“Are you dating someone?” Daphne asks, leaning in closer and grinning at me. That’s just like a married woman, wanting to get all the tea.
I laugh and shake my head. “No. I work all the time, read books, and I found this animal adoption website that’s kind of like Reddit, but for pets. I get sucked into the different threads. Maybe I love it because I grew up on a farm and I can picture a lot of the problems these people are going through. Fun for me, but not the résumé for pulling in suitable candidates in the dating world.”
“The best ones are the ones with quirks. They’re the most loyal.” She pulls out her phone and shows me a photo of her and her husband. They don’t look like a typical match in a normal book, but they look happy. She’s the stylish one, while he’s grinning through thick glasses, their cheeks mashed together for the photo.
“Donald is a huge fan of Dungeons and Dragons. He teaches me that, and I teach him sports lingo so he can understand some of what they talk about at the office.”
Chuckling, I say, “You sound like a match made in heaven.”
She winks. “I think so. What’s so great about the adoption website? I would imagine it to be sad.”
“There are some heart-wrenching posts, butthere are some hilarious ones. I probably shouldn’t be laughing, but it’s good clean entertainment.”
I pull up the app, swiping through some of the new posts to find some that I can show her.
“They have funny things like, ‘Show us your pet’s best side-eye,’ and ‘Does your pet have a dramatic personality?’ Then there are the ‘what’s wrong with my pet?’ posts. I might be weird, but those are my favorites to read. The number of comments and the insanity of the responses are funny.”
Daphne takes the phone and reads for a bit, laughing as she goes down the screen. “Oh, man. These are great. Some of them are clueless about animals.”
I nod. “I’m no veterinarian, but some of these are common sense issues.”
“Send me the link. I’ll send it to Donny. It’ll be something fun to talk about in our nightly chats while we’re on the road.”
A small part of me winces, like I wish I had someone to talk with like that. There’s something sweet about the idea of having someone waiting for my call and me waiting for theirs as well. Traveling can be lonely, especially with the hours stretching out in between games and media conferences.
“Have you checked out any of the hockey players for dinner or a date?” Daphne asks, winking.
I shake my head. “They’re all great guys, but I usually stay away from dating athletes.”
She nods. “They’re hot, but trouble. That’s probably a good idea. And if they get traded, it’s a whole long-distance thing. Not worth it, in my opinion.”
My brain wanders back to Burton. There aren’t as many lacrosse teams out there, and I wonder if they get traded as much as in the other major sports.
Not that I’m interested, just curious.
We land in Florida, and I check into my room, ready for a good sleep. We’ll have dinner with the broadcast team in an hour, so I can’t get too comfortable, but then I can relax until tomorrow morning.
I turn on the television to find something relaxing and settle into the pillows. Maybe I should turn on an alarm so I can make sure that I’ll be awake for dinner.
I blink, jerking awake when I hear a banging on the door.
A glance at the clock on my phone tells me I fell asleep for sixteen minutes. That early morning workout must’ve taken it out of me.
Hurrying over to the door, I open it to see Daphne just outside.
“Give me like five minutes, and I’ll be downstairs,” I say.
“Sounds good,” she says, giving me a small smile.
My hair is a mess, so I’ll just have to pull it backinto a ponytail to make it through dinner. At least I don’t dread spending time with these people.
Jerry, Fred, Nick, and Daphne are all waiting for me downstairs. Jerry and Fred are both announcers for the team. Nick is a new hire for social media. As nice as he is, I wish Jessa were in that spot. But I get it. She’s in charge of the marketing team, which has several smaller teams underneath it. She doesn’t need to travel on every trip, especially when the number of teams in the SMG organization keeps growing.
“Where are we headed for dinner?” I ask, trying to put on a big smile. I hope I don’t have any sleep lines left on my cheek.
“We thought we’d try a seafood place. What do you think?” Jerry asks.
“Sounds great. Do we need to take a rideshare?” I ask, digging in my purse for my phone.
