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Stacia stopped moving and glanced over at her roommate. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. But why are you so anxious? We only just got our assignments this week for sports broadcast. Shouldn’t you be happy that you’re covering gymnastics?”

“What?” Stacia asked, distracted. “Oh, I am. I can’t believe you’re taking that with me.”

“It sounded fun once you mentioned it even though I don’t have a strong background in sports, like you do.”

“You’ll do great.”

Whitney did great in everything.

“You’re not still freaking out about the conversation with your advisor are you? Because you totally deserve to be in journalism.”

“What?” Stacia asked. “Oh, no.”

She had finally sat down with her advisor and asked her point blank how she had gotten into the major. After a moment of surprise, her advisor had said that Stacia had been selected because of her strong writing sample and enthusiasm. It had shocked the shit out of Stacia at the time. She had actually gotten in on her own merit and been doubting herself all along for no reason.

“So, what’s with the jitters?”

Stacia bit her lip. “I heard from some of the guys on campus that today is signing day.”

“Signing day?” Whitney asked. “Like, football recruits for next year? Isn’t that a little early?”

“No, I mean, like…Pace is signing with an agent today.”

“Oh. And that’s bad?”

“Not necessarily,” she said. As long as he didn’t do anything stupid.

And she knew that she had walked away and she shouldn’t be stressing for him, but she was. She couldn’t help it. This was important to her. Especially after what had happened with Jude over Thanksgiving.

Whitney put her hands on Stacia’s shoulders. “Calm down. I know this is more about Pace than about signing day. And I’m pretty bad at this stuff. Way worse than Bryna, so call her for moral support. But, if you’re that worried, why don’t you just call Pace?”

Stacia stopped fidgeting. She hadn’t even thought about that. What the hell would she say? After walking out, she hadn’t talked to him in months. Would it be hypocritical to interject herself back in his life when she didn’t even know what she wanted from him at this moment?

“I can’t,” she said finally, slumping. “I should just work on my homework and try not to think about it.”

“Okay. Well, I’d be up for a quick coffee run if you wanted to get out and stop this pacing.”

Stacia laughed. “Thanks, Whit. Rain check.”

Stacia sank down onto the couch and pulled her laptop back toward her. She had her first assignment on the background of the LV State gymnastics team, and she needed to start on the research for it. She knew that she was a two-draft-minimum writer, and procrastinating was not so good for her GPA.

As she was reading up on the program, she got a text from Bryna.

I received an obscure text from Pace, asking me to meet him on campus at seven. Do you know anything about this?

No. He didn’t say what it was?

Nope. Totally bizarre. Just thought I’d check.

Stacia frowned down at her text message, and then everything clicked.

Signing day. I heard from a few other people that he’s signing with an agent. I guess he wants you to be there?

You don’t think…Jude?

Stacia didn’t want to consider that option, but why else would Pace want Bryna to be there? It seemed strange that he would want her to be there with Jude, too. But maybe there was another reason?

That would be my guess.

Just then, another text dinged in, and it was from Pace.

I debated on whether or not I should send this to you, but you said you wanted to be involved with the process. Can you meet me at the sports complex at seven?

Stacia shot off a text to Bryna that she had just gotten the message from Pace, too, and instead of responding, Bryna called her.

“So, are you going to go?” Bryna asked.

“Do you think I should?”

“What’s it going to hurt?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since the funeral. But I did tell him before that I wanted to be there when he signed with an agent. And I practically made him promise to let me be involved.”

“Then…do you want to go with me?”

Stacia sighed. “Yeah. Meet you there?”

An hour later, Bryna and Stacia both arrived outside of the sports complex. They walked into the building together and found Pace standing against the wall in the lobby with giant Bose headphones on. When they approached him, he seemed stunned to see them standing there. He removed the headphones and couldn’t take his eyes off of Stacia.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey. What’s all this about?” Stacia asked.

“I didn’t think you would come.”

Stacia tried to hold back her smile as her inner pervert took that way out of context.

“Oh my God,” Bryna said, noticing Stacia’s reaction. “Keep it in your pants, you two. Now, what are we doing here?”

“Signing some paperwork. Come with me,” Pace said.

“Is this about Jude?” Bryna demanded as they rushed to keep up with his long legs.

“Yes.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic.”

“Well, why am I here?” Stacia asked.

“You were the one who met with him. I thought you’d want to be here for this.”

“You’re really going to sign with him?” Stacia asked in disbelief. “After everything?”

“Come in and find out.”

Pace wrenched a door open, and the girls entered the room. It was a pretty sizable conference room in the school colors—black, gold, and silver. The room seemed to have been set up specifically for this purpose with a desk and chair that Pace sat in, facing the door, and a camera was set up in a corner.

Stacia nudged Bryna over to a few chairs lined up against the wall, and they sank into them.

“What do you think he’s about to do?” Stacia asked.

Bryna shook her head. “I don’t know. But it feels dirty…like something I’d do.”

“Fuck.”

A few short minutes later, the door opened again, and Coach Galloway appeared in the doorway in a full-fledged suit. He was laughing at something someone had said behind him. He held the door open wider, and in walked Jude Rose.

Jude strode right up to Pace and held his hand out. “Pace! Good to see you again!” he said.

Pace stood and decisively shook Jude’s hand. “I’m sure. I hope you don’t mind that I invited family and friends along for the signing.”

Jude hadn’t even seemed to notice that anyone other than Coach Galloway and Pace were present. Then, as if waking up from a trance, Jude’s eyes slid to the far wall where Stacia and Bryna were standing. Stacia didn’t know what Bryna was feeling right then, laying eyes on Jude for the first time in three years, but she didn’t even flinch while Stacia was practically shaking with a mix of anger and revulsion.

