“What?” Mom cleared her throat.
“Dad was just here at my apartment. I guess Karen cheated on him with some contractor they’d hired for the house in the East Bay, and Dad found out Stuart is not his baby.” Damn, I’d just blurted it all out. I drank some wine.
Her breath caught. “No…Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious.” I glanced at Eli. “Mom, I’m putting you on speaker. Eli is here with me.” I tapped on the phone. “He wants a divorce, and he doesn’t want me to sign the revision to the trust. And the best part? He wants to reconcile our relationship and will do therapy with me.”
Mom paused and then said, “Oh, honey, that’s great news. It sounds like this was the wake-up call he needed.”
“Yes, sounds like it was.” I patted Eli’s knee. Thank God he’d been with me when Dad had shown up. Should I mention the drinking bit? Maybe I’d leave it out for now. I didn’t want to dredge up old difficulties for Mom. “Mom, do you think he’ll stick to his word?”
“I…” She clicked her tongue. “I’ll be honest. I don’t know. I certainly hope so. I had couples counseling with him before our divorce, and he did well with it, but it didn’t stick.” She chuckled. “Maybe it will this time.”
“Yeah, maybe.” It was all I could have hoped for. “Anyway, you don’t have to talk to Aunt Nadine about the trust anymore.” I peeked at Eli, sitting contentedly next to me. “I’ll let you go back to bed now.”
“Okay, well, good night, and I’m glad things are working out between you and your father. I’m sorry for what he’s going through, but…it is what it is,” Mom said.
“Goodnight, Mom, love you.” I ended the call and set my phone on the coffee table. “Eli, in the morning, you’ll have to tell me what happened tonight was real because I’ll think it was a dream.”
“Guess I’m spending the night?” He arched a brow and tapped his wineglass on mine. “Here’s to a healthy relationship with your father.”
“Yes.” With a grin, I placed a lingering kiss on his mouth.
TWENTY-ONE
ELI
The next day, I’d gone home to shower and pack for our trip to Texas for the Sunshine Bowl. I was so happy for Wren. It seemed the pieces of our shared future were merging.
As I stuffed my team t-shirt into my bag, resting at the foot of my bed, my phone buzzed on the dresser. I strode to it and picked it up. There was a number I didn’t recognize. “Hello?”
“Hello, is this Eli Dawson?” A man’s voice asked.
“This is he.” I peeked at myself in the mirror over my dresser. I had a good scruff growing across my jawline. I scratched it.
“This is Dennis Brenner, an agent for the NFL. I’ll be signing Casey Carter once this bowl game is over, and he referred me to you.”
“Oh yes, we spoke about that.” Damn Casey came through for me. But I knew he would. “Do you have someone who might be interested in me?” I paced to my bag and threw a pair of joggers into it.
“I do.” He chuckled. “Me.”
“You?” I halted with my rolled-up briefs in my hand. “Y-you’re interested in signing me?” These guys signed all positions, so it wasn’t surprising.
“Yes, I’ve watched plenty of ASU footage while evaluatingCasey, and you stood out to me as well. I think you’ll do great in this year’s draft. Your stats are in the top five.”
I knew that, but… “Awesome, I’m on board. If you’re good enough for Casey, you’re good enough for me.” I freed a short laugh. Why wade through other agents when I knew Casey and his high-powered lawyer father would have already vetted this guy?
“Okay, then I’ll forward you a contract to review and eSign after the game tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.” I stuffed the underwear into the corner of my bag. One less thing to deal with. “Talk to you soon.”
“Yes, and good luck out there. Bye now.” The call ended.
“Hell yes.” I dropped my phone on my bed and finished packing.
We wereunder the two-minutes in the bowl game against Duke, and they’d driven the ball to the twenty-yard line with two downs left to go. We were ahead by three, so they could tie the game with a field goal or win with a touchdown.
I took my position on the field. Our defensive coordinator had called for a blitz. I had to retrieve that fucking ball. This game needed to end with our winning and not go into overtime.
