Play Along (Windy City Series Book 4)

Present

“There’s my guys.” I swing an arm over both Cody and Travis’s shoulders when I find them on the casino level of our hotel. “Where are we headed?”

“About time, Rhodes.” Travis, our catcher, shrugs out from under me. “You take longer to get ready than anyone I know, and your socks still don’t fucking match.”

I look down at my feet, where my pants hit right at my ankles. “They match to me.”

“We have a table waiting with bottle service at the club in Caesars Palace.” Cody gestures down the strip. “Let’s go.”

Our first baseman takes off with excited strides, the rest of the team following closely behind, with me bringing up the rear of the group.

We’ve been in Vegas for a few days now, and this is our final night here. Every year, before the season starts, the boys and I take a preseason trip as an excuse for some team bonding. It’s typically somewhere hot or tropical as a reward for surviving the Chicago winter, and though Las Vegas isn’t too hot this time of the year, the stuffy clubs and overpriced alcohol are keeping us all plenty warm.

Not that we’ve had to worry about the price of alcohol or pay for much of anything. As a professional baseball team, we’ve been gifted tables at clubs and endless booze each night we’ve been here.

Two years ago, my older brother Kai got picked up by the Windy City Warriors, finally putting us on the same team. He’s not with us in Vegas, opting to stay in Chicago with his son and soon-to-be fiancée, but I have the rest of my guys here and other than spending time with my family, there’s not much I enjoy more than hanging with my friends and throwing back a few drinks.

“Is tonight the night?” Travis slows his strides to walk in the back of the group with me.

“Is tonight the night for what?”

“Is tonight the night you talk to someone other than your teammates in the club?”

“Don’t really see the point in that. I’m on a team-bonding trip. I’m bonding with the team.”

“Yeah, we’re all on a team-bonding trip, yet you’re the only one of us who has gone home alone both nights here.”

“Not interested,” I say with a casual shrug. “And that’s not true. Lautner, the rookie from Oregon, hasn’t gone home with anyone either. Kid has got zero game.”

“Who the hell are you, and what have you done with Isaiah Rhodes? When have you ever not been interested? And since when did you stop being the life of the party? Last year in Miami, we had to promise a cop two tickets behind home plate just to keep him from arresting you. You started stripping naked right on Ocean Drive.”

“We were in Florida. It was hot. And I’m still the life of the party. I just don’t continue the party once we leave the bar anymore.”

Travis shoots me a pointed glance out of the corner of his eye, telling me he knows exactly why.

In fact, the entire team knows why.

There’s been only one woman who has held my interest and now that she’s no longer wearing another man’s engagement ring, spending my time with anyone else holds zero appeal.

My teammates have also encouraged me to let go of that pipe dream because in their minds, it’s never going to happen. They believe that the one and only woman on our team staff would never try something with one of us, least of all me. Sure, I’ve given Kennedy Kay more shit than anyone else on the team, but that’s only because I made a promise to her that I would.

And I always keep my promises.

When we get to the next hotel over, the line to enter the club seems endless, wrapping and looping, bodies squeezed together in an attempt to get inside quicker, but thankfully Cody gets a phone call telling us to use the backdoor entrance, allowing us to skip the line altogether.

As we pass the waiting patrons, walking in the opposite direction, a hand reaches out to grab my bicep.

“Hey, I know you,” a feminine voice says. “You play baseball for Chicago. Number nineteen.”

I follow her hold on me to find a woman with light hair and glittery makeup.

“That’s me.”

Her hand trails down my arm. “Rhodes, right?”

“There are two Rhodeses playing for Chicago now, but yeah, I’m Isaiah.” I hold out my hand for hers to shake, being sure to use the one that would force her to stop touching me.

“Bridget. So, what brings you to Vegas?”

“Team-bonding trip.” I gesture to the guys halted around me.

Her eyes sparkle before motioning to the handful of other girls around her. “We’re here for my birthday.”

“Well then, happy birthday to you.” I wink at her because old habits die hard and I’m a fucking idiot and now she thinks I’m interested, judging by the smirk tilting on her mouth.

“Do you guys have a table? We’d love to join you.”

“We do have a table.” I attempt my best disappointed tone, hoping not to hurt her feelings. “But it’s guys’ night.”

“It’s most definitely not guys’ night,” I hear Cody pipe up from somewhere behind me.

“You understand, right?” I continue as if no one heard him.

“Sure thing.” Bridget’s eyes flicker and I think it’s with embarrassment more so than disappointment.

“But hey,” I interrupt her thought process. “Find us inside and I’ll make sure the bartender puts all your drinks on my tab, yeah? Can’t have the birthday girl paying for all her own drinks, can we?”

Her shoulders straighten, a bit of confidence returning to her face. “No, we absolutely cannot.”

“Have fun, ladies, and happy birthday, Bridget.”

Her body sways in a flirty way. “Thanks, Isaiah. See you inside.”

Hands in my pockets, I continue to the back door as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Because nothing out of the ordinary did happen.

