“Thanks.” I smiled and walked toward the door. “How long have you been keeping hold of this? And how much did Dylan put you up to this?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
***
I sat on my sofa and stared at the envelope. I hadn’t taken it out all day because I was…
Afraid was the wrong word.
Apprehensive?
I’d been in professional sports long enough that I knew how much work this position would be. I’d essentially be running an entire miniature department in the sports center, but that wasn’t too different to what Dylan did. He ran the gym and exercise classes and hired all the people who ran the classes and the personal trainers.
It made sense to hand the departments to people who knew the sport.
You wouldn’t make LeBron James teach yoga, would you?
Although…
I shook my head and grabbed the envelope. I had to open it. I’d been staring at it all day, and it was time I pulled on my big boy pants and looked at it.
I pulled it out and the job title followed by my name jumped out at me.
The hours were similar to what I did now, but better scheduled out. The only crazy ones were the training times, but it looked as if Seb had already carved out a schedule for the team.
A team I got to name.
I swallowed. This was a big contract—this was the founding of the soccer teams in White Peak, teams I knew Seb hoped would become a part of the town’s legacy and of his own.
Was I the right person to do this?
I skimmed the rest of the contract. It basically left it all up to me, from the hiring of the soccer staff to the allocation of the very large budget he wanted to invest, plus the money from the sponsorship from the newspaper. A bright yellow Post-It note was stuck to that page that said there was another sponsorship in the works that I would have to finalize if I accepted.
Oh, hell.
I had no business skills.
I knew nothing about running a business, which is what he was asking of me.
Could I do it?
I checked the time. It was getting late, and I honestly didn’t know if my dad would be awake right now. He was the only person I felt like I could talk to about this right now, though.
I dialed his number on my phone. If he was awake, we could switch to video chat, but I didn’t want to mess about with that if he was asleep.
No answer.
I sighed.
I should have known it would be too late.
This… this was when I felt the loneliest. I knew nobody really outside the circle of friends I had, and Dylan had already given me all the advice he could.
Plus, he knew about this.
I couldn’t message London, could I?
It didn’t seem like the kind of thing I could go to her about right now, especially after our date. I didn’t want to push her into talking to me, especially about something like this.
Something that would commit my future to White Peak.
I put the contract down on the table and sat back on the sofa. This was tough. Really tough.
It should have been a no brainer, but now I had to ask myself… what if I said yes? And London told me no anyway?
Could I stay here knowing that I can picture myself being with her?
Making pizza in her kitchen with Leo?
Making her laugh and kissing her on the porch?
Taking her for dinner?
Buying her flowers?
But not just that. The mundane, too. The everyday. Doing her dishes. Carrying Leo to bed when he’s too tired. Making a bed. Picking Legos up from under the dining table. Finding three socks stashed down the back of her sofa and putting them in the laundry room because I knew how much that bugged her.
All of that. All of that stuff…
Fuck.
I wanted that with her.
I wanted it more badly than I thought I did.
Could it be possible that I was already falling in love with her? With her son, too? I’d always pictured myself as a father someday, but I’d never planned on falling for someone who came with a child already.
Not that it mattered. I wasn’t sure I could stop myself feeling this way even if I wanted to.
I leaned my head on the back of the sofa and reached for the remote with one hand and my phone with the other. I couldn’t sit here in silence much longer or I’d drive myself nuts, so I turned on the TV and checked my phone again.
New message.
London.
LONDON: Did I leave my shoes in your car?
ME: Hold on. Let me check.
I got up and went out to my car, confirming that her shoes were on my backseat. Where she’d thrown them… Not because of anything else.
Sadly.
ME: Yep, on the backseat.