Chapter 36
Contract Call: Informal call to join a team.
Translation: Decisions, decisions.
Wolf
The entire Fletcher family comes out for my sister’s and my birthday. Calder, Dakota, Luke, Addison, and Baby Levi. Then there’s
Wyatt, Trista, and Stevie, who was so excited to give me the birthday card she colored for me. Even Everly’s grandmother,
Max, Cozy, and Ethan came up from Boulder.
And if that wasn’t enough, Fergie and Claire came up together as well after being matched up by Everly, apparently. Not for
a date, more of a carpooling situation, but they’re here, and we basically have the Mercantile bursting at the seams with
our crew alone.
It’s a proper party with my twin sister beside me. It should have me feeling incredible, bursting with the need to tell Cliona
and everyone my Leinster news. I should be on cloud nine.
Only all I can feel is miserable.
Overhearing the way that Everly spoke about our relationship to Cliona earlier today cut me in a way I didn’t expect. This
isn’t just a no-labels situationship we’re in. According to Everly, we’re just fucking. And her considering any type of future
with me would be a horrible idea. So, whatever I thought I was feeling grow between us must have all been in my bloody head.
Good to know.
“Oy, mate . . . I got a present for ya,” Fergie says, tossing a brown paper bag my way.
“Is this appropriate to open in front of children?” I ask with a frown at my teammate.
“Aye, of course it is. I’m not a complete animal. Most days,” he says, shooting Claire a wink.
I open it and shake my head when I see a cowbell inside. “Seriously?”
Fergie throws his head back with a laugh. “I thought the farmhand needed a wee cowbell so the animals can all hear you coming.”
I roll my eyes as a pit forms in my stomach over the idea of leaving him. God, he’s a pain in the arse, but I grew closer
to him in one summer than I did with anyone on my Trinity team in four years. He’s just hard not to fall in love with. Like
someone else I know.
“Oh, fine, you wee bairn. Here’s your real gift.” He pulls a larger box out from under the table that’s intricately wrapped
in burgundy and gold.
I frown and look up to see my sister with her phone pointed at me, like she knows what’s inside the box.
“What is it?” I ask curiously.
“Open it and find out,” she squeals, giving my arm a punch.
My eyes catch on Everly, who’s frowning just as curiously as I am, clearly not in on whatever Fergie and my sister organized
together. Strange.
When I pull the lid off, my jaw drops. “What is this?”
“It’s your new kit, mate,” Fergie says, pointing to the official Grizzlies jersey with the Reilly name in big block letters
stitched on the back.
“But what does it mean?” I ask, heart racing inside my chest as I look at my teammate.
“It means that Coach wants you to check your email in the morning because you will have an official contract offer from the Denver Grizzlies waiting for you!”
The words are barely out of Fergie’s mouth before I jump and clench my fists with relief. “Fuck yes, holy shit!”
Cliona squeals excitedly, jumping up onto her feet and wrapping me up in a big hug. “Congratulations, Moon! I didn’t doubt
you for a second.”
I shake my head as I hold up the jersey, admiring my name on the back. “Fucking hell, I did it.”
“You certainly did,” Cliona says, wiping away her tears.
My eyes flash over to Everly in total shock because she’s the only one who knows about my news from earlier today. Two team
offers in one day. Leinster is not a full-fledged offer but definitely more hope than I had before. This is . . . this is . . .
I don’t know what the fuck this is.
“I got my spare room all ready for you, pal,” Fergie says with a big shite-eating grin. “We are going to be proper roommates
and take Denver by storm.”
“Congratulations, Wolf,” Wyatt says, coming over to give me a hearty handshake. “I know how hard you worked for this, and
you should be very proud of yourself.”
“Thank you, sir,” I say, feeling my chest swell with pride as I accept congratulations from the whole Fletcher family one
by one, getting an extra-long hug from Trista, who’s a huge part of why this was all possible.
“Does this mean you’re leaving me already, Wolf?” she asks, her eyes crinkled with happiness.
“Possibly, maybe. I don’t know. I’m really overwhelmed,” I reply regretfully, shaking my head. “I’m really sorry about all
this.”
“Don’t you dare be sorry,” Trista says, poking me in the chest. “We will all be fine. This was the plan all along. I told you when you arrived that Fletcher Mountain has a way of healing things you didn’t even know need healing.”
My chest tightens with those words and how they can feel so utterly true and so utterly false at the same time. “I want you
to know how grateful I am for everything. You all made me feel like I was a part of the family, and that means more to me
than you’ll ever know.”