“First of all,” Cody says, continuing to walk with me. “How the hell can you turn someone down and manage to have her still drooling over you afterward? I need some of that Isaiah Rhodes charm.”

I scoff. “You pick up more people than I ever have.”

“She was beautiful, by the way.”

“You should go for it.”

“I just might.”

“And second off,” Travis cuts in. “You’re an idiot. Please for the love of God, let this go. Cody, if you don’t use your dick, does it fall off? Is Isaiah going to die a born-again virgin?”

“I couldn’t tell you. I use my dick plenty.” Cody stops in his tracks. “Wait, born-again virgin? Still? That was because of Kennedy back there?”

“You two can both fuck off.”

Travis laughs to himself.

“Isaiah, you have got to let that go. It’s been three years.”

“It hasn’t been three years.”

“You’ve been into that girl since the day she walked into the clubhouse for the first time.”

“Yeah, but I only realized she was single eight months ago, so technically I’m only eight months in on this whole thing.”

“Wow.” Cody nods. “Trav is right. You are an idiot.”

I smack him on the back of his head. “Remember last night when we were a few drinks in and I told you two that you guys were my best friends?”

“Yeah?”

“I take it back. You both fucking suck.”

The back door to the club opens and the bouncer nods in Cody’s direction, allowing the team to start trickling their way in with the three of us bringing up the rear.

“We’re just looking out for you.” Cody swings his arm over my shoulders. “You’ve been shooting your shot for years and look how well that’s worked out.”

I wasn’t shooting my shot. Sure, maybe I’ve shamelessly flirted with the girl for the past three years, but none of it was serious. She had a fiancé. But now . . . now she doesn’t. Now I’m dead serious about my intentions, but she thinks I’m still joking around.

Call me ridiculous. Call me superstitious, but that day I met her three years ago felt like fate. What I typically consider the worst day of the year had a bright light for once.

That same date on the calendar is only minutes away, and still, in the eighteen years since I lost my mom, there was only one time I genuinely smiled on that date, and it was the morning that Kennedy Kay came barging into the women’s bathroom and subsequently my life.

I shuffle forward, following my teammates into the club, having to project my voice over the pounding base. “Don’t you guys believe in fate?”

“For fuck’s sake, Rhodes.” Travis shakes his head at me. “Did you really just scream ‘don’t you guys believe in fate’ in the middle of a goddamn nightclub? Please for the love of God, go get laid.”

Cody can’t help but laugh as the bouncer closes the back door behind us. “I’ll start believing in fate the moment Kennedy decides to voluntarily spend time with you outside of work.”

Travis chimes in. “Forget spending time with him. At this point, I’d consider it fate if Kennedy so much as said a single word to him outside of work.”

Walking backward, I face my buddies as I continue to follow our group to the private table of the busy club. “You have no faith. One day, you’ll see.” I throw my hands wide. “It’s meant to be!”

Without looking, I barrel into someone behind me, stepping right on their foot. I stumble but catch my balance and even over the music, I can hear their low hiss in pain.

“Oh shit.” I turn just in time to grab their upper arms, keeping them from toppling over. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking.”

“Clearly.”

The woman’s hair curtains her face as she babies her injured foot by hobbling on one single high heel in agony.

That hair.

Even in the darkness of the club, I know that hair. The shade is one I’ve memorized. Auburn as Cody first taught me.

Kennedy Kay Auburn as I refer to it now.

“Kenny?”

I watch her body instantly stiffen before her brown eyes cautiously lift to look at me. “Isaiah?”

“Hi.”

Her shocked expression does nothing to stop my eyes from wandering the length of her.

God, she’s stunning. I’ve never seen her outside of athletic clothes, namely the staff uniform of a Warriors’ polo and black leggings. But tonight, that hair is down and perfectly styled, her freckled arms and legs fully exposed thanks to the crisp white mini dress and matching white heels.

She looks so fucking good. Her outfit seems expensive and polished, tailored to fit her body.

“Isaiah.”

“Yeah?”

“I asked what you were doing here.”

My attention immediately darts to the foot I just stepped on. Kennedy is still keeping her weight off of it, clearly in pain. I bend down before stopping myself and realizing that checking out someone’s foot in a club is fucking weird, no matter how much I might be crushing on the person it’s attached to.

“Is your foot okay? I’ll get some ice from the bartender.”

“It’s fine. Surprisingly, my foot is more sore from wearing high heels than it is from being stepped on by two hundred pounds of muscle.”

A smirk lifts on my lips. “Keeping up on my body stats, huh, Ken? I knew you were obsessed with me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Rhodes. It’s my literal job to know your body stats. What are you doing here?”

“It’s our preseason bonding trip. Well, pre-regular season and post-spring training.” I gesture to my teammates, who are being ushered to a roped-off corner of the club. Cody and Travis wave to her from across the room.

It’s hard to tell with the low lighting, but Trav is shaking his head in disbelief at the same time Cody mouths, you’ve got to be kidding me.

