In related news, standout forward Macklin Greer has entered the transfer portal and is expected to join Rixton pending eligibility approval.
I blink. “You gotta be kidding,” I murmur.
“What?” Atlee says, leaning over trying to see my screen.
I read it out loud to her. “Macklin Greer, isn’t that the guy who slammed into your brother? The one that caused his shoulder injury in the first place? He’s transferring to Rixton.”
Atlee goes still. Like completely freezes.
“I’m sorry, did you say Macklin Greer?” she asks, frantically pulling up her phone again like she’s trying to confirm what I just told her.
“Yeah,” I say. “Why?”
She recovers quickly. “No reason,” she says, reaching for her drink. “That’s just… big. Big news, I mean.”
I study her. “You know him?” I ask.
She shrugs, trying to play it off casually, but this doesn’t seem like the light and carefree Atlee I’ve gotten to know. She almost seems on edge.
“Everyone knows Macklin Greer. He’s been making waves all season.”
That’s true. I’ve heard his name before. There was a lot of talk about him in the pregame show when the two teams met. But that doesn’t explain the expression on her face.
“You look like you just saw a ghost,” I say lightly.
She laughs, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“I just didn’t expect this sort of move this far into the season,” she says.
I nod slowly, but don’t let it go completely. I scroll back up, rereading the headline about my father resigning.
“You okay?” Atlee asks, softer now.
“I don’t know, honestly,” I admit.
My father stepping down shouldn’t shock me.
I don’t know him well enough to say whether it’s something he’d do or not. But seeing it written out like that, after everything I’ve learned in the past day, makes it feel real in a different way.
Atlee and I change the subject to classes while I pick at my food before we go back over the article again. Eventually, we both give up trying to make sense of it. We pay the bill and step out onto the sidewalk together.
“We should get together again soon and hang out.” I nod, and she pulls me in for a hug. “Text me if anything weird happens,” she says before heading toward her car.
“Pretty sure that’s the theme of my life lately,” I mutter.
I turn on music as a distraction as I head over to the loft. I’m so lost in my thoughts that I forget to even text Cooper. By the time I pull into the lot, I’m still mulling over everything that’s happened when I see Cooper’s truck in the parking lot outside.
I stare at it for a second before I turn my car off.
When I step out, he’s leaning against the side like he’s been there long enough to get comfortable.
“Are you stalking me now that you have my location?” I ask as I walk toward him.
He shrugs. “I wanted to see my girlfriend.”
“You could’ve texted,” I tell him. He raises his eyebrows.
I pull my phone out of my pocket, and sure enough, there’s a missed call and text from him.
