Chapter 26 #2
“Is it, though? Shocking that one of the best running backs in college would just give up the money and fame and fun of the NFL to join the family construction business?”
“Well, when you put it that way, sis.” I make a left onto Maisy’s street. “Still. I went along with his idea all these years and never said shit.”
“We’re twenty-two, we’re allowed to change our minds.” She looks at me as I pull into her driveway. “Come inside and hang out. My house is too quiet.”
“Sorry.” I glance out the window. “I’m meeting Georgia. You know, your front walkway looks like shit. You want me to call your landlord before you break your neck?”
Maisy lets the uncomfortable silence hang in the air painfully long until I’m forced to meet her eyes. “You’re meeting Georgia?”
“That’s what I said.”
She crosses her arms.
“She’s my girlfriend. Are you gonna get over it soon?”
“Oh, I’m over it.”
“Right,” I scoff. “That’s why you won’t talk to her.”
She gathers her purse and leans over to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s fine. Enjoy your night.” She hops out of the car but leans down to look at me. “Proud of you, bro.”
“My girl,” I say when I find Georgia at her kitchen counter, bent over a spiral notebook. When she hops up and wraps her arms around my neck, all the day’s tension slides straight off my shoulders. “What are you getting up to in here?”
“A lot, actually. Sounds like all the kitchen appliances will be in this week, and I managed to find email addresses or social media profiles for almost everyone on my invite list, with the exception of the really old relatives. But I have their phone numbers, so I just need to work up the nerve to make a few calls.”
“Excellent. So this reunion’s really happening?”
“Well, I still need to send emails and get yeses, but…hopefully?” She peers up at me, her eyes dancing with excitement and hope. She shakes out her hands. “God, I haven’t even sent out the invitations and I’m nervous.”
“You’re gonna be okay, honey. You’re doing your family proud.”
Georgia is so beautiful when she beams like that. “Thank you.”
“So can I help?”
“Let’s see.” Plopping down on a kitchen stool, she scans her notebook. “If you can stop by a few times this week to make sure the kitchen stuff goes smoothly, that would be the biggest help because I really need my kitchen for the party. Oh, and fixing those deck stairs?”
“You got it.”
“So tell me about your day. I haven’t talked to you since last night.”
“I have good news too. With any luck, you’ll get to watch me play football after all.”
A curious smile lifts one corner of her mouth. “What’s that mean?”
“Well…” I make a big show of getting ready to tell her, nodding, rolling my shoulders back, brushing off the front of my shirt.
“Tell me!”
“I decided that if the NFL wants me, they can have me.”
Her jaw drops before she quickly rearranges her face into a grin. “You’re going to play? Cash!” She hops up and jumps into my arms, knocking her stool over in the process.
I laugh. “Well, I have to get drafted first. But I think I got that in the bag.”
She squeezes me tight before finding her feet again. “This is huge, right? I don’t know much about football, but this is a big deal, yes?”
“Eh. For guys like Reeve, it’s a no-brainer. But for someone like me who thought his football days were over? It’s a pretty big deal.”
She touches her chest. “This is amazing. We should celebrate.” She turns and starts opening cabinets. “I thought I had a bottle of red in here somewhere.”
Happiness washes over me as I watch her search.
This is the reaction I wanted. No “What about your family?” questions, no concerns, just celebration.
It makes me love her even more. I curl my arm around her waist and bring her close.
“Before we celebrate like that, let’s celebrate the way only you and I can. ”
Slumped on the floor, with my back against the cabinets and my pants still around my ankles, I lace my fingers through Georgia’s. “Question for you.”
“I need a little time to let my jaw muscles relax,” she teases.
“Honey, you just sucked me dry and you think I’m ready for round two? I’m good, but I’m not that good.”
She leans against my shoulder. “Yes you are.”
I kiss her head. “Actually, I wanted to know if you might want to come to the Combine and watch me.”
She tilts her head to look at me. “People can attend?”
“People who are diehard about football, yeah. And girls who are madly in love with their studly boyfriends who’ve snagged an invite.”
“I’d love to be there.”
“I warn you, it’s going to be a lot of waiting around just to watch me run and jump for a couple seconds at a time.
Normally I’d never ask you to waste your time like that, but…
” Staring at her hand, I run my thumb over her soft skin.
“It would mean a lot to have you there watching me. A hell of a lot.”
“Nothing about that is a waste of my time. There’s nowhere else I’d want to be.”
I close my eyes and soak in the perfect feeling of her lips on mine.
And when she settles back against my shoulder, I keep my eyes closed.
Breathing out the mess of feelings that have had me in their grip all day.
Breathing in this one moment when everything is just right, and I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.