Page 18

I took Monday off to spend the day with my mom, but when Tuesday rolls around, I have no choice but to head into the office. I’m not sure what my mom does all day when I’m at work, but she said she’ll find things to entertain herself. I’m pretty sure she means walking downtown to find a store to shop in. That’s enough to fill her day, I guess.

I’m dreading going to work today. I texted Carla after I spoke with Troy last night. I told her I needed to talk to her in the morning, and I’m sure she’s expecting anything but my two weeks’ notice.

I knock on her doorframe when I get into the office, and she waves me in.

I shut the door and slide into the chair across from her desk. She tips her glasses down her nose and glances at me over the frames, and she looks a bit like a stereotypical librarian about to scold a loud child.

“What’s this about, Cooper?” She presses her palms together in silent prayer. “Please tell me you’re not leaving me.”

“I’m not leaving you,” I say, and she lets out a loud sigh of relief. “But I do need to modify my schedule.” I clear my throat. “And location.”

“What?”

“This is confidential.” I squeeze my eyes shut and rip off the bandage. “Troy Bodine is managing a new expansion team in Vegas. He wants me to play third and I sort of already agreed to it.”

Her eyes widen. “You’re going back to the game?”

I nod. “I know. The reality of it hasn’t quite hit me yet. And I’m not quitting. I’ll be in Vegas, so I can work on things there with Kaylee. She’s totally overwhelmed right now and could use some extra hands. And I promise you, Carla, I will shout about this program from the rooftops every chance I get. Think of it as free advertising.”

She huffs out a chuckle. “Free advertising, huh?”

I lift a shoulder as I try to lighten the weight of my words. “I need to be back in Vegas September first to start offseason workouts, but I’m happy to train my replacement here.”

“Ugh, your replacement. Don’t you know yet that Cooper Noah is irreplaceable?”

I laugh. “Obviously,” I say sarcastically. “Do you still need professional athletes with celebrity status for this position? Or do you think Jamie could take on the whole thing?”

When Kaylee left, the idea was to find a replacement for her, but Carla ended up not really doing that since Kaylee and Ben were taking the program into his fitness clubs. She restructured how we run the office here, but she still uses me as the face of her company. And I can continue to do that from anywhere—I just won’t be able to attend as many in-person events as I do now.

Since I knew I wanted to work with kids after the game, I worked hard to earn a degree in elementary education.

I had several reasons for selecting that as my major. On the one hand, I did it since the classes were filled with hot girls. On the other hand, my mom’s a teacher, and she’s the strongest, bravest person I know. I wanted to be like her.

And then the farm system came calling. I was drafted into the minor leagues my sophomore year of college, and I had to work hard in the off-season over several years to complete my degree. Players around me were working on degrees in business management, but I knew I wanted to work with kids. Maybe not as a teacher, but the degree set a base for my career here at StrongFitKids.

“Jamie could probably do it, especially if you, Kaylee, and Ben would consider splitting duties as our spokespeople,” she says.

“Ben?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at her.

She shrugs and raises her brows. “What? He’s a hot commodity right now, and he’s supportive of his wife. You think I’m not going to capitalize on that?”

“Touché.” I nod.

“But if I move Jamie there, she’ll need help with her current position. You’re not quitting, exactly, but I’d still like you to stay two weeks—until you need to be in Vegas, if that’s okay with you. That way you can go over everything with Jamie and we can work on finding someone to help her out,” she says. “I’ll put up the application today, and if you know of anybody you can recommend, let me know.”

“Will do,” I say. “Thanks, Carla. For everything.”

“I hate to lose you, but these opportunities are once in a lifetime. Just know one of your biggest fans will be watching every gameday and cheering for a W.” She offers a sad smile, and then she says, “Now get out of here. I have a job posting to create and you have work to do.” She sighs. “I can’t believe I’m losing another perfectly good employee to Las Freaking Vegas.”

I laugh, and then she follows me out of her office to announce to the rest of the staff that I’m going to be relocating…but she doesn’t say where or why just yet.

They’ll all find out soon enough.

I call Troy later in the evening after my mom has called it a night. I can tell he’s at the club since I can hear music playing in the background, and I swear that guy practically lives at that place. I’m not sure how he’s going to handle it once he’s back in the game and managing a team. He won’t have the time to do whatever it is he does on the third floor—a place I still haven’t seen. A place I’m not sure I’ll ever see.