Shock registered on Jude’s face for only a fraction of a second before it morphed into an easy mask. “Of course not. Anyone you want here is welcome with me.”

“Good. That’s good to hear. Then, let me introduce you,” Pace said with a smile. “This is my sister, Bryna.”

Bryna didn’t move.

“Come on, Bri, meet Jude Rose. He’s a sports agent in Los Angeles. Best in the business,” Pace said.

“How flattering,” Jude said.

He was such a phenomenal actor. Nothing broke free from his facade as he turned to face them now. Bryna stepped forward, and Jude extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you…Bri.”

Bryna glanced down at his hand and then up into his smug face. “Go to hell.”

Jude’s face broke then, but Bryna didn’t see it. Only Stacia witnessed that moment of temporary loss.

“What’s all this now?” Coach Galloway asked.

“Just introductions,” Pace said. “And this is my…friend Stacia. You’ve never met her before, have you?”

Jude looked over at Pace very closely. His mask slipped as he tried to figure out what was going on. “I believe we have met.”

“Enlighten me,” Pace insisted.

“She was dating Marshall Matthews last year at the draft. I represent Marshall, and she was there.”

Pace paused for a second. “Right.”

“Nice to see you again, Stacia,” Jude said.

“I can hardly say the same.”

“Anyway,” Jude said, ignoring her barb, “let’s get down to business. Lots to read, lots to sign.”

He dropped his briefcase down on the desk and retrieved paperwork from the top. It was labeled with Pace’s name on the front. He removed two more copies, one of which he handed to Coach Galloway and the other to Pace.

“I know you’ve seen most of the specifics already, but I always encourage everyone to read it over once more before signing,” Jude said. He was in his element.

Whatever setback Pace had been attempting to elicit from Jude by having Bryna and Stacia there hadn’t worked.

Stacia felt frozen. She wanted to tell Pace that this was insane. Jude might be the best, but that didn’t mean he was the best for Pace’s future. She moved forward, like she was going to say something, but Bryna put her hand on her arm.

“Don’t. Nothing you can say will stop him,” Bryna said with disappointment in her voice.

Pace took the envelope from Jude and removed the document. He read for about a minute before dropping it back on the desk. “I have a few issues,” he said.

“Issues?” Jude asked.

“What issues?” Coach Galloway asked. “We went through this all this week. The contract is fair. The three percent fee is totally normal. You want someone like this on your side.”

“That’s the thing. I
do
want someone like this on my side.” He looked up into Jude’s face. “Just not you.”

The room was silent for a few seconds before Bryna started laughing, and Jude looked ready to explode.

“I just flew in from LA. What do you mean, you don’t want to sign? We’ve been talking all week about signing,” Jude ground out.

“This isn’t the way it’s done,” Coach Galloway said. “You’re only hurting yourself.”

“I just find it hilarious that you thought I would ever sign with you,” Pace said to Jude. “I mean, I don’t know what’s worse—that you slept with my sister or that you illegally contacted my girlfriend over Thanksgiving to try to persuade me to sign with you.”

“What?” Coach Galloway cried.

Bryna was still laughing, and Stacia was all smiles. Pace wasn’t just saying no. He was laying out all of Jude’s dirt. He was blacklisting Jude from ever working with an LV State player ever again. And, with the current drafting stock of the team’s players, that was a lot of lost money.

“You planned this all along,” Jude said softly.

“I always wondered, if you were the best, how you didn’t realize that I never even gave a verbal agreement to sign with you. You drew up the contracts and flew out here on a whim. I never promised you anything.”

“If these allegations are true, then you could be in a lot of trouble with the Sports Lawyers Association,” Coach Galloway said. “Contacting a representative of the player is illegal, however it happens.”

“I assure you that his allegations are false,” Jude said. “He brought me here, only to refuse to sign. These are bad circumstances, but it is his loss.”

Bryna seemed to have had enough. “No, it’s your loss. You’re losing millions on Pace. You know he’s going to be drafted in the first round, if not the first pick. Once again…it’s
your
loss, Jude. Go home to your sad little wife and your sad little life. You might think you can get away with everything, but you can’t win this time.”

Jude looked away from Bryna and back to Pace. “You’re sure?”

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”

Jude nodded, closed his briefcase, and then walked out of the room. He glanced once more at Bryna before leaving their lives forever.

“You’re going to tell me more about all of this, but first, I need to have a conversation with him,” Coach Galloway said before departing after Jude.

Pace sighed with relief as soon as they were both gone and sank back into his chair. “Well, I’m glad that’s over.”

“Are you insane?” Bryna spat, smacking him on the back of the head. “Maybe warn us next time?”

“If I’d warned you, then your reactions wouldn’t have been genuine,” Pace said.

Stacia crossed her arms. “Still a pretty dick thing to do, making Bryna face him down!”

Pace jumped out of his chair and threw his hand toward the door. “I just humiliated him on camera. I made Coach see it, and there’s no way he’ll work with Jude ever again after this. I did it for you two, so don’t come at me, saying it was a wrong decision. This was right for me and for both of you.”

“Well, I appreciate it,” Bryna said. “It was a long time coming. He never loses at anything. It was good to see him fail.” Her eyes darted between Stacia and Pace. “And, now, I’m going to go see if I can watch him fail more with Coach Galloway. I’ll be waiting outside, S.”

“Okay,” Stacia said with a nod.

Bryna left the room and shut the door behind her, leaving Stacia and Pace alone.

“I’ve missed you,” Pace said. “The house feels empty without you.”

“I know. None of this has been easy.”

He slowly walked around the room until he had her pinned against the desk. “Tell me everything I’ve missed.”