Page 99 of The Player

Nicole leaned back to see his face, her arms still around his neck. “Come with you where?”

“New York.”

“To the Heisman?” It came out so high she had to start over. “You want me there? At the ceremony?”

“Yeah, I want you there.” He didn’t even have to think about it. “My parents fly in on the eighth, but I figured we could go up a couple days early. Just us. I still owe you a real date, and New York beats anything I could come up with in Alabama.”

Half the country was going to be watching when they called his name, or didn’t, and out of everybody he could have taken, he wanted her.

She didn’t bother answering. She jumped, and Drew caught her with a grunt and a laugh, his hands sliding under her thighs as she locked her legs around his waist and kissed him all over, his mouth, his jaw, even the corner of his eyes.

“Yes,” she said between kisses. “Yes, I’ll go. Oh my God, Drew, yes.”

He was grinning so hard she could feel it against her cheek. “Hell yeah.” He hitched her higher and turned them in a full circle, and she laughed into his neck while he did it again.

Then her brain caught up, and she pushed at his shoulders until he let her slide down. “Wait. I have to book a flight. And I need to go shopping.” She pressed a hand to her forehead. “Oh God, I don’t have anything to wear to something like that.”

Drew laughed. “Really? Baby, I’ve seen your closet.”

“That’s school clothes. This is New York. My New York wardrobe is back at home.”

“Uh-huh. Shop all you want, then. Just don’t book a flight. That’s already taken care of.”

“By who?”

“Me.”

“Are you serious?”

“Booked it this morning, right after they called.” He shrugged, but he was watching her face. “Got the refundable ticket, just in case you told me no.”

Nicole had been on more planes than she could count, every one of them paid for by her father. Not one of those tickets had meant anything close to this.

“Drew. There’s no way I’d ever tell you no.”

Drew’s smile softened. His hands tightened on her waist, and he looked at her for a long second without saying anything. “Good,” he said quietly. “I’ll remember that.”

After all those games, all the talk about who deserved to be there, Drew was getting his chance to bring that trophy home. She’d told him how proud she was a hundred times. Now she wanted to show him.

She surprised him with a penthouse suite for the weekend at the nicest hotel in Birmingham and booked a VIP section for their friends at the club on its roof. Getting everything arranged on short notice took a few phone calls, and Nicole made sure Melvin Wright’s name came up early in the conversation. Half of Drayton had his name in their mouths this week. Least she could do was put it to work, and it did.

The person taking her reservation suddenly became a whole lot more accommodating and found her the best section in the house. Between the suite, the bottles, and the money she slipped into the right hands when they arrived, she spent more than she’d ever admit to Drew. Everybody got in, their section was waiting, and nobody had to stand at the bar trying to get somebody’s attention.

Their whole group slowed down when they stepped out of the elevator. Glass wrapped all the way around the rooftop club, with the whole city lit up below them, the big Vulcan statue glowing on top of Red Mountain off in the distance, and low, curved couches arranged around tables where bottles sat chilling in silver buckets.

Across the room, people were already dancing, and the DJ had the SWV “Anything” remix with Wu-Tang turned up loud enough that Nicole could feel the bass through the soles of her heels.

“Daaamn.” Tanner looked around, then back at her. “This is how we’re partying tonight?”

“This is nice as hell,” Lauren said, nudging Dayshawn as the hostess led them toward their section.

Nicole grinned, pleased with herself, especially when she looked up at Drew.

He was still taking everything in, his hand tucked around hers, but when he caught her watching him, he stopped. “This was all you?”

She shrugged, though she couldn’t do much about the smile on her face. “You’re a Heisman finalist. We had to do something.”

“Thank you, you sexy-ass woman.” He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her clean off her feet.