“Hey, it’s Twenty-One!” he answers. “What’s going on, man?”

I kick my feet up on the handrail on my patio as I let out a chuckle. “I gave my notice at my job today. My boss would like me to hang around a bit to help train my replacement, but I’ll be there September first as promised.”

“September first. Great. I’ll throw a party here at the club,” he says, indicating he’s there right now.

“Maybe just at your place,” I suggest. “I need a few things from you first, though.”

“Name it,” he says.

“A real estate agent, for one. I’m booking a flight out for next weekend to look at places.”

“Done. I’ll text you my strongest recommendation. What else?” he asks.

“Well, if I can’t find a place in time, I’ll need somewhere to live,” I say.

“You’re welcome to stay with me until you figure out where you want to settle.”

I pull my feet off the handrail and push to a stand. “You sure?”

“Of course. What else do you need?”

“Well, since you’re asking, my boss could use some extra hands at StrongFitKids. You know anybody who can help her out?” I ask. “She needs someone who knows something about athletics in San Diego, and my friend working out of Vegas could use some local help there, too.”

“I have a few buddies who retired to the area that might be able to help in San Diego, and I have a daughter who might be interested in helping in Vegas,” he says.

My brows dip. “You have a daughter?” I had no idea, and we’ve been friends for years. But he does seem like the kind of guy who keeps his personal life close to the vest.

Except for sex, of course, which he possibly performs in public on the third floor of his club.

I’m not here to judge anybody who likes to partake in that particular brand of fruit punch, but it’s not my beverage of choice.

He chuckles. “Yeah, I do. She’s smart, too. So much smarter than me.”

“She’d have to be if I’d even consider passing her name along to my boss.”

He barks out a laugh. “Fuck off. I’ll talk to her and see if she’s interested. Any other requests, Twenty-One?”

“That’s all I got for now, boss, but I’m sure I can come up with more soon.”

“Great. Now get your ass to Vegas. We have a team to build at the draft mid-November after the World Series, and we have workouts to start.”

I grin. “Yes sir.” I hang up as excitement permeates my chest that he wants me to be a part of the team build. It’ll be as much my team as it is his, and there’s already a sense of pride in that.

I dial up Gabby next for our nightly chat.

“Hey there Hottie McCuteStuff,” she answers, and I laugh.

“Hottie McCuteStuff?” I repeat.

“You should’ve heard all the names that raced through my head when I first saw you at that blackjack table,” she admits.

“I only had one thought in my head when you sat down,” I say, sitting back down and kicking my feet back up on the railing.

“Oh? What was that?”

I mimic a robotic voice when I answer. “Hot girl alert! Hot girl alert! Need to get inside her now.”

“The voice in your head sounds like a robot?”

“When I see someone as hot as you, yeah. My brain turns to mush and the robots take over.”

She giggles. “Well glad I could help bang the robots out of there.”

“You think that’s what happened? Pfft,” I say. “Nah, it’s all mush up there since the moment I met you.” I turn the robot voice back on. “Call hot girl. Get hot girl to San Diego. Let hot girl know how much you miss her.”

“I miss you, too. I’ve honestly been a little bored this week, but Mia and I have gone to lunch a few times, and I’ve been enjoying that toddler dance class. Oh, and Mia is seeing this dude who rented a boat on Lake Mead tomorrow, so she invited me to that.”

“Sounds dangerous. You shouldn’t go,” I tease, mostly because I don’t want some college kids ogling my girl when I’m not there to ogle her myself.

“Yes, Father,” she mocks.

“That’s Daddy to you,” I say, my voice low and gravelly.

She lets out a soft gasp that might be part laughter, part surprise at my words. Honestly, I’m surprised, too. I always thought the daddy thing was a little weird, and maybe even weirder since she’s twelve years younger than me. But it slipped out, and she gasped, and maybe it’s a thing now.

She clears her throat. “Whoa.”

“Yeah. Saturday needs to get here faster,” I groan.

“Agreed,” she says. “But you know, we could do stuff, um…over the phone.”

I wish we were on a video call right now so I could see the color lighting up her cheeks at her own suggestion.

“Now there’s an idea I like,” I say. “I’m hanging up now.”

“What? You hated my suggestion?”

I laugh. “Fuck no. I’m hanging up so I can call you back on video.”

“Oh sweet Jesus, what can of worms have I opened,” she mutters, and then I disconnect the call.