Page 111 of The Player

She studied his face.

Drew looked past her at the elevators, then back. “I just need a little time, Ma.”

“All right.” She smoothed a hand down his sleeve. “But you call us if you want company. We don’t have to do anything.”

“I know.”

His dad gave his arm a squeeze. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah.”

Drew kissed his mother’s cheek and hugged his dad again, then headed for the elevators before either of them could see how close he was to losing it. They were hurting for him, and he couldn’t sit across a table from them all night while they hunted for something to say that would make it better.

He wanted Nicole. And if he couldn’t have her, he didn’t want anybody.

Upstairs, he shrugged out of his coat and yanked his tie loose on the way to the bed, then sat down and dialed her number by heart. While it rang, he leaned forward with his elbow on his knee and dragged a hand down his face. He didn’t even know what he was going to say.

Another ring. Come on, baby.

He checked his watch and kept waiting. She’d told him she’d be glued to the TV tonight, so she’d seen the whole thing, and he’d figured she’d grab the phone on the first ring.

Instead, her answering machine picked up. Drew slammed the receiver down before the beep, hard enough to knock the phone sideways. He sat there with his hand on it, then let go and pulled his tie off the rest of the way. When it landed across his thigh, he shoved it off and fell back on the bed with his feet still on the floor. There was a faint water stain on the ceiling over his head. He stared at it until his eyes burned, then threw his forearm over them.

He’d really thought he could win.

Chapter Forty-Three

Nicole leaned forward in the back of the cab and looked past the driver at a line of brake lights that went on forever.

They’d moved maybe two car lengths since the last time she checked.

“Is it like this the whole way?”

“Saturday night.” The driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Everybody’s going somewhere.”

Well, nobody was getting there.

She sat back and pulled her coat closed, rubbing her gloved hands together. The heater was doing something for her feet, but she was still chilled from standing in the cab line at LaGuardia. Headlights shined on the wet pavement, and people hurried down the sidewalk hunched against the cold.

She should have been at the hotel by now.

Scratch that. She should have been there hours ago, with time to change and figure out exactly how she was going to surprise him. Instead, she’d spent the whole afternoon in the Birmingham airport watching her departure time get pushed back, first by a little, then by so much she stopped believing anything they announced. When she finally boarded, making it to the ceremony was a lost cause.

At baggage claim, two men standing near her had started talking about the Heisman. Nicole was tugging her glove back on when one of them said Tariq Brackens.

Her fingers stopped halfway in. Tariq had won. Drew hadn’t. She’d stood there listening, hoping she’d heard it wrong. But they kept going on about the votes and the season, and there was nothing to hear wrong.

God, Drew.

A horn blared behind the cab, and Nicole pulled the cell phone out of her purse. The hotel number was on a folded piece of paper in her wallet. She’d written it down, along with his room number, when Drew called Wednesday after he checked in. She smoothed it against her knee and dialed.

When the operator answered, Nicole gave Drew’s name and asked for his room. She shifted closer to the window while the call went through.

It rang, and outside, a couple passed the cab on foot, the woman’s hand tucked into the man’s coat pocket. He bent his head toward her, and she laughed at whatever he said.

Come on, Drew. Pick up.

She’d planned to keep her mouth shut until she was standing at his door. She’d pictured it the whole flight up, him opening the door and staring at her for a second before it registered that she was actually there. Then she’d probably jump on him before he could get a word out. Now she just wanted to hear his voice. Make sure he was okay.