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“I already said I’ll go. What should I wear?”
Her face scrunches up as she thinks. She grins and says, “Something cute.”
I head into my closet and pull out my favorite baggy team long sleeve shirt. The team name runs up the sleeves and the shark is dead center of my chest.
It’s also the one Joseph said I looked sexy in.
I change into the long sleeve shirt and grab a pair of slip-on shoes. Francesca’s frown tells me she doesn’t think my outfit is cute, but it’s comfortable.
“It’s cold outside and it will be cold in the arena.”
She holds up her hands. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to say anything. Your face said it all.” I grab my phone, wallet, and keys before adding, “Alright, I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.”
“This is an all day event,” Francesca says as she walks past me into the hallway.
I roll my eyes and lock my apartment door. “Yippee.”
The last thing I want to do is plaster on a fake smile and pretend everything is alright, but I will because no matter how bad I feel, Francesca is feeling worse. She’s still dealing with the guilt and grief of killing her mother, and that is far worse than my own secrets.
When we are outside, Francesca grabs her keys out of her purse. “You can ride with me. I promise I’ll bring you home at a decent hour.”
Her smile causes me to laugh.
Maybe, just maybe, I can forget about my problems and just enjoy the community event.
“Oh my God. Look at how long the line is!” I point to the line of people waiting to enter the arena. “It wraps around the building.”
Francesca chuckles. “That’s because our community really wanted to skate with a player. I had to extend it for two hours just to keep the crowd happy. Of course, there are probably upset fans that didn’t get a time slot, but I booked as many as I could.”
“That’s amazing. Just think of all the money we are raising for the children’s hospital.”
“You should see how much I dropped on the win a date with a player.”
“How much?” I whisper. I know she is pretty well off, so I’m not surprised she spent a lot to get a date with Rhett.
“Over ten thousand.”
My eyes widen. “That’s… wow.” I can’t form a sentence.
There’s no way I could or would ever spend over ten thousand dollars to go on a date with my fiance. I did check Joseph’s auction late last night, and it was already up to seven hundred dollars.
“Did you bid on anyone?” She parks in her assigned spot and gets out.
“Um, no, because they were all in the several hundreds.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I’m sure there are several single guys that would love to go out with you.”
I shrug and follow her to the side entrance where the staff was instructed to enter. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
Even from here, I can see the extra security officers standing around the exits and entrances. It looks like a normal game night, but we aren’t going to have nearly the same amount of people here today.
Maybe tonight when they draw the raffle winners and allow guests to fill the arena.
I glance around the wide open lobby. Several people linger around, chatting animatedly amongst friends while others are buying last minute raffle tickets. A few people wander to the team store to buy merchandise.
The new windows and doors with the team’s logo and colors look great. Only a select few people know it’s actually bulletproof glass.