Page 10 of Love on the Waiver Wire

It was me. The guy chose me. In the first round.

Honestly? I’m a better pick than Leo would have been, so that’s a plus.

Still, it was unexpected. The best wide receiver by a longshot still sits untouched on top of the list.

I realize I’m on the clock when it flashes red, letting me know I only have a few seconds left to make my pick. I select who should have gone first overall to begin with, feeling excited.

“I don’t know how that happened,” I mutter, leaning back. Waiting 24 more picks to choose again sucks.

“I mean you’re good man, but that man should have been gone first round,” Cooper says.

I nod, shrugging. “You don’t have to tell me that I can assure you that.”

The room falls silent again as everyone focuses on making their picks.

About forty minutes later we’re done. Everyone has full teams, and there weren’t too many crazy moves other than Christian, our linebacker, snatching our defense a couple rounds too soon. Dirwin, our backup quarterback, even got picked as a backup by one of our centers. Whether that was a smart move is another story, but he was happy despite Leo’s annoyance.

“Are you just inviting me to get an injury?” he had asked.

“Nah, bro, I just wanted Dirwin to have his time, you know?” Jason responded.

“Yeah man, Dirwin doesn’t get picked first very often ya know?” Cooper throws in.

“If you bring Jessica up one more time I swear—” Dirwin starts.

Cooper throws his hands up in front of him. “I didn’t say shit man, all I’m saying is that sometimes people pick others instead of you. No names were mentioned.”

“Get fucked Henry,” Dirwin said, turning his attention back to his screen.

Cooper snickered, selecting his pick. “I mean I did, thank you for that.”

The two of them go out all the time and consistently fight over girls. I don’t know how they’re still friends, though I guess we should be lucky that they leave the drama behind them. Most of the time.

“Okay guys, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Leo says as he stands, shutting his laptop.

Everyone follows suit, packing up their things and grabbing last-minute pizza.

I stay for a couple minutes after everyone leaves, helping Leo clean up a bit before heading out. I give him a hug, patting his back before opening the door and stepping out into the hall.

Buzz

Taking my phone out of my pocket, my sister’s name, Briar, lights up asking me if I can watch my niece Elara for a few days in a couple of weeks.

I stop and respond to her, and as I type out that I would absolutely love to as long as she’s okay with her daughter staying at my place alone while I’m off at practice, I hear it.

The faint sound of a familiar song coming from the apartment next door…

A Taylor Swift song.

A memory flashes in my mind. One of my favorite memories, actually, of me taking my sister and her daughter to her concert only a couple of months ago. Briar had to explain to me why people were yelling little things between lines of songs.

And there was one in particular that I remember.

Instead of responding in a text, I immediately call my sister. It only rings twice before she answers, her voice low, likely trying not to disturb Elara.

“Yeah?” she asks.

“I have a question. But before that, yes she can stay with me. Of course she can stay with me. I’m going to have practice, though, but that’s not a travel week, so we should be good no matter what. I assume it’s okay she stays at the apartment by herself for a few hours?”

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