35. Diego
Sweat pooled on my temples,and I bent my neck to wipe it onto my shoulder. The loud clatter of weights hitting metal overwhelmed the music in my earphones even though less than a dozen players lifted in the weight room.
“Are we about to wrap this up?” I barked at Jonas, the trainer torturing me with intense glares and barked instructions.
He shook his head with a frown. “Five more.”
“You suck,” I said, bending my knees for another squat, the barbell on my back wavering with the effort.
I glanced toward the locker room, toward my phone, tucked into my duffel bag and stashed in my locker. Had James already left? Was the contract signed? Questions that wouldn’t get answered until after Jonas finished torturing me.
“Four more,” he barked.
I made it through the set before dropping the barbell. Jonas granted me a reprieve from any more torture, and I bounded into the locker room, desperate to get the hell out of the stadium and back home to Cassandra.
I fished my phone out of my locker. Three missed calls, two from Cassandra and one from James. No voicemails.
“Hey, bud,” Noa greeted me. A group of guards and tackles filtered in behind him, back from practice on the field.
“Hey,” I said as I called Cassandra back. Her phone went straight to voicemail. I frowned before hanging up.
“Everything okay?” Noa asked as he peeled off his practice jersey.
“Yeah, fine.” I waved off his concern. “Cassandra’s not answering her phone. Maybe she picked up a shift at Crown Copper or something.”
“Isn’t she leaving for New Hampshire today?”
“Tomorrow,” I said, shooting a grin at him as I unlaced my shoes. “But the contract is officially over. She signed the paperwork today.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Great. So, what’s the plan?”
“Full wooing,” I said, splaying out my hands. “Flowers, dinner, video games.”
“And they say romance is dead.” Noa rolled his eyes.
“And then I’m going to ask her to date me. For real, this time. No more fake dating, no more contracts.”
“No more make out sessions for the publicity?”
I scratched my chin and shook my head. “Nope. Those stay.”
“I like it,” Noa said with a nod. “I know Lena would be thrilled if Cassie stuck around.”
“Well, count on it. She’s going to be so thoroughly romanced, she might not even travel back to New Hampshire at all, so overcome with lust and adoration.”
He laughed, pulling off his cleats and chucking them into his locker. “Maybe rethink the last part of that plan, Romeo. Becca’s already going to be a little prickly about you dating her sister, for real this time. I don’t think you need to tempt fate by making Cassie miss the holidays with her family.”
“Good point,” I conceded. “I’ll romance her enough that she spends the entire trip home convincing her sister not to kill me.”
“That sounds like a much better plan. Let me know how it goes.” He grinned. “If Becca doesn’t murder you, that is.”
* * *
Showered and dressed, I headed downtown with a plan in mind. First, a stop at a candy store. I bought the small mom-and-pop shop out of all their sour candy and a bunch of chocolate beside. Then, a flower shop for a ridiculously extravagant bouquet.
As I waited for the owner to stuff as many roses as she could into an arrangement, I called Cassandra again. Straight to voicemail. Undeterred, I pulled up another number.
“Crown Copper. This is Kendall.”
“Hey, is Cassandra working?”
“Who’s asking?” Kendall’s friendly voice turned guarded.
“Diego. Diego Sal?—”
“No, I know,” Kendall interrupted, her voice softening. “She’s gone.”
“Gone?”
“Back to New Hampshire. Permanently from the sound of it.”
I shook my head, unsure if I heard her correctly. “Wait, no. She’s just visiting for the holidays.”
“That’s not what she told me. She handed in her badge and everything.”
“When was she there?” I asked, panic gripping my voice.
None of this was right. Kendall must have been confused or misinformed.
“A couple of hours ago. She had a flight at two and stopped by to say goodbye to everyone. Which sucks because she’s a damn good bartender. The regulars loved her—” A loud commotion in the background cut her off. “Hey, I gotta go. Sorry, I can’t be any more help.”
The line went dead, leaving a pit in my stomach and alarm clenching my throat.
Gone.
No, that couldn’t be right. I called Cassandra again. Straight to voicemail, but the other missed call caught my eye.
James. James had seen her that morning.
“Diego, I had you on my list to call today. How do you feel about a brand sponsorship with?—”
“Where’s Cassandra?” I cut in.
“New Hampshire, I imagine.”
“What happened?” The owner walked out of the back of the store, the massive pink box in her hands. “Shit, give me a minute.”
“Why don’t you come grab a drink with me? I’m downtown. Didn’t you just get out of practice? Meet me at the Sky Top bar on Seventh.”
I swore under my breath as he hung up, apologizing to the florist as I paid for the flowers. The shop was only two blocks from Sky Top and with parking spaces in downtown rapidly filling as dinner drew closer, I left the car and raced to the bar. By the time I got to the rooftop, I was in full panic mode.
James sat at a picturesque table overlooking downtown. A martini sat in front of him and a vodka with lime for me. I reached for the water first before sitting down.
“Where’s Cassandra?”
He studied me for a moment with a curious look. “I stopped by so she could sign the contract, like you instructed, and as an additional bonus, I bought her a first-class ticket back home. They were sold out tomorrow, but I got one for this afternoon.”
I heaved a relieved sigh. “Okay.”
Not a big deal. She left a day early. Kendall was clearly wrong and if I’d just gone home first, I would have found a note. A hastily scribbled temporary goodbye on a box of leftovers or stuffed in a video game controller.
“And I arranged to have her car and belongings shipped to New Hampshire.”
I choked on a mouthful of vodka. “Wait, what?”
James shifted uncomfortably, taking a sip of his martini before answering. “She did a lot for us this season. Obviously, the money is nice, but I wanted to make the transition back to her normal life as simple as possible. Seemed like the least I could do.”
“Tell me you bought her a return ticket.”
His eyebrow raised. “No. Why would I? Did I miss something? Did you want to draw up another contract for the post-season? I’m really not sure that’s a good idea unless we can convincingly…”
James blathered on as my vision narrowed. She thought I sent her away. That I ended the contract and wanted her gone. What other conclusion could she come to? I’d told her James was stopping by and that I wanted the contract signed.
“Because I’m in love with her,” I blurted out, drawing James’ soliloquy to an abrupt stop. “She turned me down when I asked earlier in the season because…I don’t know, she thought the contract clouded my judgment. But I wanted it signed so I could ask her to date me. For real.”
James’ lips twitched, briefly dipping down. “Oh.”
“Fuck, man.” I raked a hand through my hair, my mind struggling to figure out what to do next.
“Okay,” James straightened, fingers tapping the edge of his glass. “Okay. Not a problem. I can fix this.”
He grabbed his phone off the table. “Do you have a car, or do I need to drive you?”
“Drive me where?”
“The airport. Sounds like you need to go to New Hampshire.”