“New York will probably try an onside kick so they have a chance to get the ball back,” Leo said.

New York had pulled all of their starters after the first half. And now there was a critical play coming up, and their backups were doing the heavy lifting.

Still, it was so interesting to watch, even if she didn’t know the players.

But then, wonders of wonders, New York’s running back fumbled the ball and the Traders recovered. There was more elated cheering in the club box, because the game was basically over.

The Traders offense took control of the ball, and the backup quarterback whose name she didn’t remember threw to the tight end for a first down on the initial play.

“Woo!” Anya stood and pumped her fist in the air.

After that they let the clock wind down. The game was over, and the Traders had won. Katrina didn’t feel at all like a traitor for being happy about it.

The kids didn’t seem to mind, either. They both sported wide grins.

“Did you enjoy the game?” she asked.

“Are you kidding? It rocked,” Leo said. “Can we do it again sometime?”

Savannah came over to them and smiled. “I’m sure you can. Going to the games is so much fun, isn’t it?”

“Totally,” Anya said. “This was so much better than watching them on television.”

Katrina grabbed her purse. “Well, we should probably go.”

“Aren’t you meeting up with Grant?” Savannah asked.

“We didn’t have plans to.”

“Come on. I’ll take you down to the locker room with me. I know he’d want to see you and the kids.”

She wasn’t certain that’s what he’d want. He’d just sent tickets over for the club room, which had been a lot more than she’d expected. He likely expected she and the kids would go home, not that they’d show up outside his locker room.

“Uh, that’s probably not a good idea.”

Savannah stopped and stared at her. “Honey, he wants you there. Trust me.”

“I want to see all the reporters and all the guys. So I’m going,” Anya said.

“Me, too,” Leo added.

Katrina sighed. “I guess we’re all going.”

She only hoped Grant wouldn’t be pissed to see them there.

They could go and say hello and congratulations, and then they’d leave. She supposed it would be the polite thing to do.

ELEVEN

THEY’D WON. DAMN GOOD GAME, TOO. THE TEAM WAS shaping up. Grant felt good about his game play. He had some tweaks to make here and there, but overall, pretty decent. His offensive line was solid. The off-season trades the Traders had made had firmed up the holes in the line, and he was grateful for that. The rookies were looking good, too. He was confident this was going to be a great team this year.

Coach was positive about all the changes, too, and had told them after the game they had beat a tough team and that their individual coaching staff would meet with them next week to go over their game play. After that they’d had media interviews, Grant had hit the shower, then got dressed.

He checked his phone as he finished packing up. Several texts—one from his dad, of course. Praising him for the game, then telling him everything he’d done wrong.

He smirked. Typical.

Another text from his mother telling him she loved him and he’d played well. That made him smile.

Texts from his brothers, too.

Flynn texted: You sucked. Surprised you won that game. Good thing the second string came in and won it for you.

And from Barrett: Damn good thing you have a solid defense. Otherwise you’d have had your ass handed to you.

From Tucker: Too busy playing baseball to watch your game. Did you win?

He laughed at that because he knew Tucker would never miss one of his games.

He missed his brothers. Though he’d never let any of them know it. They’d never let him live it down.

Finally a text from his sister, Mia: You rocked it. Can’t wait for the regular season to start.

Leave it to Mia to be the only one of his siblings to be encouraging. She knew the guys always gave each other shit, so she was the peacemaker.

“Reading your fan mail?”

He grinned up at Cole Riley. “Family criticisms.”

“Aren’t they the best?”

“Yeah. I imagine you get a lot of that as well from your family.”

“Constantly. But I give the same to them so it evens out.”

“Yup. Same here.” In fact, Tucker had a home series in St. Louis next week. He was going to have to catch one of the games, that way he could be a lot more critical. In person.