CHAPTER 45 Millie Monroe
Too Important to Pass Up
When we return from breakfast, I fully chicken out on the phone call.
I don’t know what time to call. I checked the schedule, and he has a game today. What if I call when he’s getting ready for game time and interrupt him? What if he’s with Archer? What if he’s in the zone and my call takes him out of it?
Those are excuses, and I realize that.
Still, I can’t do it, so I take the coward’s way out and email him back instead of calling. I read over my email draft no less than thirty-seven times, and I have Chip and Jackie here for input, too.
I read it through one last time.
Hi Cooper,
I wasn’t sure of a good time to call you since it’s game day, so I opted to reply here.
Thank you for getting in touch. I’m thrilled that you reached out.
I’m miserable, too, but I’m not as stubborn as Archer, and I’m willing to do what it takes to fix this.
We belong together, and it would mean the world to me if you could help me figure out how to help him see that, too.
Good luck at today’s game!
Millie Monroe
“Send it?” I ask.
“Send it,” they say at the same time. They’re both pretending like they’re not totally fed up with reading it with me a million times, and they really are very kind friends.
I add my phone number at the bottom, and I click the button to send it through the interwebs. And then I slam my laptop lid closed like it’ll start a fire if I don’t.
Chip and Jackie both laugh at me, but I stare at the thing like it’s a ticking time bomb.
Because it is now.
I’ll refresh my email constantly like a freaking psychopath until I get a reply, which may not come today or tomorrow.
He’s a busy guy. They’re at home the next three nights, and then they’re in California for three nights.
Then they have a night off, and according to ESPN, which I watch like a fiend for any possible glimpse of Archer Bradley, his first game back is supposed to be Friday.
I’ve barely blown out the sigh of relief I feel that I sent that email off when my phone starts to ring.
And the name flashing across the screen?
Cooper Noah.
Yeah, so I saved his contact in my phone after he gave me his number. I saved Archer’s, too. Sue me.
I flash my phone at Chip and Jackie. “What do I do?” I squeal.
“Answer!” they yell together, and it reminds me of that whole thing where couples start to sound the same after they’ve been together a while.
“Shit!” I say, and I shake my sweaty hands out.
And then I answer.
“Hello?”
“Millie, hi. It’s Cooper Noah.”
Holy shit.
Cooper freaking Noah is calling me, and I’m supposed to act like this is normal?! Focus, Monroe.
“Oh, hey,” I say casually, and I wander away from Chip and Jackie, who are positively staring at me, both to get away from their prying eyes and because a hot flush is crawling up my neck and into my cheeks, and I don’t need them to see me lose my shit over a phone call from a pro baseball player.
“So I got your email, and I have an idea,” he says. “How soon can you get out to Vegas?”
I glance behind me at my boss, whose house I’ve been crashing at for the last few days, and I know he’d support me in whatever I need to do.
I mentally think through my current budget situation.
I have a few airline points left since I put literally everything on my credit card. I could probably book a flight and hotel package for a decent price, or I could search through my emails to see if any of the sponsorship offers I received recently were from Las Vegas.
Or I just…put the flight and hotel on my credit card and figure the rest out later.
This is too important to pass up. It’s not just because I want him back.
It’s because I deserve the chance to explain myself, to tell him I turned down the paid partnership, and to prove I’m more than my content.
And above all else, we both deserve some closure.
He walked away and left the resort without a goodbye, and goddammit, we both deserve a goodbye.
“I can be there later today if you need me to be,” I say.
He chuckles. “I like the enthusiasm, but I need a little time to figure out the logistics. Would you consider doing an on-the-field postgame interview with him after his first game back?”
I gasp. “Are you serious?”
“Completely. My wife works with the marketing department, and I have some connections to get you in if you’re down for it. But it won’t just be you. You’ll be last in a longer line of interviews moving down the field.”
“Yes! I would love to do that!” I squeal.
“Great. His first game is Friday. Do you need a place to stay?”
Oh my God. Is Cooper Noah offering me a place to stay at his house? “I can find somewhere,” I manage to say.
“If you need a place, I have a connection at Caesar’s Palace. Or if you don’t mind a screaming toddler, you’re welcome to stay with Gabby and me.”
I giggle. “I’ll take you up on Caesar’s.” Though I cannot believe I just declined an invitation to stay at Cooper Noah’s house. The toddler thing kind of threw me.
“Done. I’ll book you Thursday through Sunday. Work for you?”
“Yes!”
Hopefully, I’ll just need it Thursday since the goal is to spend the night at Archer’s the rest of my time there. I have big goals, I guess.
“Great. Do you know what you’re going to ask him?” he asks. “And do you need a film crew?”
“I’d love to catch his reaction, but given the point of contention between us, I don’t want to film it. I don’t want him thinking it’s just one more way I can use him. And I have no clue what to ask him. Will there be other people around us?” I ask.
“Yes, and more than likely, there will be others filming him as well for local broadcast channels and maybe even national sports networks. So just be aware of that when you decide what to ask.”
Noted. So no sex stuff.
“I’ll text you when I have your hotel details, and text me when you land on Thursday so I can set up transportation,” he says.
“You don’t have to do that,” I protest.
“I want to. I’ve never seen Archer like this. Not even after he and Tatum ended things. And when I see family in need, I do what I can to fix it.”
Tears well in my eyes at his words.
Family in need.
That’s exactly what Archer needs in his life. Family who won’t let him down the way his father did. The way his brother did. I don’t know much about the rest of his siblings, but I hope I’ll get the chance to—if it’s what he wants.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“Happy to help.” He says goodbye, and we hang up.
I turn back to Chip and Jackie. “Welp, guess I need to get packing,” I say, and they both let out grunts of frustration as they wait for me to tell them every single detail of my call, which I then proceed to do. While I pack.