Only One Touch (Only One 4)

“I love New York,” I say, “from April to October.” He laughs as he holds open the glass door to the conference room.

The big brown table in the middle has black leather seats all around it. Water bottles sit in the middle of the table, and the New York Stingers logo paints the wall. Pictures of them with the Cup throughout the years hang all along the wall. “Those are the same months I hate Dallas,” he says, pulling out a chair for himself to sit down. I put my jacket and purse in the chair beside him and sit down facing him. “The humidity is enough to make you crazy.”

“Fair enough,” I say. “Thank you, by the way.” I sit down in the chair. “I hated to cancel our meeting, but I was needed in Dallas.”

He nods his head. “I got to give you that.” He looks at me. “You handled that like no one else,” he says of Manning and the fucking blowup I handled.

“Between you and me,” I say, “it’s always easy when you have someone who won’t run his mouth.” Matthew puts his hands on the table.

“You’ve got that fucking right,” he says. “MC is on his way up,” he says, and I look at him. “That is Cooper’s nickname. With my father and the other kids, it was always MC even when he was younger, and it stuck with him.”

When the glass doors open, I look up to see Cooper come in, and he is the stamp of his father, just a touch skinnier. He wears track pants and a black T-shirt. His baseball cap sits backward, and you see the hair coming out in the back. I get up. “Cooper,” I say, putting out my hand. “Becca.”

“Nice to meet you,” he says. After shaking my hand, he walks to his father and gives him a hug.

“Did you eat?” Matthew asks him, and he looks just a touch embarrassed.

“Dad,” he says, “I’m almost eighteen.”

“You could be almost a hundred, and I’d still ask you,” Matthew says, sitting down. “Now answer my question.”

“I had a protein shake. I was going to grab something, but I was running late,” Cooper says, looking at the water bottles and grabbing one. “I didn’t want to be late.” He looks at me, and I smile.

Matthew looks at me. “Did you eat?” he asks, and I nod.

“Please order the man some food,” I say, and Cooper groans while Matthew picks up the phone and calls an order in.

“Sorry about that,” he says, sitting down.

“It’s fine. We can talk until the food gets here,” I say, and Cooper looks at me. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I wanted to sit down with you.” I don’t make him answer. “I mean, getting drafted, there is nothing I can do for you.” I look at Matthew. “There is nothing that anyone can do. I can’t negotiate even the starting salary.” I look at Cooper. “But I’m not just thinking about Cooper, the hockey player. Who is Cooper Grant?” He looks at me, not sure what I mean. “What does Cooper Grant stand for?”

He sits up, playing with the water bottle in his hand. “Hockey.”

I nod at him. “Family.” I tap my nail on the table when he looks at Matthew, who just looks at me smirking.

“Let me tell you what I see when I look at Cooper Grant,” I say.

“Oh, this is going to be good,” Matthew says.

“I see the top rookie of the year.” He smiles, his eyes lighting up. “With that comes sponsorships from two, maybe even three sports companies.” Cooper’s eyes light up. “I see the Cooper who works out in the gym. Tracksuit, shirts, shorts.” Cooper looks at his father. “You are talking about sponsorship for even nutrition products.”

“What about hockey camps and schools?” he asks.

“The sky is the limit,” I say. “The question is, how much do you want it?”

“Fuck, Becca,” Matthew says, and I look at him. “I’ve told him that since he was young.”

“Look, I can’t promise you that it’ll come in six months or one year,” I say. “Let’s be real. When you’re drafted, it’s to a team at the bottom of the barrel. Usually, the team is rebuilding. You aren’t going to be starting with the Stanley Cup champions.”

“That is what I told him,” Matthew says. “It’s going to be rough.”

“You are going to be with a team that will probably be shit on day in and day out. It’s going to be a learning curve, especially for you since you’re at the top of the league right now. It’s like when you graduate from middle school. You are the cool kid at the back of the bus, and then you start high school, and you’re in the front of the bus again while the cool kids sit in the back. We all know that sucks. But what I can promise you is that I’m going to work as hard as you do. I’m going to get those meetings for you.” I lean back in the chair. “Your father knows I have the contacts. He also knows how I work.”