Page 66 of The Golden Goalie

I stare at my phone.She did not. “I’m sorry. Did you just say that I’m under your authority?”

“I need you to be here in thirty minutes. Don’t be late.”

“I can’t...hello?” I look at my phone. “Un-be-lievable. She hung up on me.” I throw my phone on the bed and debate what to do. After a minute or two, I make my way to the shower. I’m not going because she told me to. I’m going because she and I are going to have a word or two. In person.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressed in my stretchy leggings and Rico’s sweatshirt that I stole last night. My hair’s in a messy bun, and I don’t have a stitch of makeup on. I don’t care. I’m not trying to impress anybody. By the time I make it to the practice stadium, I am in a mood. I really wish I could have coffee because I need like a double shot of espresso right now. Atleasta double. Security stops me, but I give them my name. Before I can tell them her royal highness Chloe requested me, he waves me through. I park and make the commute inside. I’m out of breath before I even make it to the hallway where it says the offices are.I've got to start exercising.I stop when I see a bathroom. When I’m finished, I make my way down the hallway, stopping a guy that looks like he works for maintenance. “I’m looking for Chloe’s office. She’s the—”

“Down the hallway. Last door on the right.” He walks away.

“Well, okay then.” I start down the forever long hallway. By the time I get to her office, I’m sweating in my sweatshirt, and I’m irritated as all get out. I don’t even bother knocking. I open the door and walk inside. “All right, Your Royal Highness. I’m here.” I stop when I realize I’m not the only one here.

”Amber,” Rico says, standing to his feet, his eyes wide. “What are you doing here?”

I drop into the chair he just evacuated with a huff. “She called me, woke me up out of a dead sleep, and demanded I be here in thirty minutes. Like I work for her or something,” I scoff. I haven’t even bothered looking in her direction yet.

“Chloe,” Rico says, sounding irritated. “What is this all about?”

“Well, if you two would like to sit instead of being dramatic, we can get this meeting started.” I finally look up and immediately regret it. Chloe is everything I’m not and more. She is perfectly put together in every sense of the word from her slicked back bun, on-point makeup, and wrinkle-free white blouse covered by a black blazer. I can’t see under the desk but I’m going to imagine she’s wearing a perfect pair of pants. She stands and comes around the front of the desk.A pencil skirt. And heels. Kill me now.She stands in front of us and leans against the desk, looking as put together as anyone I’ve ever seen, and I suddenly hate her. I get why Bri and Stephanie don’t like her. Well, I got that when she called me this morning. Just now I have a face to go with her voice.

“Are you aware of the fact that you two are trending on social media?”

I blink, certain I’ve misunderstood her. “I’m sorry, what?” I look over at Rico, but he looks just as surprised as I do. She swipes something on her iPad and turns it around to face us. She swipes through several photos. Some of them are kind of hard to see, but I get the gist of them. They’re pictures of when Rico and I went to my doctor’s appointment, the one he hated.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” I say leaning back in my chair. “It’s not like you can tell what we’re doing. We're just walking towards a building.” She swipes another picture, this one clearly showing the pregnancy center.

“You were saying?” she asks.

I really don’t like her. “So what? There’s a picture of Rico walking me to a pregnancy clinic. I fail to see what the big deal is.”

“You wouldn’t,” she says, and I resist the urge to flinch. “You don’t make a living doing something in the public eye. He does. He knows exactly what this means.”

I turn to Rico; he’s still staring at the iPad. He finally turns his head to mine for a moment. He surprises me by taking my hand in his. “Whatever the social media storm is, we’ll weather it. Together.” I’m shocked by his words but not as shocked as Miss Chloe is. She stares at him open-mouthed. I relish in it.

“You really should have just told me this over the phone; I didn’t need to come in for this,” I say, standing to my feet.

“We’re not finished,” she demands.

“Oh, yes we are. As I already told you, I don’t work for you. There’s not a single thing you can do to make me stay here.”

She holds the iPad to her chest. “No, but he does.”

I cross my arms across my chest. “What are you going to do? Bench him? The goalie?” I smirk when she stays silent. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” I start toward the door before I turn back. “Here’s an idea. Maybe next time,Chloe, you couldnotdemand me to do your bidding. You could ask nicely. Maybe you’d get more friends that way.”

Her eyes flash. “I have friends.”

I squint my eyes. “Do you, though?”

She opens her mouth and closes it, and I turn away with a grin on my face.Amber—one. Chloe—zero.I start back the way I came.

“Amber, wait up.” I wait for Rico to catch up to me. “Pretty sure you just made an enemy of her.” He grins, and I shrug.

“She’s not a very nice person.”

He shrugs. “Gunner would say she’s good at her job.”

“Is she, though?”

He doesn’t answer that. “I’m sorry you had to come down here. I didn’t realize she had called you.”

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