Page 39 of Cole

CHAPTER NINE

Cole let himself into his apartment, all the while wishing that he was at his house. Unfortunately, with his schedule for the next week, it didn’t make sense for him to drive the distance to the house. The busyness of his days was about to kick up a notch. It was nothing new, but he didn’t find himself thriving on it like he had in years past.

He dropped his bag just inside the door, then headed for the kitchen, fishing his phone out of his pocket as he went. The gleaming kitchen was spotless as he walked in, and for a moment, he longed for the often chaotic scenes of his mom’s kitchen.

Setting his phone on the counter, he went to the fridge and pulled out one of the meals his meal prep service had dropped off earlier in the week. He’d tried a few meal prep companies before settling on his current one.

While he’d needed nutritious and healthy food, he also wanted it to taste good. In previous years, he’d put up with some blah tasting food, just because it was healthy. But he’d decided that he wanted more satisfaction from his meals, which was how he’d ended up with his current company.

Once he’d put his favorite meal of chicken Alfredo with broccoli, heavy on the grilled chicken and broccoli, into the microwave to heat it up, he picked his phone back up. After a moment’s hesitation, he tapped the contact to call Annie.

He hadn’t talked to her in a couple of days, and he was missing her more than he’d thought he would. Texts just weren’t the same after having a steady diet of video calls with her.

“Hey!” he said with a smile when Annie appeared on his phone. More than just her face was on the screen, which meant that she was probably working and had answered the call on her tablet. “How’s it going?”

Shifting to face the screen more fully, a smile bloomed across her face, lighting up her features. “It’s going really well. How about with you? Congrats on the win, by the way.”

“You watched the game?”

She gave a huff of laughter. “Of course we did. Benji came over, and we cheered you on together.”

Cole leaned a hip against the counter, unable to keep the smile from his face. He liked the idea of her cheering him on, and he hoped that she could do it in person at some point.

“It was good to get a win for the first official game of the season,” Cole said.

“The game was great,” Annie said. “For the most part, you all looked pretty good.”

“For the most part,” Cole agreed with a laugh. “We had a few missteps, but they were mainly from the new guys on the team. It takes a bit of time and effort for them to gel with the rest of us and find their stride. But that’s just how it goes. Thankfully, we still pulled off the win.”

“I saw your interview after the game,” Annie said.

Cole lifted his eyebrows. “How did I do?”

Annie laughed, a gentle utterance that drew him in and made him want to laugh along with her. “You’re a pro. How do you think you did?”

“I’ve done a lot of those interviews,” Cole agreed with a shrug. “Thankfully, I wasn’t tapped to do the more formal post-game media interviews.”

“You don’t like doing them?”

“Eh. I don’t hate them, but too often, it’s the same questions over and over, and they don’t always center on the game. I don’t like that. The courtside interviews immediately following the game are more my jam. They’re usually focused on the game, which is what I prefer.”

“Is it always the same person who interviews you for that?”

Cole shook his head. “It changes depending on where we’re playing. Kaity is the one who interviews us for home games.”

“It seemed like you were very comfortable,” Annie said. “Like you were friends.”

Cole stared into the camera for a moment before he responded. “Kaity is very popular among the players, mainly because she’s friendly, yet professional. Most of us who’ve been around for the duration of her job have come to regard her as a sister.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but Cole decided not to expound on it. In truth, all the single guys on the team had tried to shoot their shot with her at one time or another. However, she’d shut them all down. She’d had a boyfriend—now husband—who she adored and who, by all accounts, adored Kaity in return.

Thinking over Annie’s comment, Cole wondered for a moment if she was jealous. But why would she be? They were still just friends. Weren’t they? Or was she starting to have feelings for him, the way he was for her?

The ringing of Annie’s phone interrupted his thoughts. He watched her as she leaned over to look at the screen. A frowngrew on her face as a result of whatever she saw there. Reaching out, she tapped the screen, then pushed the phone to the side.

“Spam call?” Cole asked.

Annie wrinkled her nose. “Worse.”

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