He hmmed.“How’d it go?”
“As far as I can tell, it was fine.”
“Fine?”
I shrugged, though Cooper couldn’t see.“I couldn’t do everything they asked.I tried to hold a stick, but with the cast, no luck.Which made me wonder why the hell they’d come out when they did.They know exactly when the cast is coming off.”
“You’re asking me?”
“I wasn’t sure if they were checking me out for a trade, or for your crazy plan.”
“Ah.Right.I wish I could tell you.”
Cooper didn’t know?That wasn’t good.“They asked how I’d feel if they signed Alek and traded Ducky.”Even though Jess told me Alek wasn’t staying.
“What?”I could picture Cooper pushing himself upright, all humor gone when he heard that.“They’re trading Ducky?”
“Maybe.Or maybe they’re playing mental games with me.”
There was a pause while he worked it out.“What’d you say?”
“I gave a bullshit answer about how I’d be happy to play with either of them.But it’s got me wondering.This could be paranoia talking but maybe they want to trade me and Ducky together.”I’d imagined a few different scenarios about why they’d asked that.
“Fuck.I don’t want this team pulled apart.”
Did I?Before I’d come to PoCo, I’d have agreed with Coop.But what if I was traded here?What if there was the option of being with Mia?If we lived in the same city, roughly…
Whoa, I needed to pump the brakes on that one.She’d given no signs she was interested, other than the kiss.That could just be chemistry, the emotions on my side.
“In confidence, Jess told me they’re not signing Alek.Though, until the deadline, anything could happen.Maybe they just wanted to see if I’d flip out again at the sound of his name.”Another one of the ideas I’d come up with.
“And did you?”
“Nah.”I was past that anger.Mostly.He wasn’t my favorite person, but Jess was happy with him.So unless he messed up, I’d try my best to get along.
“Not even slightly upset?”
Maybe, but, “Jess chose him, so…”
“Can you imagine if we had Alek and Ducky?”
“I have.But the salary cap makes that impossible.”Unless they moved a big contract.And since Cooper was the biggest, I wasn’t going to mention it.Not that he was likely to be traded—he had a no-movement clause and the city would riot if he left.
“Things are going well in BC?You’re not punching anyone?”
I sighed and settled in my chair.“So far so good.I’m talking to my therapy guy.The biggest issues I have are from that time when the Denbrowskis left.My parents and the way they forced me into a decision, and the girlfriend I broke up with.I’ve talked to my dad but I need to talk to the two of them again.And I’ve got my ex working with me.”
“What the fuck, man?”
I explained the problems I’d had finding an aide.Cooper understood the whole lack of privacy problem pretty well, since he was so well known in Toronto.
“How’s that going?”
That was the question.“I don’t know.We did talk about what happened that summer, how I messed up, but there wasn’t really a good option for us.She’s divorced now, with a kid.He’s pretty cool.I’ve even met her ex-husband.”
“How the hell?It sounds like a TV drama going on out there.”
“That’s closer to the truth than you realize.”I explained that Erik had come by, and that he was acting in a TV drama.“I’d say we mutually dislike each other.”