Chapter Thirty-Two

Chelsea

Rock’s Grill was packed wall to wall with Warriors fans who were in the mood to party their asses off. I selected a table just outside of the bar with room for Robby, Paris, Cody’s parents, brother, and him. Paris texted that they were on the way and I figured Cody and Jordan would arrive soon. In the meantime, I listened to Cody’s dad giving a play-by-play of the game as though Paula and I hadn’t been there the entire time.

A loud eruption of cheers swept through the bar area and I craned around to see what all the excitement was about. A wide grin spread across my face as I realized that the source of the noise was a welcome cheer for Cody as he swept in through the double doors. Jordan was with him but quickly ducked out of the chaos. I waved to him and relief spread across his face. He scurried over to our table and I waited for Cody to stop greeting his throng of raving fans to spot us as well.

He saw me and my heart stopped at the look in his eyes. He was mine. Really, all mine. The man that had captured every eye in the room and was lavishing being the center of attention was in love with me. Most of the time, outside the baseball bubble, it was just us, living life. We were like any other couple, going out to dinner, shopping at the grocery store, running errands, and watched bad reality TV shows late at night, in bed with popcorn. It was easy to let it slip from my mind that Cody was on the verge of becoming a huge star.

And, judging from the reception he was getting at the bar, he’d just crossed over that line within the past few hours.

Am I ready for this?

I wasn’t entirely sure. I was proud of him. Genuine, down to the bone, proud but it was also overwhelming and a little scary as we floated further out onto unchartered waters. I glanced across the table and watched as James set his hand on top of Paula’s and caught the two of them share a secret smile.

Somehow, that small gesture, that simple look of love, cemented my heart in place and shook out all the lingering doubts in my mind. James and Paula had fought through the same path that lay ahead of Cody and me. They were living proof that it could be done and just from the small amount of time we had spent together at the game, I knew that they were the type of people who would be there to cheer us along.

I locked my eyes back on Cody and he turned away from signing a t-shirt and winked at me. He signed a few more autographs and then headed over to our table. His mom jumped to her feet and wrapped her grown son in her arms like he was a small boy again. I smiled through watery eyes at the sweet picture. James stood and embraced his son as well. “That was a helluva game, my boy!”

“Thanks guys. I’m glad you could all be there tonight.” Cody dropped into the seat beside me and Jordan took a seat next to Paula.

James wrapped his arm around his wife and I glanced up to see Cody smiling at them. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re on every sports channel tomorrow. Just a helluva game.” James beamed ear to ear at his son.

Cody ducked his chin. “Thanks, Pops.”

A loud eruption of cheers rang out from the bar area.

“Hey, look, it’s Wright!” a patron called out. “Turn this shit up! Turn it up!”

The bartender scrambled to crank up the volume and Cody and I both leaned forward to see the screen from our seats.

A horde of reporters was on, getting into place outside the locker room. When Cody rounded the corner, all the camera’s swiveled to focus on him. He took his place at the center of the madness and started answering the rapid fire questions.

When the questions wound down, Cody called over to his brother and Jordan appeared on the screen beside him. My mouth dropped open as they shifted to talking about my game.

Cody glanced over at me and wrapped an arm around me. “Hey, baby, this is your part.”

My mouth worked but no words came out as Cody on the TV screen continued. ““This is Fishball! The newest app on the market. My girlfriend created it and it’s kick ass. Everyone should be playing it!”

The reporters asked some questions and then the interview ended and the news anchors for the main sports show came back on and went back to their recap of the game.

“Cody?” My mouth was still hanging open when the highlights reel started to play.

Cody laughed beside me. “Baby, it’s okay.”

When the highlights were done, the anchors were all playing on their phones. “This is Fishball. Come on, get in here, see the graphics on this thing.”

“Oh my gosh…they’re playing my game.”

“On national TV,” Cody added.

“Holy sh—” I glanced over at James and Paula, horrified by the language I’d been about to spit out but they both laughed it off.

“Good for you, honey!” Paula said, patting the back of my hand.

“Looks cool,” James added. “You got this one hooked,” he elbowed his son who was still playing on his phone.

I laughed and shook my head, trying to clear the stars from my eyes. Was this for real?

“He’s not the only one that’s hooked,” Cody said, his voice a low growl in my ear.

I leaned into him and rested my head against his shoulder.

The TV above was continuing to show the splashy graphics from the teaser video of the game. All of the sixty plus inch TVs surrounding the bar were filled with the bright images of cartoon fish playing baseball. I dropped my eyes from the TVs for a split second and saw several people dig their phones from their pockets or purses. A couple of people started playing it and talking about it with their neighbor.

“Oh my gosh…Cody—” my voice broke off and I covered my mouth. Tears filled my eyes for the third time that night and this time I couldn’t blink them back.

Cody wrapped an arm around me and kissed my temple. “Congrats, baby. Looks like you’ve gone viral.”

I shook my head with disbelief. This must be a dream. It couldn’t be real. “My investors are gonna shit themselves when they see this.”

Cody chuckled, his lips still against my skin. “Seems like a successful night for both of us.”

I stammered, trying to find my voice. “Thank you, Jordan! You have no idea—”

He held up a hand, his phone still showing the game, and smiled at me. “Hey, you made a kickass game. I can’t stop playing. Cody just happened to catch me at it.”

I laughed and popped up from the table to rush down to the end and wrap him in an embrace. “Thank you!”

Jordan leaned forward. “Hey, anyway you can hook me up with some cheat codes?”

We all laughed at his request.

Paris and Robby came through the bar and another round of applause went up for Robby—though Paris reveled in it just as much as her man—and as soon as they worked the crowd, they joined us at the table.

“Hey, babe, isn’t that your game?” Paris asked, craning around to point at the TVs in the bar that were replaying the segment with Cody talking to the post-game reporters.

I nodded. “Yeah, I got Cody and Jordan on my marketing team now.”

“Well, damn! Good job, girl! There’s like ten people playing it in the bar right now.”

“No way!”

“Yes way! Look!”

I laughed, still completely in shock as I turned and looked around the bar. Paris was right. They were playing my game! “Wow! I guess I should have tried targeting a different market. Who knew?”

Everyone laughed. “Well, if these adults like it—they’ll buy it for their kids. Win-win.”

I looked up at Cody, his eyes shining with pride. “My whole life feels like a win-win right now.”

“Funny,” he said, grinning down at me. “I was just thinking the same damn thing.”

“Well you did win the game, Cody.”

“Naw, baby girl, I won you.”

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~ T H E E N D ~

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