Page 38 of Change Your Play

“No, I understand. I understand that if I have to drive across state lines every time I have to convince you that things are fine, problems are going to happen anyway,” I told her.

“I want the head intern position,” she blurted out. “And I have worked myassoff to get it and I don't want to hurt you and have people think that you slept with me to—”

“Nobody's going to think that.”

“People are going to talk,” she whispered.

“Who the hell cares?”

“Icare.” Cleo pinched the bridge of her nose but shook her head, less exasperated, more desperate for me to understand. “I care!”

“Okay. You're bringing a highly-valued player from KYU to Marrs University.”

When I tried to continue, Cleo opened her mouth to refute it, but I needed her to hear it.

“I don't care about any of this, but this is the only thing I'm really good at. I know I'm a high-value player. And me, coming to Marrs, was you. It was all you.”

She stared at me. “Miles…?”

“Cleo, you can do whatever you put your mind to. I just want to be part of it.”

Her face softened.

“Because I think I've been looking at this wrong,” I admitted. “I've been looking for a new start. I didn't realize I was searching for my last one.”

For a moment, both of us were silent, until Cleo shook her head.

“This is crazy,” she muttered.

“Well, I’m the one taking a risk here.”

“This is insane,” Cleo threw over her shoulder and hurried up the bus's steps. I followed after her, heart hammering, but I didn't go in with her. I stayed outside the door while her voice floated down. “Fucking crazy!”

“If anything, I'm the fucking crazy one. For all I know, you could have a boyfriend or a fiancé or a—”

The words stopped in my throat when she appeared at the bus's entrance, a tidy shoulder bag under her arm.

She’s driving with me?

Cleo sighed. “Somebody has to make sure you go the speed limit.”

I yanked her close. My lips found hers before we could speak another word to each other. We crashed together. She tilted her head, deepening the kiss, and I ran my hand through her fine red hair, everything I'd ever wanted.

I wrapped an arm around her waist, heading into the bar. She reached up to hold my hand and my chest swelled. I couldn't keep the grin off my face.

Epilogue

Cleo

Six Days Before Fall

The end of the summer didn’t feel like an end - it felt like a new beginning. Sure, it’d been months of getting up way too early, gulping down white drizzle mochas, and waking myself up from meetings with the eighty-year-old donors. But it was the kind of summer I’d always remember.

The kind of summer they made songs about.

I just couldn’t be happier withhim.

Miles didn’t just adjust to the team; he was part of them. It wasn’t the same passive-aggressive snaps with KYU. He made a real effort. The small parties at Adam’s places, movie nights at June’s, he even ran extra practices with Ryan.

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