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CASH: I’ll be home in four days.

MAYA: And I’ll be waiting for you.

CASH: I’ll come straight to you from the airport.

MAYA: Sounds like a plan.

CASH: Okay, I have to go, the guys are waiting.

MAYA: Have fun at the game. Go Dodgers!

CASH: Go DODGERS? Oh, man, I don’t know if I can keep dating you if you’re a Dodgers fan.

MAYA: Sorry?

CASH: I’ll call you tonight, babe.

MAYA: Talk to you then.

I put my phone down and go back to sketching, though my thoughts drift to Cash and whatever surprise he has in mind. I love surprises and I can’t remember if I ever mentioned that to him. Maybe Reid did. Surprise gifts, surprise parties—if it’s a surprise, I love it.

“Hey.” Jayne comes over to me. “Serena’s going to stop by—should we run our ideas past her?”

I nod. “Absolutely.”

“And I just spoke to Noelle—she’s on board with a branded clothing line for the store. We’d have to keep relatively small quantities in stock but she’s happy to carry the cost to test it out.”

“Really? Oh, wow, that’s amazing.”

“Put some numbers together and we can do a video call this week to talk about it.”

“I’m going to email my contact in Singapore now and I should hear from him by morning.”

“Perfect.” She sits across from me and I show her what I’ve been doing.

I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about something professionally.

If this works out, it will make leaving New York that much easier. The logistics might be complicated, but I could do it. Then I’d be close to both Reid and Cash, which would eliminate the need for us to do the long-distance thing, something I know has been on his mind.

Honestly, this feels like a win-win in every aspect of my life.

Now I just have to make it happen.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Cash

I found out through Reid that Maya has always wanted to get involved in falconry. Then I discovered that our starting goalie, Viktor Maslak, is married to a woman who owns some birds of prey. She has a sanctuary that’s located about forty minutes away, so I set up a time for Maya and I to go see the birds. It’s not the most romantic thing I could think of but I can tell she’s excited by her reaction the moment we pull up to the sanctuary.

“Oh my gosh, this is the bird sanctuary I heard some of the ladies talking about!” she says, practically jumping out of my truck before I’ve completely stopped.

I laugh and follow, grabbing her hand as we walk.

“How did you know I wanted to come here?” she demands.

“Your brother is a wealth of information.”

She laughs. “That makes sense—oh my gosh, look! It’s an albino peacock.” Her step falters as she stares.