Page 101 of Vegas Heat: The Expansion Team Complete Series
“We have a huge welcome party for our new teammates on Tuesday. We’ve already planned a big fanfare, a parade, the whole nine yards. Rules state the new players have seventy-two hours to get here, but I think most will arrive today. Coop, can you help lead the stadium tour? Joanie had planned to do it but it’s looking like she’ll be out this week,” Mike asks.
“Absolutely. I’ll touch base with Joanie and see what she had planned.”
He nods. “We’ll welcome everyone into the front offices at nine and I’ll make the introductions there, and I’ll talk a while in one of our classrooms. Then the tour, a luncheon, and the parade at noon. Players will spend the rest of the day at the stadium completing their paperwork and getting added to all the appropriate systems, and we’ll do player photos as well. Dinner is being catered in. It’ll be a full day event.”
“Any word on Bodine?” Chris asks.
“He was stable when I left last night. I’m heading there next. I’ll touch base with Joanie and see if I can put her interns to work on Tuesday’s events,” I say.
“Fine,” Mike says in the tone of voice that really means great idea, man .
I go to the hospital once our meeting is over. Joanie texted to let me know Troy was moved to a private room last night, so I head right up to his new room.
He’s sitting up and drinking some water when I walk in, and he looks pretty good all things considered. A little weak, a little tired, but not lying on the ground. That’s an improvement.
“Hey, he’s awake,” I say when I walk into the room.
“Tell me about the draft,” he begs without greeting. He winces a little as he readjusts in the bed, but whatever painkillers are being pumped into his veins via the IV seem to be helping him to manage it.
“No work chatter in here,” Joanie warns.
“It all went fine,” I assure Troy, doing my best to assuage his concerns and appease Joanie as I flip the subject. “Now listen, how many days are you stuck up in this joint? Because you can borrow my passwords to my porn sites if you need them.”
Troy chuckles. “Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of apps for that. I’m in here a few more days at a minimum and can you believe this bullshit? They said I can’t travel for four weeks . Four weeks!” He shakes his head in disgust.
“Dude, four weeks puts us just before Christmas.” I shrug. “Enjoy the holidays with your family, get healthy, and then we hit it hard January one.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters. “What’s going on with the stadium welcome on Tuesday?”
“Joanie said no shop talk,” I remind him, but he just rolls his eyes. “Mike tapped me to lead the tour, so I’ll need to borrow Joanie later for the details.”
“Use the interns,” Joanie pipes in. “Oh! And can you get signed items from our new players that we can donate to the sponsors who are participating in the parade?”
“Great idea,” I say with a grin. “That must be why you’re the head of marketing.”
She laughs and holds a modest hand to her chest. “Oh, I don’t know about all that.”
The door opens, and Gabby walks in holding a bouquet of flowers. “How’s Daddy feeling?” she asks around the bouquet, but it’s so big it’s blocking her view of me.
Every time I hear her say the word daddy , I can’t help where my dirty mind wanders.
“Better than yesterday,” Troy says.
She sets the bouquet down and turns around, and that’s when she sees me. “Oh, hey,” she says nonchalantly, like she didn’t wake up in my arms a few hours ago.
“Hey,” I say. I force my gaze off her before Troy starts to suspect anything, but an immediate calmness flows through my chest the second our eyes connect. “Can you and the interns help me with the stadium tour for the new draft picks this Tuesday?”
She nods. “Of course.”
“I’m going to take this week off to be with your father,” Joanie says to Gabby.
“Nonsense,” Troy says. “I’m fine.”
She turns toward him. “In sickness and health, right?”
He sighs with a bit of frustration.
Joanie turns back to Gabby. “Can you step in for me this week? I’ll have my phone on me and I’ll be available to answer questions or video chat or whatever you need, but once your father is discharged, he’ll need someone with him. I know you have classes in the mornings, but I also know you have a better handle on my job than anyone else, and I wouldn’t trust anyone aside from you with the keys to the kingdom.”
Gabby walks over and pulls Joanie into a hug. “I’d be glad to do whatever I can to help. I’m sure my professors will understand.”
“You will not miss class over this,” Troy booms, and Gabby turns toward him. “You already missed when you were in Chicago with Cooper. No more.”
“Okay, fine. I won’t.” She turns around and gives me a look that says oh hell to the yes I will , but obviously we’re not going to allow Troy in on that nugget since we don’t want him blowing a gasket twelve hours post-op.
That’s Gabby. She’s stubborn, and she tends to do whatever she wants, preferring to deal with the consequences as they come.
It’s one of the things I love most about her, but it’s also potentially one of the things that’s going to get us into trouble.
“You two go get to work,” I say to Joanie and Gabby. “I can stay with Troy a few hours while you fill Gabby in on what you need from the interns this week, and I can switch out with you whenever you’re ready.”
“You have workouts to get to, Noah,” Troy grunts.
“And you need your rest. I expect you to take a good, long nap while I watch Top Gun . Have you seen it?” I fold my arms over my chest in a power play that Troy can’t do much about given the fact that he’s laid up in a hospital bed tied to a bunch of monitors, and so he blows out a frustrated sigh while his daughter walks over to grab his hand.
“Get some rest while we work out the details, and I’ll have Joanie back in a flash,” she says. He kisses her hand, and it feels like it should be my place to kiss her goodbye next.
“Thanks, baby girl,” he says.
Joanie kisses Troy next. “I’ll be back in a few hours. If you need anything, you call me. Okay?”
He nods and narrows his eyes at her as he says, “Yes ma’am.”
They both chuckle softly as she leans in for another kiss, and I gaze across the room as I wonder when it’ll ever be okay for me to kiss Gabby goodbye or share a soft chuckle with her in front of her father.