's hand. "We met in passing the other day."

"Yes, of course," Cora says. "I remember."

The rest of us take turns introducing ourselves.

"I'm Damián Acevedo, kicker, and this is my wife, Natalia."