Wild Thing

-98-

Kasey presses the button on her phone to answer, smiling as she does, "Hey, you're up early." 

She can hear Kelley chuckle on the other end, "Yeah, guess, my body is still adjusting to the time difference. What are you up to today?" 

"Just getting an early start on some chores, what are you up to?" 

"Right now, laying naked in bed thinking about how much I wish you were here with me." 

Kasey laughs, "Oh really?" 

"Yeah."

"And what does your roommate think of you sleeping in your birthday suit?" 

"Pressy could care less, not, to mention it's not as if she hasn't seen it a million times already." 

"How about you do your wife a favour and cover up, because, I'm not really on board with sharing what's mine even with Christen."

"Jealous?" 

"And lonely. Buddy keeps finding his way into my room and bed at night but he's not big on snuggling and kicks in his sleep." 

Kelley laughs, "Kinda like someone I know." 

"You mean, Kylie?" 

"And you, sometimes. How's Little Wild doing? I haven't spoken to her in a couple of days and only seem to get back one word responses via text." 

"Mom said she's doing okay, been spending quite a bit of time with Brianna and Taylor." 

"I'm glad she has a couple of good friends to help get her through the next little while." 

"Yeah. It's going to be tough on her when the end of the school year comes about." 

"She'll get through it." 

"Hope so. I should get back to cleaning, now, as the house is a mess and it's not like Buddy is suddenly going to start cleaning up after himself." 

"Still leaving his toys all over the house?" 

"Yep, stepped on a squeaky the other night on my way to the bathroom and it scared the crap out of me." 

Kelley bursts out laughing, "I'll let you get to your cleaning. Call me later, okay, beautiful?" 

"Will do. Love you." 

"Love you. Bye, Babe." 

"Bye." 

Over the next few weeks, Kasey and Kelley both dig in at their respective camps and do their very best to keep in contact via daily calls and messages between each other and Kylie. 

Kasey performs beyond expectations at her first professional camp and impresses her teammates, the coaching staff and members of the organization with her positive attitude and work ethic. Most days, she is one of the first to arrive at the stadium and amongst the last to leave. In consultation with the team, she's been working on building up her conditioning level, flexibility, muscle mass and on establishing healthier eating patterns and options. She's also taken advantage of the team's Sports Psychologist meeting with him to talk about and learn ways to help her navigate her way through tough times. 

With only a couple of days left prior to the start of the season, Kasey is asked to report to Coach Paul Riley's office after their training session. 

She turns to HAO for support, "What do you think it means? Did, I do something wrong?" 

Heather walks with her and shakes her head, "Kase, I'm sure it's nothing major. Paul might just be wanting to check in with you and get a feel for how you're doing with everything. Try not worry too much, I'll be a round, message when you're done and if you need to chat."