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“Cooper, are you even listening to me?” my agent, Jarvis, asks.
I’ve been listening to him for the last hour. We’ve been over all of this hundreds of times. “Yeah,” I say when we both know I’m obviously not.
“No, you aren’t. Do I have your attention now? I don’t want to have to say this a million times.”
“Yes. I’m listening.” I roll my eyes even though he can’t see me. Jarvis is notorious for repeating himself. I think the guy just likes to hear himself talk. That aside, he’s a great agent and works his ass off. No way would I have received the contract that I did without him.
“As I was saying, the Defenders coaching staff has decided to bring all the rookies in sooner than usual. You have to report to camp tomorrow.”
“What?” Now he really has my attention. “No. It was supposed to be Monday.” This is not happening. I’m so close to seeing her. Just four short days.
“It was, but things have changed. They want some time to acclimate the rookies to the stadium and go through some basic PR information before camp starts.”
“But we’re already reporting early.” Why do things keep happening to keep me away from her?
“Well, now you report earlier,” he replies, his tone flat.
“Is there any way to get out of this?” I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth. This is my dream, all I’ve ever wanted, but here I sit on my couch, practically begging my agent to push it all back a week so I can spend some long-overdue time with my best friend.
“No, Cooper. There is no getting out of this,” he says, exasperated.
“Okay.” I’m defeated. For some fucking reason, the universe is working against me. Now, it’s going to be August before I can see her. She’s coming down for family day, but that’s going to be with our parents, and all the other friends and family. I just want a Reese day. Just the two of us.
“You have to report to the stadium at seven in the morning.”
Son of a bitch. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there.”
“I’m working on some endorsement deals, but nothing concrete at the moment. I’ll keep you posted as soon as I have more details.”
“Thanks, Jarvis.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“You’re going to be there?” I ask, surprised.
“Damnit, Cooper, did you hear anything I just told you? Never mind. Don’t answer that. I’ll email it over to you, so you have it to reference. Let me know if you have any questions and don’t be late.” With that, he ends the call.
“Fuck!” I scream and toss my phone onto the couch. Bending over, I rest my elbows on my knees and dig my fingers into my hair. I can’t fucking believe this. My throat feels tight at the thought of calling her and telling her that I won’t be here. I hate that I’m going to miss out on my time with her.
This fucking blows.
Knowing I need to call her and tell her so that I can pack, I reach for my phone and send her a text.Me: Hey, change of plans. Text me when you get home and we can video chat.Her reply is immediate.Reese: I’m home now. I had an offsite meeting and then they told me to go home for the day.
Here goes nothing. I hit her contact and wait for the video call to connect. “Hey, Co— Oh no, what’s wrong?” she asks when she sees the expression on my face.
“I have some bad news.” Fucking terrible, tragic news. Sure, I’m being dramatic, but that’s how much I miss her.
“What? Is it your parents? My parents?”
“No. Nothing like that,” I reassure her. “I just talked to my agent.”
“Okay?” Her brow furrows, and I know she’s trying to figure out where I’m going with this.
“I have to report to training camp early.” I grimace when I say the words because they hurt. Not physically, but my heart, well, it misses my best friend.
“Oh.” Her face falls, her beautiful smile disappearing. “So that means?”
“That I won’t be home this weekend. I have to report tomorrow. I just got off the phone with my agent. Something about PR training for the rookies.”
“I understand,” she says, but I can tell she’s disappointed too.
I nod. My throat is tight with the emotions not seeing her evokes in me. I was really looking forward to this trip. “I’m sorry.” I push the words past my lips.
“It’s okay. This is your job, Coop. There will be other weekends.”
“I wanted to see you.” I need to see her to keep my sanity. Missing her is all I can think about.
“I know. I wanted to see you too.” She tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She might be able to pull that shit with Hunter. Not with me.
