The Other Game (The Perfect Game 4)
“What are you going to do about Cassie?” I asked, not wanting to ignore the elephant in the room any longer. “And you know, what Melissa said?”
“Chrystle still hasn’t signed the papers. Marc mentioned the other da
y that we should think about withdrawing the annulment papers and filing for divorce instead.”
“So will you tell Cassie that?”
He shook his head as he sipped on his straw. “No. Chrystle could still avoid signing those too.”
“Melissa’s going to tell her.” I eyed him over the table, knowing that Melissa wasn’t kidding about her drop-dead date for him. When she made a promise, she stuck to it, and this one was no different.
“I know.”
“Maybe that will end up working in your favor,” I said, and he shot me a glare. “I’m just saying. It might not be the worst thing in the world if Cassie knows what the hell’s been going on for the last four months.”
Jack looked away and shrugged. “I guess we’ll see.”
• • •
“She signed them! Holy shit, brother, she signed the papers!”
I held the phone away from my ear as Jack shouted his news. His voice was excited, making me realize just how long it had been since I’d heard him sound genuinely happy.
“That’s awesome! Why? Why now?” Wondering what could have changed to make that chick finally give in, I asked with a shudder, “Did you have to give her all your money?”
He laughed. “No. Her best friends called me. Said they had some serious dirt on her, and that they’d testify against her if necessary. She caught wind of that and signed, hoping to save face.”
I was stunned. “Well, who cares how it happened, I’m just so glad it finally did!” I jumped up, dancing around in my room in celebration. After all, nobody could see me. “So you’re calling Cassie as soon as we hang up?”
He groaned. “Not quite yet. I need a little more time.”
My dance moves halted. “What the hell for now? Jack—why?”
“You don’t know everything, little brother. I just need a little more time.”
“I don’t understand you at all. Do you even want to be with her anymore?” I pushed the one button that I hoped would get a reaction out of him.
“Shut up, Dean. You know my whole world is about that girl. Don’t ever question how I feel about her.”
I glanced at his schedule, noting that he had a game in New York coming up. Maybe he was planning on waiting until he could see her in person.
“You’ll be in New York soon, you know.”
“Trust me. I’m aware. It’s not like she’ll be at my game.”
“Well, she would be if you told her to come see you.”
“I gotta go. I just wanted you to know she signed the papers.”
• • •
The next time I had lunch with Melissa, she looked agitated, like she was holding something back from me. We hadn’t been seeing each other as much as usual lately. She’d had to switch a class around, which meant our schedules didn’t sync up during lunch every day like they used to.
“What is it?” I asked, watching her fidget across the table.
“You know I gave your stupid brother the deadline, right? I’m sure he told you.” She eyed me, stabbing her fruit with her fork.
“Yeah, I knew about it.”