I laugh. "Fine," I say. "But I draw the line at calling you Uncle Max."
It’s his turn to laugh. "In time, you’ll cave and call me that, too."
"Wanna bet," I counter, knowing there is no way I will call him Uncle Max. I’m close to Cooper’s family, closer than I am to my own, but that is only because they don’t need me for anything. My parents grew up paycheck to paycheck. I am their only child, and I busted my ass to put myself through college, only to have them coming to me every six months for a small loan. Three years ago, with Cooper and his support, I finally said no. I was then called a hoity-toity bitch.
"I bet you a signed jersey that by the end of the year, you will call me Uncle Max," he teases.
"But what do I get if I win?" I ask, rolling my lips. "A Max Horton jersey goes for, what, five hundred bucks these days?"
"Fuck that," he says, and I let out a great big laugh. "You almost had me."
"That," I gloat, "is a great poker player." I tap my manicured finger on the desk. "What can I do for you?"
"I’m wondering if you had time to sit down with me. Michael is ready to look at things."
I close my eyes and raise my hand in the air. "Music to my ears," I say, instead of mentioning that it’s only because I just signed Dylan Stone.
"If it was up to me, I would have signed with you last year," Max says. "But you have to let your kids finally make the decision."
"Well," I say, getting up and walking to the window. "Better late than never."
"I’ll touch base with Michael and see when he’s going to be free," Max says.
"Sounds like a plan," I confirm, looking out the window at the cars driving by.
"Say hi to my nephew for me," he says, and I smile.
"Will do," I say and hang up the phone with him. My phone buzzes in my hand, and I see that Cooper just sent me a text.
Cooper: I’m officially a divorced man.
Chapter 3
Cooper
I walk out of the lawyer's office, and my chest hurts. My body feels like it weighs a thousand pounds, and my shoulders feel like I’m carrying the weight of the world.
I take my phone out and text Erika, knowing she’s probably freaking out. I know if the roles were reversed, I would probably be hiding in the parking lot, making sure she was okay.
Cooper: I’m officially a divorced man.
Just typing the words, I stop next to my SUV and bend over, thinking I’m going to get sick. I breathe in and out and unlock the door, sitting in the heat while the air conditioner kicks on. I don’t move my SUV. Instead, I just sit here numb with my head against the headrest. The phone rings, and my eyes peel open as I look at the display on the dashboard.
Dad is written in the middle. My hand comes up, and I press the connect button.
"Hey," I answer, my voice monotone as I look at the screen and suddenly wish he was here. My father is the strongest man I know. He also has this crazy love for his family that even if I tried to explain, I knew I couldn’t do it justice.
"Hey yourself," he says, breathing out softly. "Where are you?" The only ones who knew about me signing today were Erika and my father. I couldn’t deal with everyone else knowing. The disappointment I had in myself was just too much.
"I just got into the SUV," I say.
"How did it go?" he asks, and I laugh bitterly.
"As good as it was going to go, I guess. The paperwork was already prepared when I walked in. The lawyer just explained that everything we asked for was accepted. Julianne is going to allow us to continue the custody agreement we have. I have the kids two weeks in July and another two weeks end of August."
"That’s good," he says. "How’re you feeling?"
"Like a complete and utter failure," I confess.
"Cooper … why the hell would you feel like that?"
"Because I let my kids down." I think of my girls growing up without me. "Because I let myself down. Because, at the end of the day, I couldn’t make it work."
"Would you feel better if you stayed with Julianne and ended up hating her?" he asks, and I look at the dashboard.
"What makes you think I would end up hating her?" I ask him the loaded question. "So what that she hated everyone I loved. So what that she made me feel like a stranger in my home. So what that she hated doing anything with me."
"When you spend your life with someone, it should be with your best friend," he says. "Someone who will hold your hand when shit gets rough and helps you when shit is going down. Someone who protects you and would die for you."