Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
To my surprise, she doesn’t react in any visible way. In fact, she looks like she’s been carved from granite.
“Isn’t that great news?” I say, filling the thick silence. “I’ll text you the guy’s information. He’s waiting for an email from you, so you should jump on this right away.”
I wait for a change in Chelsea’s icy glare and frozen body language. But she gives me nothing.
“Come on, Chelsea. You have to admit this is incredible news.”
Still nothing.
I shift my weight. “Look, I know you want me to kneel and grovel, but I can’t do that yet because nothing’s changed on my end. I’m still on the practice squad and a complete waste of your time, and you’re still here and unwilling to fly the coop because of me.” When she gives me nothing still, I shift my weight to my other foot. “Yes, of course, I’ll eventually do what you want. But only if you contact Marco’s guy at the Knights first. Show me you’re not going to stay here in Loserville on my account, and I promise I’ll do whatever you want.” I cross my heart. “You’ve got my solemn vow on that.” I look around to make sure nobody’s come close enough to overhear our conversation, and when the coast is clear, I add in a whisper, “Think about it, Chelsea. Once you’re working for the Knights, and I’m still here, we can finally be together. For real this time. Out in the open.” I look around again and continue excitedly, “Obviously, I’d have to get onto the roster first for that to happen. You know, to make myself worthy of you. You’re football royalty, so I’d never let you lower yourself to be with a scrub. But once you’re working for the Knights, I’d have even more motivation to make that active roster happen for me.”
Chelsea continues silently staring at me. But this time, her eyes manage to call me a blazing idiot without her face moving a muscle.
“Why aren’t you at least nodding?” I ask. “This is the best news in the world, Chelsea. It’s the answer to all our problems.”
She blinks slowly.
“Oh, I get it. You’re thinking, ‘Hey, dumbshit, how am I supposed to tell you I’ve contacted Marco’s guy when I can’t talk to you till you’ve groveled on your knees?’ Ha! That’s an excellent point. Hmm.” I tap my chin while pondering. “Okay, how about this. After you’ve contacted the guy, find me and poke me right here three times to let me know you’ve held up your end of the bargain.” I poke my fingertip between my pecs. “Just give me a lil pokey-poke thrice, like this, and that’ll be our secret code that you’ve done the thing, which will then give me the green light to do the thing on my end—and then, boomshakalaka everything will go right back to normal. Better than ever, actually.” I can’t contain my wide, beaming smile. “Okay?”
Still nothing.
For a moment, I’m stumped. Why won’t she at least nod in the face of this awesomeness? Does she not have faith in me getting where I need to go on my own after she ditches the Mastodons? Is that it? I wouldn’t blame her for thinking that way, because she has no way of knowing how hard I’ve been working lately.
“I’ve got this, Chelsea. I promise I’m a new man.” I count off on my fingers. “I’ve got my first session with the team psychologist tomorrow, and I’ve already scheduled weekly appointments with her for the next six weeks. I’ve also started taking detailed notes in every film review sesh, and at night at my shitty new apartment—wait till you see this place, it’s a shitbox—I study my notes and rewatch whatever clips were shown that day. I even watched film on the plane ride to and from my brother’s opening game in LA!” She looks unimpressed, so I add, “Now see, the old me would have slept or watched movies the whole flight, but the new me wouldn’t dream of wasting valuable time like that.”
I pause for praise of some sort, even if it’s only nonverbal, but Chelsea’s still impassive.
“You’ll be pleased to know I also got in three killer workouts with Roman’s personal trainer while I was out in LA.” I snicker. “Roman’s guy wasn’t nearly as good at motivating me as you. Not nearly as good-lookin’ either. But his workouts were fantastic, so I’m planning to incorporate his best stuff going forward and combine it with all the great stuff you’ve taught me.”
Well, damn. I thought that flirtatious bit about her being good-looking would make her give me at least a little something-something. An eye roll, at least. But nope, Chelsea the Bot’s veins have been filled with ice, apparently, every bit as much as Roman’s when he’s stepping into the pocket during a high-pressure game.