Page 114 of Your Play to Call

“You’re a smart guy, Tripp. You’ll figure it out. There’s lots of good things after playing. Families. Time for other activities. I promise it’s not all bad.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

“I’ll want to sit in on your shoulder examination before game day. I know you won’t play but I’d like to see where you’re at. “

I nod in agreement and stand to leave.

Families.

I don’t have one of those. I mean, I have my mom, but lots of guys retire to spend more time with their wives and kids. I don’t have either. I never seriously thought about kids. My lack of dating history always made it feel more of a hypothetical than anything possible.

Focusing on my shoulder and getting back to the team has been keeping my mind busy. I try not to spend every moment thinking about Willow. I’m still upset, more disappointed than angry, but it’s a lot to sort through. My mood ebbs and flows throughout the day and I spend more time staring at my phone than I’d admit.

Thinking about calling her. Not calling her. How she hasn’t called me. Wondering if she’s staring at her phone the same way.

There have been times I have almost given in.

But I know I won’t.

Chapter 63

Willow

I have a papercalendar for the two years the tour would span spread out on my table. I’m handwriting in all the locations so I can see it out of a list. I could probably find an app to do this but there’s something soothing about doing it by hand.

Today is the deadline; Erik’s waiting for my answer. I’m leaning toward doing it, even though it’s the exact opposite of what I was looking for. But it’s Asher Wilde. I don’t know if he’ll be putting out any new music after this. Honestly, it’s the perfect example of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

When we were planning out the original tour, I did want to leave the door open on me being around for Tripp’s season. I never said it out loud to anyone, but I had such a great time at the games and couldn’t imagine missing out on almost all of them.

Things have definitely changed.

Someone knocks on the door. I look out and see it’s Seth.

“Hate to bother you. Do you have a minute?” he asks.

“You’re not bothering me. Come on in.” I wave him in, and we sit at the table, covered in calendars and markers. A surprise Seth pop-in is pretty rare.

“Is everything okay?” I ask.

“It’s hard to answer that. What’s all this?” He points to the table.

“The tour the label proposed. It’s massive. The one I have to decide on today.”

“Wow. Looks extensive.”

“That’s a good word for it. I’m sure you didn’t swing by to watch me write things down on massive calendars. What’s going on?”

“You know I hate meddling, right? Meaning, you know I’d rather be anywhere else but here.”

“Yes. I do,” I say. I know he means it. He’d rather be tackling a stalker compared to getting into whatever he’s about to.

“I realized we haven’t been to Tripp’s place. I also saw the news about him potentially retiring. This news, paired with your conversation after the label meeting. I know I couldn’t keep this to myself.”

“Keep what to yourself?” What in the world is going on?

“Tripp is mad because he thinks you told someone about something…sensitive, correct?”

Oh my god. Did Seth overhear and tell someone? I can’t believe this. This might actually be my fault.

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