Page 113 of Even Exchange

“Char, I’ve got to go to the bathroom. Join me?” Andi asks.

“Sure,” Charlotte says, giving my arm a squeeze before stepping away. “I could use a little freshening up myself.”

The girls walk off, turning heads as they make their way toward the exit. That dress was worth every damn penny.

“Wanna grab a drink?” Coach Porter asks, turning my attention back to him and gesturing towards the bar.

“Definitely,” I say, and this time, I intend to actually drink it.

“How are you handling everything?” he asks.

“Everything?” I repeat, Charlotte stuck in my mind.

“Yeah. The transition to pro?”

“It’s been a lot,” I admit, considering the rigorous training regimen and meetings on top of helping at Camp Dickson.

“Well, keep being the Noah Caruso I know, and you’ll be fine.”

Pride fills me. “Thanks, Coach.”

“Can we stop with the ‘coach’ thing?” he says with a laugh. “Just call me Porter.”

“Okay… Porter,” I say awkwardly. “I’m sorry, it feels wrong.”

“We’re peers now,” he reminds me. “I was honored to coach you, and now I look forward to watching you play for the Barracudas next year.”

“Hey,” Coach Bexley says, coming up to greet the two of us, and we return the gesture. “Nice to see you, Porter.”

“Bex,” he says with a nod.

“Ready to take me up on my offer yet?” he asks Porter.

“Get the approval for the additional benefits I requested?” Porter replies.

“You know they’ll never go for it,” Coach Bexley tells him. I glance between them, wondering if I should excuse myself from this conversation that clearly doesn’t involve me.

“Then they’ll never have me,” Porter says smugly.

“Bastard,” Bexley says, turning his attention to me. “Anyways, Caruso, I want to invite you to a pre-training camp starting next week. It’ll run till the end of June, and then you’ll have a few days off over the Fourth before official training starts.”

“Oh,” I say, surprised. “End of June?”

“Yeah?” His brows pull together. “That gonna be a problem?”

I think about the time I’d be missing with Charlotte before life really gets crazy. The time she’d have to be at camp with McFuck Face without me.

“I’m actually training at Camp Di?—”

“He’ll be there,” Porter says for me, and my eyes dart to his face. His expression tells me to shut the fuck up if I want to live.

I return my attention to Coach Bexley, and say, “I’ll be there.”

“Wonderful,” he says. “You’ll get an email with the details. See you Monday.”

And he’s gone.

“What the hell?” I say to Porter.

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