Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 141425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
My mother comes closer, squeezes my arm. “If you want to be a good dad, teach your kids what it means to stay. Don’t show them how to run.”
With that final blow, I’m knocked dead.
But it’s time to pick myself up from the ground and start over. I check my watch. It’s noon. It’s a game day. And a VIP night. We have warmups, and also a couple quick photo opps as some VIPs tour the arena before the game against the Vegas Sabers.
The game where Sabrina’s performing tonight. She’ll arrive early, knowing her. Probably five-ish, to be safe. To stretch. Get in her costume. Take some pics.
I need to talk to her before she heads to the arena. I grab my phone like I’m an Old West gunslinger. Call her right away. But it goes to voicemail.
She’s probably practicing her routine a few more times before tonight. She’d want to be one hundred ten percent ready.
I make a promise to myself to find her as soon as I can. And somehow I’ll need to prove to her I can be the man she deserves. A man she can depend on, no matter what.
An idea lands in my head. “I need to talk to Leighton,” I say to Miles.
But that’s just the start of my busy afternoon. Especially since it ends with another idea, bright and shiny, shortly before I head into work.
48
SHOOT YOUR SHOT
Tyler
When you know what you want for, well, the rest of the foreseeable future, you want the foreseeable future to start right now.
But responsibilities get in the way.
Like games and such.
Still, when I arrive in the locker room, I set the gift for Sabrina carefully in my stall, making sure it’s safe and sound. I’m the first one here, and since I’m early, I spin around and track down Everly in her office.
Her eyes widen with surprise when she sees me, but then the polished publicist with the sleek blonde ponytail quickly says, “What can I do for you, Tyler?”
“Some of the players are doing photo opps with the VIPs, right?”
“Yes. And a quick tour. Just of the entrance to the tunnel, the locker room, the corridor. It’ll be about five minutes. And we have them staggered right before warmups. I had you on the list to do one,” she says, then clicks on her tablet, calling it up. “Since you got tickets for…” She scans it, then meets my eyes like she’s impressed. “You got a lot of tickets. Isla Marlowe, Trevyn Storm, Skylar Haven. Jasmine Morales and her parents. Tiffany Kovalenko and Anaka Kovalenko. As well as Nia Brown. Tonya Jackson. And, let’s see, a…Rhonda McConky.”
I grin, not too wide, not too proud. I invited Tonya earlier this week—she’s the repair woman who adores Sabrina. And right after lunch I made some last-minute calls to Sabrina’s students, tracking down their names through Leighton, who’s photographed some of Sabrina’s practices with them. I called Sabrina’s good friends. I wanted them all here tonight for her big performance and to be treated like the stars they are to her. And I tracked down both the woman who runs the animal rescue, and the Lyft driver who helped Sabrina escape from her wedding day. I want Sabrina to see everyone who loves her.
Including…me.
I asked Elle to come too, snagging her center-ice seats with the kids. She’s always loved hockey so she said it’s no hardship. I also told her something else…about how I’ve caught feelings for the nanny. Elle laughed and told me she already knew.
Now, I need to let Everly in on a few more details. “But I kind of want it to be a surprise for Sabrina,” I say, a little sheepish as I sort of reveal my hand to Everly. But she’s a pro, so she just listens as I add, “Maybe you could wait to post the photo of that group with their tour guide till after Sabrina goes on.”
She laughs softly but smiles. “Sure, Tyler. I’ll make sure Leighton knows. She’s here tonight.”
I give a virtual high-five. “Perfect.”
“And you’ll be ready in your uniform since your tour starts at five-thirty?”
“Absolutely,” I say then, and this is the hard part. This is the part I can’t entirely control. But as I make small talk with Everly about the game, I give it my best shot. I’ve got laser vision. Twenty-twenty, thank you very much. And her tablet is resting on her lap at just the right angle for some upside-down reading. There are four VIP groups coming tonight, and I do my best to scan the names for one in particular. Or really, two.
Finding them, I finish the chat, then thank her, and head down the management corridor and back to the authorized personnel area, where Rowan’s dropping his dog at the doggie daycare the arena opened recently. When he’s done, I catch up to him, clapping him on the shoulder.