Dani Girl: Tobin's ass has been kicked. Nix helped. He has lost all date suggestion privileges.
CHAPTER 16
TYRELL
Between practices, cramming for finals, and three double dates with Dani, life has been manic. I still can’t believe Lincoln bailed early on our first one. He must be out of his damn mind. I questioned him hard on the drive back to his place, but he told me that as pretty as Dani was, he just wasn’t feeling it.
What the actual fuck? How could he not be feeling it with a girl like her?
I guess I should be grateful she wasn’t feeling it with him either.
Or any of the guys she’s gone out with so far.
Maybe tonight will be a winner. Who knows. My insides buzz like I’ve swallowed a cup full of bees. I don’t get why. I’m working hard to find her the perfect guy, but after each failed date, I can’t help feeling a sense of relief. I don’t understand it.
“Come on, Mr. NFL!” Nylah claps. “Throw the ball like you mean it!”
Carson laughs at her teasing taunts, and my mind jumps away from the field we’re messing around on to the Football Frat living room last weekend.
Man, that draft party was… the tits.
I still can’t stop grinning at Dani’s new slang. And I’m not sure I’ll ever stop feeling happy about the results of this year’s NFL draft picks…
Sienna, Zander, Zoey, and their families went live to the draft announcement, while Wily, Satch, and his family stayed behind. He didn’t want to be limping around on a bum leg.
Blake had her camera at the ready, ever hopeful that his name would be announced at some point during the three days.
She decided to go all out and invited the entire team around to Football Frat so we could support Wily together. Of course, they couldn’t all make it, but people dribbled in and out between classes and training. The house felt like Grand Central Station for a few days.
We were all rooting for Zander too, and on Friday afternoon, when his name was announced, the roar that rose through the house was deafening.
“With the forty-fifth pick for this year’s NFL draft, the Los Angeles Chargers select Zander Donohue, quarterback, Nolan University.”
Holy shit. He did it. He fucking did it!
We all knew he would, but it was epic to watch him celebrating on TV. His dad was jumping around like a crazy person, but Zander only had eyes for Sienna, who was smiling at him, fighting tears and hugging Zoey to her chest as she reached for Zander to kiss him.
“Looks like we’re moving to LA.” At least I think that was what she said.
He grinned, bobbing his head and laughing as he swooped her off her feet, spinning her and Zoey around.
Damn. Los Angeles. Not bad.
“We’ll have to find an excuse to visit,” Blake said to Grady, then grinned at her brother. “Your name will be coming up soon, shithead. I refuse to believe anything else.”
Wily put on a brave smile, which he desperately tried to keep in place.
But it faded a little more each day, and the closer we got to the sixth-round picks, the tenser things became. Wily’s dad was a ball of nerves, and his anxiety was permeating the entire house. His mother wasn’t much better, and Blake started getting really shitty with them, her snarky barbs turning my muscles into iron and giving me a headache.
A bunch of the team still showed up on that third afternoon. Even Coach Jones made an exception and popped in to sit with us for a while. I was grateful. We were onto the final day. If Wily’s name wasn’t announced by tonight, it’d be no-go-pro for our boy, and we were all feeling it.
Wily hadn’t said a word all day, and the silence that fell over the room when the sixth-round picks came to a finish was fucking depressing.
“Let’s get drinks before the final round.” Blake jumped up, yanking her mother, who was on the verge of bawling, out of the room. “Pull yourself together,” she hissed. “Wily doesn’t need the pressure of your tears.”
I trailed after the pair and helped them carry cans of beers and soda, distributing them among the team while we waited.
“Okay, it’s starting!” someone finally shouted, and we all crowded into the room.
