Page 67 of Vegas Heat

“Well go call him, girl. If you really think it’s not like that, then you two will figure it out, right?”

“I hope so,” I whisper…but after the way he reacted to this new twist, I’m not so confident in that right now.

I hang up with her and try his phone, and it makes that funny beeping sound where I can tell he’s on the phone with someone else.

Eventually it goes to voicemail, and I lie on my bed staring up at the ceiling as tears leak from the sides of my eyes, dripping down my temples and onto my pillow.

He’s talking to someone. Is he talking about what just happened? Did he call a friend to get advice the way I did? Or, knowing him the way I think I do…did he call his mom to get her take on it?

If I can get him to talk to me, maybe I’ll learn the answers to these questions.

But if he’s going to ignore my calls and refuse to talk to me…I’m not sure how we move forward.

Getting over the boy I dated for eight months was a walk in the park compared to even the thought of trying to forge ahead without Cooper Noah.

CHAPTER 4: COOPER

“He’s herfather?” my mother asks, and her voice is all high and screechy and definitely judgmental.

“Yep,” I confirm as I merge back onto the highway to head toward Troy’s house.

“Oh, God, Coop. What are you going to do?”

“I told her this changes everything and we can’t be together. And then I ran like a fucking coward.”

She clears her throat, but I can’t be bothered to care that theFword isn’t her favorite word. “Why does it change everything?”

“It just does,” I mutter.

“But why? Are you scared of telling Troy?”

“Scared?” I say, my tone more mocking than I mean for it to be. “I’m not scared of anything.” It’s a lie. There’s plenty I’m scared of, and right now I feel like I’m living a nightmare.

“Right,” she says. “And I’m the Pope. But listen, honey, only you can decide how this is going to play out.”

“I know, and that’s the whole problem. I can’t stop thinking about how my choice here is to potentially screw over the entire Heat organization or to screw over myself. Don’t you think I need to take one for the team…literally?” I ask.

She huffs out a laugh. “Stop making yourself out to be some martyr.”

“I’m not,” I protest. “I’m just trying to do what’s right.”

My phone beeps to let me know another caller is trying to get through, but I’m driving and focusing on the road, so I ignore it, opting to continue my conversation with my mom hands-free.

“You weren’t concerned whether or not it was right before. Why do you care now?” she asks.

“Because it’s more than just her and me now,” I say. I signal a lane change to get around a semi, and I pick up the pace to get back a little faster since I promised Troy I’d be back soon to go to the stadium with him. It’s the one thing I’m holding onto right now—seeing my new home, the place where I’ll spend more time than anywhere else as a new season is on the horizon. “It’s a friendship that spans more than a decade. It’s myboss, Mom. It’s the entire team dynamic when I made a commitment to lead that team.”

“Where did you see it going before you found out about Troy?”

I suck in a sharp breath, and my voice is soft when it finally comes out to answer. “I saw it going all the way. I saw us in the long haul. She’s young, sure, but it just felt right between us.”

“Then why does Troy being her father have to be the end of it? Why can’t you just be honest with him?”

It’s a valid question. “I know Troy, and I know how he’ll react.”

“Maybe he’ll surprise you,” she suggests.

“Right. How kindly would you take to me telling you I had an affair with Janice Roberts?” I ask, naming her best friend.

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