I pretended to be sad.“You’re leaving me. Who am I going to color with?”
“You have Somee. She’s fun too but not as fun as me.”
I smirked. God, this kid believed Somee hung the moon and the stars.
“You can color with her after you take me to school.”
“You want me to take you to school?”
She grinned.“Yes, but Somee can come too.”
My fucking heart melted. She wanted me to take her to school.
“I guess she can tag along with the cool kids,”I signed and a smile blossomed on her face, exposing her missing teeth which were just starting to grow in.
“I’m a cool kid?”
“You are. The coolest.”I winked and she slipped off the bean bag, threw her arms around me, and my fucking heart melted again.
“That was quick,”Somee signed after I dropped down on the sofa next to her. She was seated in the center with her legs folded and crossed at the ankles. I made sure I was close enough so her knee pressed against my thigh. I’d wanted to be next to Somee all day. Now that Rylee was asleep and I was sure there wouldn’t be any interruption for her to misinterpret me being close, I planned to fully indulge in the opportunity.
“She’s excited about school. Had a million and one questions and skipped TV because it meant morning would come faster if she went to sleep.”I grinned when I dropped my hands.
“Now I have to find something to do to keep me occupied while she is at school,”Somee signed.
“You’re gonna kick it with me.”
“You don’t have to waste your day babysitting. I’ll find something to do. Lord knows this house is big enough to keep me occupied.”
“I’m not babysitting. I’m spending time with you. Two very different things.”
“Well, you don’t have to feel obliged to do that either. I’ll be fine.”
“Damn, so you’re really going to shoot me down like that?”
She arched a brow.“Shoot you down?”
“Yeah. I’m putting in an application for your time and you’re doing everything but approving my request.”I smiled lazily and those pretty browns of hers rolled.
“Don’t you have football stuff to do?”
“I have my exit interview tomorrow morning. That will take a couple hours then I have to clear out my locker and I’m done.”
I wouldn’t add that I potentially might be getting official word from management that this was my last season with the Sharks. I didn’t want to ruin the mood. I also had no interest in talking about how unsure my future as a Shark currently was. Sometimes ignorance was fucking bliss.
“Exit interview?”She frowned, turning her eyes on me.“What’s that?”
“I thought you were serious about your sports,”I teased. No matter how much of a fan a person was, that didn’t mean they understood the business side of things. Even the most dedicated fans only knew about drafts, trades, seasons, and player stats.
“I am, which is how I know that the few times I’ve seen you play, you have the tendency to come off the line a little too quickly. You should work on that because the defense has learned to read you.”
“Damn, just fuck my feelings.”
She shrugged.“They pay you enough to make sure you come off the line with better timing. Work on it.”
I was highly amused but agreed.“Aight, I’ll do that,”I responded before I explained further.“Exit interviews are where we meet with the coach, training staff, and GM to discuss the season and go over their expectations for next season. If you have injuries, they work out a postseason plan, and if you don’t, they discuss postseason training schedules. For the most part, it’s really all about deciding whether or not you earned your salary for the year.”
“Did you?”she asked with amusement glinting in her eyes.