“You’re a good kid, Wolf. A good man. I know you’re going to do incredible things.” She hugs me one more time, and when she
lets me go, I find Everly standing off to the side, awkwardly awaiting her turn.
“Hey,” she says, her voice wobbly. “What a day for you.” She reaches up for a hug, and I hate how familiar and foreign it
feels at the same time. It’s familiar because I know this girl’s body. I know every square inch of it. But it feels like another
person hugging me right now.
I shouldn’t have kissed her in front of her family. I freaked her out, and maybe that’s why she said all of that to Cliona. Maybe she didn’t mean it. Maybe she was just trying to downplay it because she
wasn’t ready to discuss it with my sister. I was fucking gutted when I heard her words, but it’s not indifference I’ve seen
in her face since then. She’s hurting. And I’m wondering if she’s hurting because of Coach’s offer. Maybe she can’t imagine me staying. Or am I just fucking projecting?
I want her to discuss it with me. I want to talk to her about it and apologize for being so impulsive in front of everyone,
but I’m waiting until after Cliona leaves tomorrow. I don’t need my sister worrying about me any more than she already does.
I’m older by two minutes, but Cliona has always had the oldest-sibling vibes between us.
I need to sort this all out with Everly.
“Let me see,” Stevie says, grabbing onto my shorts and tearing me away from the girl who consumes all my thoughts.
I squat down to the ground to show Stevie my jersey. “This means I’m going to be a Grizzly, Steve.”
“No, you’re Nana,” she says with a frown.
“I’m a Grizzly, look,” I say, turning the jersey so she can see the round bear logo on the arm.
“Nana,” Stevie snaps back, scowling at me something fierce. “You’re my Nana.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine, I’m Nana.”
She smiles victoriously before she runs back off to sit on her real nana’s lap.
When I sit back down, my eyes swerve over to Judy, who’s carrying two cakes toward our table, a spray of candles burning brightly
on both of them. Cliona smiles warmly at me, making me feel right at home as she holds my hand under the table while the two
cakes are placed in front of us.
Everyone in the pub starts singing loudly and horrifically off-key, making both me and my sister laugh. I’m so glad she’s
here. I was trying to put on a brave face over being apart for our birthdays, but it would have gutted me not to have her
here. My parents didn’t do a lot of things right with us, but our birthday, they always made special.
Two cakes.
Two sets of candles.
Two best friends.
People have asked me several times if I have that twin telepathy with Cliona where I can read her mind or feel her pain and
vice versa. I always laughed and told them no, we’re not magical.
We’re bigger than that.
I was born into this world with an instant teammate. We share a bond that goes so deep I’d be lost without her.
When she first pushed me into playing rugby, she would show up at my matches and cheer so loudly I could hear her over all the other parents in the crowd. When my temper would get the best of me on the pitch, she didn’t yell. Didn’t lecture. She just sat with me until I stopped hating myself.
Having a twin is like walking around with two hearts. You don’t make any life decisions without considering what the other
heart will think. And the fact that I’ve let myself get so carried away with Everly without telling Cliona guts me a bit.
I don’t deserve her. I never will. But she’s my blood. And it means so much to me to have her here today.
When they stop singing, it’s Stevie who yells, “Blow the candles!”
My sister smiles knowingly at me as the two of us angle opposite directions to blow each other’s candles out and make a silent
wish for each other—a tradition that started when we were not much older than Stevie and a tradition I’ll do for as long as
I’m able.
For Cliona, I wish for a successful rookie season with Leinster. She works harder than anyone I know, and she deserves the
best the world of rugby has to offer. She needs to take the world of rugby by storm. Not only on the women’s side, but the
men’s side too.
I don’t know what she wishes for me. Probably something similar, if I had to guess. But by the time the party ends and it’s
time to head up to Fletcher Mountain, she grabs me by the arm and says, “You know what I wished for, Wolf?”
“You’re not supposed to tell me,” I grumble, trying to release my arm from her grasp.
“I wished for you to be kind to yourself. I wished for you to stop seeing the worst in yourself. And I wished for you to see
yourself as someone who deserves everything you want in life.”
“That’s three bleedin’ wishes,” I deadpan.
“Shut up, you knob,” she says, punching me in the shoulder. “I mean it. I love you, and I want you to have everything you wish for.”
“What if I save all my wishes for you?” I ask, hitting her with a soft, knowing look.
Her face twists as tears fill her eyes. “Then I’ll save mine for you.”