Page 42 of Vegas Heat

And I’m even more excited to make the move to Vegas…to start my life there and see where Sin City takes me.

CHAPTER 18: COOPER

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 stillneedprofessional 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 notas 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 dowhatever it is he does on the third floor—a place I still haven’t seen. A place I’m not sure I’lleversee.

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