Elididsay something about ‘celebrity’, but that was a joke.
Right?
I mean, Queen Bea from the bakery is a ‘celebrity’ here. Even my mom is one.
I scroll to the next message, which is a photo of me mid-fall, tangled around Knox like a barn cat in a windstorm, with a giant block of text underneath it. And there, in Eli’s dramatic caption, I spot it:“Meet Knox Knightly, former NFL tight end turnedmysterious restaurateur, bringing his signature intensity (and apparently his blooming romance) to Silver Peak.”
I drop my phone into my lap like it just caught fire.
“NFL?” I screech, loud enough to make a squirrel bolt from a nearby bush. “What do youmeanhe was in the NFL? Like, actually?”
I frantically open the town’s Instagram. The post already has 843 likes, which, for Silver Peak, is basically the population of the entire town. And the comments? Pure chaos.
@GrannyBakes93: I knew he looked familiar! He tackled my grandson on TV once. Handsome devil.
@DogMomLife42: I don’t even like football, and I’d let him ruin my life.
@SilverPeakBookClub:This is better than our last five romance picks combined. Watching closely.
“Why is everyone so invested in my accidental limb tangle?”
I’m yelling at my steering wheel now, which seems unbothered.
Back to my messages. Maya has sent me three more texts in the span of one minute.
>> Girl, I can't believe I didn't recognize him. He was everywhere for like five years! The ads! The GQ shoot! The way he left the game. Hold on. I’m sending the clip.
Thirty seconds later, a video starts buffering. It’s old ESPN footage: a young, sweaty, intense Knox Knightly standing at a podium, jaw tight, voice low, headlines screaming across the screen like a damn movie trailer.
“I’m stepping away from the game. No further questions.”
I stare at the screen, mouth open, watching this younger, even more cocky looking version of my boss storm off with the kind of dramatic flair usually reserved for crime dramas and divorce court.
“Are you freakingkiddingme?!”
I slept withthatguy?
I somehow didn’t know the man I’ve literally had my mouth on is a nationally known sports bro with an emotionally tortured past and probably his own fan wiki page!
Suddenly, the quiet brooding, the total avoidance of eye contact, the way he acted like he was just passing through town. It makes more sense.
My boss is an ex-NFL star trying to live a reclusive, emotionally closed-off existence in the mountains while opening a sexy restaurant with secret pasta.
And I…
I face-planted into his abs in front of the entire town.
Oh no.
What the hell have I done?
CHAPTER SEVEN
Knox
Damn it,the Internet really is crazy. I mean, it’s been over twelve hours, and things arestillspiraling.
I’ve had sprained ankles less irritating than this.
