He’d never experienced anything like that in his life.
It was his mother and sisters. His grandparents were gone now and even when he was younger, they weren’t too present in his life.
His maternal grandparents helped when they could, but had a strained relationship with his mother before they passed.
His paternal grandparents weren’t much better. His father’s father was a drunk and his father’s mother had been too tired and sick to help or even be there for them when his mother could have used it.
He pulled his phone out and saw it blowing up with players and his agent. The team publicist.
Jesus, the news hadn’t even mentioned Emma’s relationship to Melissa, so it just went to show how fast people were checking information online.
He wouldn’t open any of them, but saw Mike was giving him shit for not letting him know.
“Problem?” Emma asked, smirking at him.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“It’s fine,” Melissa said. “We expected this. Noah turned his phone off. He’ll deal with it all tomorrow.”
“I don’t have that luxury,” Warren said. “What is it I’m supposed to say or not say? I figured I’d keep it simple, that Emma’s family business doesn’t concern me. Something like that.”
“You don’t have to be so formal,” Melissa said. She turned to Roark. “What are your thoughts on everyone’s response?”
“Have fun with it,” Roark said. “We trust you.”
That humbled him. “I’ll just say it was as much of a surprise to me to find out the truth as the world.”
Which was the truth.
“You’ll be asked when you found out,” Emma said. “Are you going to tell them?”
He shrugged. “I’ll probably leave it as a mystery,” he said. “You guys all love that.”
There was more laughter in the room. Emma leaned over to kiss him. “I’m sure you’ll get a lot of questions tomorrow. Sorry if it’s going to be the hot topic at practice.”
“I’m good at shutting that stuff down,” he said.
It’d been harder for him to maintain his privacy since he started to date Emma, but he felt he had a good handle on it.
The fact she was at the game on Sunday helped quiet those who thought they weren’t still going strong.
He wasn’t sure why that bothered him so much. As long as Emma didn’t believe it, it shouldn’t matter.
An hour later, he was giving Emma a kiss at the door. He enjoyed their few days together and was thrilled she’d said she’d gotten a lot of writing done at his house while he was gone.
He was even more excited that he had her in his bed each night.
It’s what he was hoping for.
Getting a taste of it though was going to make it harder for him to return to not seeing her much other than through video calls.
He was going to have to work through it on his own. It’s not like he’d ask her to move in with him.
Well, he could, but he knew she wouldn’t. Why would she give up living on an island where very few people bugged her?
And now, with the news of Steve Spencer’s identity, Emma would stay in even more.
When he got home forty minutes after kissing his girlfriend goodbye, he parked in the garage and went into his empty house.
