Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Zeke scoffed, meeting my gaze with an incredulous look. “Come on, man.”
I nodded, falling silent. Riley only started playing football because of a promise she made to her brother, but fuck if she wasn’t the best kicker I’d ever played with. She loved the game, she was a great teammate, and any team would be lucky to have her.
It pissed me off that she might not even be considered.
“I’m sorry, man,” Clay said, squeezing Zeke’s shoulder. “But I don’t think she’d want you to hold yourself back just because the NFL hasn’t opened their eyes yet. She will make a way for herself and you know it. If anything, it’d piss her off to hear you talking like this.”
Palico strolled into the kitchen then with a croaky meow, which made us all chuckle. Clay bent down to scratch the little thing under the chin.
“He’s right,” I said. “You were born to play ball, Z, not coach on the sideline.”
Zeke nodded, but didn’t have anything more to say. I could see it in his eyes that he felt one thing above all else.
He didn’t want to leave her behind.
But I also knew that no matter what came next for them, they’d be together. Something about that made my chest sting, and I rubbed the spot absentmindedly as I changed the subject. “My biggest question is are you two going to take the route Holden did and put a ring on it before the draft? Because I need to know now how many suits I need to be saving up for.”
They laughed me off, but I didn’t miss how they both fell into a quiet contemplation. They were head over heels for their girls. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised when they made it official and claimed them for life.
“Speaking of which…” Clay arched a brow at me. “What the hell is going on with you and your new roommate?”
I surprised even myself with the casual coolness with which I took a sip of my beer. “Well, she hasn’t tried to kill me this week, so that’s nice.”
“You two look like you’re sixty seconds or less from fucking in the nearest closet,” Zeke said.
“Yeah, right. She’d sooner be a nun,” I combatted.
Clay leaned toward Zeke. “Notice how he didn’t say he’d sooner do anything else.”
“You’re blind if you don’t see that she wants you, too,” Zeke added. “The tension is tight enough to snap, man.”
“That’s just because she despises me,” I said with a heavy gut.
I couldn’t help the way my eyes drifted to Mary through the kitchen window then, and one look at her buzzed, sleepy, overjoyed smile made me ache with the desire to pull her upstairs and hold her down until we settled whatever the storm between us was.
Before the guys could razz me further, someone shouted from the living room.
“Holden’s going in!”
“Oh, shit!” we said in unison, and then we were scrambling out of the kitchen and fighting to be the first back in front of the TV. When we got to the living room, we stood frozen, slow smiles spreading on our face.
There he was, Holden Moore, jogging out for his first play as an NFL quarterback.
“I’ll be fucking damned,” Clay said in soft admiration.
I had to clear my throat to swallow down the emotion that overwhelmed me in that moment. I was so fucking proud of my friend, I felt like I could burst.
Of course, I’d never admit that, and to everyone around me, I looked calm.
“Bro’s been skipping leg day,” I said loudly, which earned me the chorus of laughter from my teammates that I wanted.
Mary’s head dropped back against the bean bag, her lazy eyes zeroing in on me. I could see then how drunk she was, and she hiccupped before offering me a goofy grin and a look that told me she saw right through me.
It was as confusing as it was hope-inducing.
“Look, there’s Julep!” Giana cried out, pointing at the TV where they’d panned to Julep in the stands. Mary dragged her head back up, the moment gone, and we all watched to see Julep wearing Holden’s jersey, her hair pulled into a ponytail, the brightest smile I’d ever seen on her face, and that impressive rock glistening on her finger.
For the rest of the quarter, we were all transfixed by the screen, watching as Holden moved the Panthers down the field. I could tell he was still adjusting to the league, which we all knew would be night and day different from playing here at NBU. But he looked like he belonged there, like he wouldn’t be on that bench for long.
In his second drive, he took them all the way down for a touchdown, and we all went fucking insane.
The energy really was like a Super Bowl by the time halftime rolled around, and everyone jumped up, running off to either use the bathroom, grab snacks, or refill their drinks. I had to take a leak so bad I was bouncing, and I cursed when I saw the guest bath downstairs had a line. I skipped upstairs to Kyle’s room, but he was using his and told me to fuck off, which told me it would be a while.