Page 100 of His Hungry Wolf

“By the way, there’s a scout you should thank for this.”

I looked up at Arny, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Jason Rodriguez, do you know him?”

“No.”

“I do,” Merri said suddenly coming alive. “What did he do?”

“He put his reputation on the line to get Claude that Seattle offer. The same for the Portland one. He seemed very motivated to get you there. If you know him, you should thank him. He fought hard for it.”

“He fought hard to get Claude as far away from here as possible.”

“He fought to make sure Claude landed with a team,” Arny said, correcting Merri.

“I’m sure he did,” Merri said, telling me that Jason Rodriguez was his ex.

“Well, thank him for me, if you get a chance,” I told Arny.

“You bet.”

“If there’s nothing else, we’re gonna go.”

“I’ll let you know about New England. But I really think you should be thinking about Seattle.”

“Got it,” I told my agent before heading to our car.

On the drive home, Merri remained silent. He didn’t say anything until we re-entered our apartment.

“This place is a mess,” he said, looking around.

“It’s not neat,” I agreed. “So, Merri, what should I do?”

He looked at me as if struggling with the moment.

“You know what you should do. Didn’t Arny tell you to think about Seattle?”

“That’s what he suggested. But it’s my choice,” I said, looking for an answer in Merri’s eyes.

“I think you should do what’s best for you,” he said, unable to look at me.

“Is that what you want me to do?”

Merri winced at my words.

“This is what we’ve been working for, isn’t it?” he said, getting angry.

“It is,” I admitted.

“Then you should do it. You should go to Seattle,” he told me painfully.

“This doesn’t mean the end of us, you know,” I said gently.

“Of course not. There’s no end to us. Didn’t we establish that I have issues?”

I smiled. He still didn’t look at me.

“I just don’t know how it’ll be never sleeping again,” he said, beginning to cry.