Page 165 of Made Better Together

Not gonna lie, I multitask during the parts of the lecture I already understand. I manage to clear out several emails, and even write Aiden to set a meeting up for later this week.

The professor’s dismissal at the end of class is music to my ears. It’s now noon, and Soccer News is calling me at twelve thirty. If nothing else, I need to reload on coffee.

I rush back to my room, double-checking—no new messages from Connor. Or Dad for that matter. Ugh, I hope it goes okay when they meet.

After getting through more emails and chugging a bottle of water, the call from the e-zine comes through.

“Hi Eden, is this still a good time to talk?” The interviewer, Charles Zie, is a well-known soccer journalist and has interviewed me twice before.

“Absolutely, I’m ready.” Distracted, but ready.

“Well, first, congrats on your NCAA title yesterday. How does it feel to come out on top?”

Softball question, easy answer. “I’m so grateful we were able to pull it off! Especially in my last year. We had a long road here, but the reward’s worth it.”

“Speaking of the long road, you’re a rare breed these days. One of the only top women’s players who stayed in college all four years. Now that you’re saying goodbye to the college game, what does it feel like?”

Shoot, I hadn’t even had time to process that after the match. A smile forms on my face. I’ve pushed through so many difficult challenges, and no one can ever take it away from me. No one can ever take away the NCAA title either.

“It’s so freeing. I have no regrets about finishing school. But I’m very ready for the next chapter, and to take advantage of every opportunity to play.”

I can now think ahead, clear-headed. After graduation in May, the obstacles of being unable to compete in the pros like my peers, and the tension of being pulled in two opposite directions, will be completely gone.

He marches through the rest of his questions, all straightforward. There’s a couple about the actual game, one about my dad’s history with soccer, and then finally: “So what’s next?”

“We find out which team I play for next year! We’ll start those conversations soon.”

It’s going to be an epic new era, I hope.

He lets me go after that, thanking me for the interview.

Phew, one more thing done. Grace’s taking care to protect my time during finals, too—so my media duties will dwindle after today.

The front door swings open, and Bree walks in. “Hi, hi, hi, how is it going?”

“Can I not answer that question right now?”

She observes me for a beat before answering. “Course.”

I go back to scrolling my emails and see Aiden has replied with a time for our call. “This is good though. I’ve almost officially signed with an agent.”

“Who? Dad is getting me connected with this guy named Aiden.”

“Wait, really?” I guess it makes sense that Nick would be plugged in with top agents. “That’s who I’m meeting with.”

“Oh sweet⁠—”

My phone buzzes again. But this time I pay attention, because it’s Connor.

“Hi, how did⁠—”

“Can I come inside?”

Huh, he’s here? “Sure.”

This time I don’t wait for Becky, our pseudo-doorman. I walk down to the first floor and open the door as he climbs the stairs of our building.

“Hey, you drove all this way?”