Page 281 of Vegas Heat

But I still study the game when I'm benched after the fourth inning. I watch the younger guys and see what the future of this team is going to look like. If I stick through my commitment and remain healthy, I don't know what's at the end of the line. I don’t know what comes next for the Heat.

It might be one of these guys, or it might be somebody from another team, but part of what I'm doing here is building a legacy. That means looking toward our next generation and who's going to carry this team forward once I retire.

And as much as I keep thinking all that and studying what everyone else is doing, the more I think I won't be here for all three years to figure it out.

CHAPTER 12: GABBY

“What the fuck?” I mutter. I stare at the photo and scroll to the video just below it. I watch it again for the hundredth time since it was posted.

I don’t know the exact date it was taken, but I scan the article to try to find the information when my eye catches on the headline once more.

Cooper Noah spotted with pregnant ex! Is it his?

Right below the headline is a photo of a very pregnant Stacy.

Is it his?

Nine months ago was before he met me but he never mentioned going back to his ex for seconds after they broke up. In fact, I feel like I know him well enough to believe he’d never do that.

Still, it hurts to see the photo. It hurts to see him talking to her at all even though it shouldn’t. He can talk to whoever he wants to, and that was true when we were together or now that we’re apart. But it doesn’t change the fact that my chest tightens and my stomach hurts looking at this photo.

She can give him everything he ever wanted.

But so can I.

He never wanted it with her.

I think he wanted it with me.

He left anyway.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Mia says.

Yep, that’s right. Mia. She showed up at my door with the photos when I got off work. She came over full of apologies and wanting to get our friendship back, and I guess she thought showing me my ex with another woman was the way to do that.

I don’t even know how she knows Cooper is my ex other than the Dylan connection. I sure haven’t spoken to her about it.

“How did you even know about this?” I ask.

“Dylan took the photos.”

Of freaking course he did. “You can see yourself out.” I spin and start to walk away, but her voice stops me.

“Are you kidding? I came here to try to fix things. Why are you being like this?”

“You came here to prove that your boyfriend has access to my ex that I don't have. You came to brag that he sold photos to some celebrity gossip site that I don't even give a fuck about. You did not come here to fix our friendship. You came here to one up me and to show me that he deserves the social media job more than I do. I don't even care about that job anymore. You know what? I'm withdrawing my name from the running for it. Please go.”

She stares at me with her jaw slackened for a bit, and then she spins and walks out the front door, slamming it behind her.

I want to cry over it. I want to be upset over it. But it just feels like the hits keep coming, and I'm at a point where I'm starting to get numb to them.

She doesn't know I'm pregnant, and she's not the kind of friend that I'm going to tell that to anymore. She drew a line in the sand. She decided to choose her boyfriend over her best friend, so I guess that makes me her former best friend.

A text from Kaylee comes through.

Kaylee:Back in Vegas. Tight Fit in the morning?

She has been really good about not pressing me or asking questions about what happened between Cooper and me, though she has checked in on me every day via text. I think she wants me to talk about it, and I’m guessing this invitation for tomorrow is the vehicle she’s going to use to get us there.

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