“It’s actually perfect, because there’s something I wanted to talk to you about anyway.”
“I’m gonna go so y’all can talk,” Eli said, but I tightened my grip on her hand.
“Nah, stay here.” My head bobbed in Isaac’s direction. “Get a lil closer. This concerns you too.” I waited until Isaac was standing at the foot of the bed next to Coach to continue. “First, I appreciate you helping me off the field.”
“Wasn’t shit,” Isaac replied.
“Nah, it was. Like you said, we ain’t really fucking with each other right now, so I appreciate you being solid and looking out.”
He nodded while Coach asked, “What’s going on between you two?”
“Long story short, Isaac feels a way about me being with his sister, and with the way we handled the situation, I can respect that. To avoid creating discord within the team, I want to be traded. The Titans are down a player and?—”
“Hell nah,” Isaac said before I could even continue. “You ain’t finna go to the Titans or nowhere else for that matter. Not because of me.”
“That’s really not for you to decide. I feel like this is what’s best for all parties involved. I’m sorry for not being transparent when things became real between me and Eli, but I’ll never apologize for loving her and being with her. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I love this game, and I love you and my team, but I ain’t letting anything come between us. I’m also not about to resent you if we can’t get along and play the same way we’ve always played. If we can’t be friends anymore, it’s best if we not be teammates anymore either.”
“If you would just slow your ass down and listen, you’ll understand why this ain’t necessary,” Isaac said, gaining my interest. “When you got knocked down and didn’t move, my reservations about you being with my sister no longer mattered. All I cared about was you being good. And seeing how worried she was fucked with me. I realized in that moment I’m doing more harm than good to two of the closest people to me for no reason beyond me tryna be in control.
“I’ve already apologized to my sister, but I apologize again, Eli, and I’m sorry, Falcon. Yeah, it fucked with me and felt like a betrayal knowing y’all were together, but I can understand why you kept it from me, looking back on how I reacted. If y’all can forgive me for that, I can forgive y’all for keeping this from me. Really, I just want us to move on.”
I looked at Eli, and her warm eyes and beautiful smile were already on me.
“You forgive him?” I asked.
“Yes. I forgave him before he apologized because the forgiveness was for me. I’m open to reconciliation with boundaries, and I’ve already told him that. Whether you stay or go is up to you.”
My eyes shifted toward Coach and Isaac. “I can take responsibility and say shit wouldn’t have gotten bad if I hadn’t betrayed your trust, so I do accept your apology, and I am willing to stay and work on our friendship just as long as you don’t try to insert yourself into my relationship with your sister. I’m not going to let anyone mistreat her, bruh. Not even you and Senior. You gotta trust that I’ma treat her well and make sure what we have doesn’t come between us or the team. She’s going to be my wife, which means you’ll be my brother-in-law. In love. As long as you can act like it, we’ll be good.”
Isaac rounded the bed and extended his fist for me to bump. I did, and we exchanged a brotherly hug. Coach made sure wewere good before leaving and letting me know he’d check on me tomorrow. Isaac stayed a little while longer before leaving, which I appreciated. The only person I wanted here was Eli. That was the only way I’d be able to rest. She went out to the waiting room to let Unc know they could leave and that she’d keep them updated on my release, and I appreciated that.
When she came back into the room, she tried to sit back down, but I adjusted myself so she could get in bed with me. The pain medicine they gave me had me drowsy as fuck, and I was irritable and ready to sleep. It took some gentle urging to convince her she wouldn’t hurt me, but eventually, she got in bed with me. Not long after, I drifted off to sleep.
Epilogue
Eli
February
“You ready?”Falcon asked against my ear.
I didn’t think anything could top the Demolishers playing in the Super Bowl again this year, but my home being ready did. I’d been dropping in when I could and keeping up with the progress, but once things started coming together fully, I stopped taking peeks so I’d be surprised.
“Yes! Take this blindfold off me.”
As Falcon laughed, he pulled the blindfold off. My eyes watered as I stood at the foyer in awe. As excited as I was to see my home, I couldn’t move. It had just hit me that this man really bought me land and had my home built.
My own home.
“Come on,” he said softly, grabbing my hand and tugging for me forward gently.
He took his time showing me around the ten thousand square foot mansion. It was bigger and better than I imagined it would be. Ten bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. Theupstairs and downstairs each had living rooms, sitting rooms, and flex rooms. The dining room and kitchen downstairs were huge, and I couldn’t wait to cook my first meal here.
When we headed outside, I thought my heart would explode. Not only was the pool huge, but several yards back was my tree house. A literal tree house. It was huge and what dreams were made of. Sniffling and fighting back my tears, I looked up at this wonderful man of mine.
“My tree house?”
“Your tree house. Go look inside.”