“Oh,” Kennedy says in realization. “Everyone from the team is here.”

“Everyone but Kai. He’s at home with Max and Miller.” Motioning towards our table, I add, “You should come hang out with us.”

“It looks like it’s guys’ night.”

I scoff. “It most definitely isn’t guys’ night.”

Kennedy looks back at our table, a bit of longing shining in her eyes as if she actually wants to hang out with us. It’s a stark contrast from the immediate “no” I get whenever I invite her to do something outside of work.

“I can’t.” She throws a thumb over her shoulder to a group of girls, all decked in white minus one wearing a blindingly shiny silver dress. “I’m here for a bachelorette party.”

Silver Sparkles is wearing a phony veil with a sash across her chest that reads “Future Mrs. Danforth,” posing for a photo with every one of her friends wearing white around her.

Posing with everyone but Kennedy.

“I was just heading to the bar to grab them another bottle of champagne,” she continues.

The flashes of strobe light make the dark room bright enough to see the endless line surrounding the bar, waiting to order drinks.

“Don’t you girls have a table server? That line at the bar is going to take an hour.”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

My eyes narrow in confusion. “Come to our table. I can order for you there.”

“Isaiah,” she sighs. “You know I can’t do that. I work for the team.”

“And you’re the only person on the staff who feels like you can’t hang out with us. There are no rules against us being friends.”

“It’s different for me, and you know it.”

As much as I don’t want to agree with her, I know in a way it is different. No, none of the boys on the team would ever think differently of her if she threw back a few drinks with us. We’d still all agree she’s the best athletic trainer on staff, and I’d still be the only person who knew that is because she’s grossly overqualified.

She wouldn’t get in trouble for it, but she works under a lead doctor who wants nothing more than to find a reason to fire her. Even if that reason is some made-up story derived from pictures that landed on the internet of her spending time with us in Sin City.

Kennedy, unlike any of the male staffers, has to go the extra mile to make sure the professional line is clearly drawn.

People swarm around us, pushing and edging their way to the dance floor, and all it does is cause Kennedy to lean into my space for reprieve from the crowd, seeking a bit of shelter from the bodies packing in around her. Eyes glancing back to the group of women she’s with, she takes a step closer to me.

It’s the strangest thing she’s ever done.

The fact that I’m, for once, not the last person in the room she wants to be around is surprising and concerning all at once.

“Kenny, are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just kind of hot in here, I guess.”

“And that’s why you’re trying to snuggle up to me in a night club right now? We can go back to my room if you’d like.” Leaning down, I whisper, “I’m a big fan of snuggling afterward.”

“Please shut up.” Her voice holds no edge, and she doesn’t even attempt to move away from me.

“Ken, who are you here with?”

She doesn’t look back to the table, but blindly gestures to the tall one with the sparkly dress on. “My stepsister. It’s her bachelorette party.”

“And you two don’t get along?”

“It’s complicated.” Her throat works its way through a swallow. “Could you stay here with me for a minute or two? I just need a break before I go back.”

This is what others don’t see. This is why I haven’t given up on my little crush. Kennedy is comfortable around me. Sure, she might act like she fucking hates me. I might purposefully drive her mad, but there are moments like this one where I’m the person she goes to. Ever since that run-in in the bathroom, there’s been a quiet understanding between us. Maybe it’s because I know a secret of hers and I’ve kept it to myself, I’m not sure. But deep down, Kennedy trusts me.

Glancing back at our table, Cody gestures for me to join the group, but when I look down at my favorite athletic trainer tucked close to me while people push and shove around us, that confident woman I’m used to seeing at work is nowhere to be found. She’s uncomfortable and I hate it.

I lean down close to her ear, shooting my shot for what feels like the thousandth time I’ve done so in the past eight months. “Do you want to get out of here?”

Her big brown eyes flit to mine. “Please.”

I’m fairly certain my heart skips a beat because the last thing I ever expected when this night began was for Kennedy Kay to agree to hang out with me.

But it’s after midnight and officially the worst day of the year, so I count this as a sign.

Her stepsister and all the other women in white are now surrounded by a train of bottle girls carrying endless amounts of champagne lit with sparklers, dancing and cheering as they celebrate the soon-to-be bride.

“Let’s go,” I say, hand on her lower back, ushering her to the door.

She slightly flinches when we first make contact, but settles into my palm, letting me guide her out.

Once we’re outside, I pull up the group text with my two best friends, finding messages already waiting for me.

Cody: Holy shit.

Travis: I cannot believe our Kennedy is here.

Me: MY Kennedy is here. And we’re leaving.

Travis: How long will you be?

Me: I’m not coming back.

Cody: Shut the fuck up.

Me: See you boys at the airport tomorrow.

Cody: I feel like I’m living in an alternate reality. This can’t be real.

Travis: Isaiah motherfucking Rhodes. What happened to the guys’ night you were so adamant about?

Me: Fate happened.