Page 56 of Vegas Heat

Troy:The offer to stay with me is still on the table. I have plenty of space.

I thank him, and he tells me that a draft of my contract is waiting in my email.

My chest tingles with anticipation as I quickly open it and scroll to the number on the bottom line.

My eyes widen.

It’s more than I thought…and yep, I can definitely afford this place.

Ninety million over three years.

The next three years of my life, I’ll be playing baseball again.

I’ll be thirty-six when the contract is up.

Three years is enough time to build a brotherhood. To lead a team. To give this everything I’ve got.

I forward it to my agent for a quick review.

“The contract for my new job is in my email,” I say nonchalantly even though excitement courses through my veins.

“And?” Gabby asks.

“And I think I’m about to start the adventure of a lifetime.” She glances over at me with her sunshine smile, and that pretty much seals the deal.

CHAPTER 25: GABBY

It’s another weekend come and gone way too soon, and I find myself leaving the airport as Cooper boards a plane Sunday evening after yet another tearful goodbye.

My dad isn’t home when I get there, but his cook left some dinners in the fridge. I settle on a salad and add some chicken to it, and I stare out the window as I eat by myself.

I’m my dad’s only child—that we know about, at least—and he tells me how I’m the puzzle piece that’s always been missing from his life. He regrets not being there in my childhood, and he’s been good to me since we found each other. We’ve gotten very close in a very short amount of time, but he’s busy with tons of different business ventures.

And now he’ll be embarking on the busiest one of all. He’s excited, and I’m excited for him, but I already miss having him around. It gets lonely in this big old mansion, but as I stare out at the view that’s similar to the one in the house Cooper’s going to purchase, I can’t help but think maybe I won’t be living here much longer.

It’s a little early to think I’ll be moving in with Cooper once he’s in town, but he hinted at it, and I did, too. It’s the path we’re traveling, and I think we both see it coming sooner rather than later. My only reservation still is that he wants kids—and soon. I’m not there yet. I’m not even out of school, and I always imagined I’d work a few years to establish myself in a career before I settle down with kids.

Cooper texts me when he gets home, and I know it’s time to focus on school. I open my class schedule and start reading through the materials in preparation of classes tomorrow.

When I set up my class schedule for this semester, I created an ideal schedule. I have no classes Thursday or Friday, I don’t start on Monday or Wednesday until ten, and I’m done by early afternoon every day. It’s a great schedule in terms of having a long weekend and having plenty of time to get my classwork done throughout the week, and it’s also a great set-up for snagging either a job or that internship I’ll need for next semester.

Or, you know…plenty of time for Cooper Noah.

Mia and I chose two classes to take together, so I’ll see her on Mondays and Wednesdays in Global Consumer Behavior and on Tuesdays in Leadership and Management Skills.

My first class on Monday morning is a marketing one, and it meets for seventy-five minutes. It’s a tedious first class where we go over the syllabus and play icebreaker games that are pointless given that I know the majority of my classmates since we’ve been in the same cohort for our major for years. We get our first writing assignment, one I’m confident I’ll be able to knock out in a few hours, and then I have a fifteen minute break before heading to my second class of the day—the one I have with Mia.

She’s already waiting for me, and I slide into the open seat beside her.

“How was your morning?” I ask.

“Eh,” she says with a shrug. “First day means the same old shit in every class.”

“Same,” I admit. And then Dylan walks in, and he sits on Mia’s other side. Her attention moves to him. Mine moves to my phone, which I pull out to text Cooper, and I find one from him already waiting for me.

Cooper:Good luck on your first day. Miss you.

Me:Thanks! Just about to start my second class.

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