Page 100 of Game Changer
This is it!
But as he read the first lines of the email, his heart sank.
Thank you for your interest in the position of Assistant Educator. We enjoyed meeting with you. Unfortunately, we have decided...
Kip swore and closed his laptop. “Of course,” he muttered.
Fuck.
He called Elena at work. He normally wouldn’t call, but this was an emergency. “I didn’t get the job.”
“What? Why not?”
“They went with someone who has their master’s degree.”
“Sorry. That sucks,” she said. “You should get your master’s degree.”
Kip snorted. “How? I’m still paying off the last useless degree.”
“It’s not useless, and you can figure it out. People do it.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll think about it,” Kip said glumly.
He heard Elena sigh. “Iamsorry, Kip. I was really hoping that would work out for you.”
“I know. Thanks.”
After they ended the call, Kip opened his laptop again. Just for fun, he went to the NYU website and looked at their graduate admissions page.
I could apply. No harm in trying.
He closed the laptop again. Maybe.
He slumped on the couch and flipped around television stations. Hanging around Scott’s apartment by himself was nice, but it was also pretty boring. His boredom, paired with the aftermath of the disappointing email, brought on a sudden surge of panic. What if this was it? Obviously there were worse hardships than dating a superstar athlete, especially one he was so madly in love with, but what if he was always Scott’s secret? What if that’sallhe ever was? What if he never went back to school and never got a better job and just stayed in Scott’s apartment, hidden away until Scott had time for him?
Scott wouldn’t do that. He just needs time.
Right?
Surely Kip wasn’t looking at a life of attending events together, but arriving separately and pretending not to know each other. Was Scott going to keep letting the world believe that he was a confirmed bachelor? Or worse, would he marry a woman for appearances and keep Kip on the side?
No. Come on. What the hell would give you that idea?
What if Kip was justconvenientfor Scott right now? What if Scottthoughthe was in love because it was the first time he’d let himself be with a man for more than one night? What if he just needed to take this first step and then he’d feel free to date other men? Better men. Men who were in his league, or at least adjacent to his league. Kip was nobody.
Scott would realize it eventually, and if Kip put all of his eggs in this basket, he’d be left with nothing.
There was suddenly a lump in his throat. This was absurd. Where were these thoughts coming from?
He wanted to talk to Scott, but he wasn’t even sure where he was right now. He wasn’t playing tonight. A plane? Or maybe at a practice.
He didn’t want to be needy. And he probablywasjust depressed about that fucking email. And Elena had a point—he should at leasttryto do his master’s degree. Either that or find a better service industry job, and that prospect was beyond depressing.
Maybe he could do his Bachelor of Education. Be a teacher like his parents. That wouldn’t be so bad, right? Respectable career.
Fuck, this apartment was lonely.
He sent Scott a text. Just a simplehito let him know he was thinking of him.
