Too close.
I slam the brakes making the tires scream. The road is slick from the melting hail and the car starts to fishtail as wind slams me into a guard rail.
I don’t scream.
I go silent.
The car spins again, once, twice, then stops hard against something solid. A tree, I think.
Then suddenly the trees stop moving and the hail disappears but the wind still roars in the distance.
My heart finally slows enough for breath to claw back into my lungs in jagged gasps. I rest my forehead against the steering wheel. My hands shake uncontrollably.
I’m alive.
The realization crashes through me harder than the accident.
Alive.
Married.
Silas.
Something wet runs down my face and drips into my lap.
Then everything goes black.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
SILAS
I didn’t wakeBrooke when I got home last night, and I didn’t say goodbye to her this morning. Partially because I knew I wouldn’t have time to say everything I wanted to. The other part…well, I’m still a little hurt, I guess.
Now, I’m meeting with my agent for breakfast to go over what to expect the days leading up to the draft and then draft day itself.
“So, you have quite a few teams interested in you, Silas. Off the record, of course. No offers or official conversations have been had on your behalf.”
“I wasn’t worried about that, Scott. But I am worried about who is interested. As I told you last month at the combine, I got married, so where I land needs to be easily accessible to her.” Because I’m going to keep planning my future as if she’ll be by my side. Fuck those papers.
“Ah, yes. Linson’s little sister. How did that happen again?” He holds up a hand. “Actually, let’s table that for a different day. We can put a spin on that whole thing once we know who we’re dealing with. Some owners are a little more old-fashioned. Theymight not want to know that you recklessly eloped in Vegas.” He huffs a laugh.
“That might be how it happened, but that’s not how it is now.”
“Okay, so then you tell me. What teams would you be interested in talking with?”
“Well, honestly, any that can get me here within a few hours, tops. So, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, New Orleans. Maybe Denver, but that wouldn’t be a top choice.”
“Is she not planning to go with you?” He stops tapping notes in his phone.
“She’s only in her first year, and I don’t expect her to stop going to school for me.”
“Why wouldn’t she just transfer somewhere wherever you go?”
“Because she’s a climatology major, and she’s at the best school for that.”
My phone starts to ring in my pocket, then stops.
