Heat billows around me as I press my palms against the tile, head bowed. I try to tell myself to stop, to breathe, to focus on what’s in front of me, the job, the possibilities—but she’s there, threaded through everything I want.
When I step back out, towel around my waist and head full of her, my phone’s buzzing loudly on the nightstand. I expect it to be Liv, or maybe Hudson again, but when I glance at the screen, my heart jolts.
Local area code.
“Hello?”
“Jay, hi, it’s Cole. Listen, Kate and I have been talking, and we want you on board. I wasn’t prepared to let you sleep through a night without knowing that.”
For a second, I think I misheard him. “Wait—what?”
“We want to make it official,” he repeats, amused. “You’ll start late January, early February, just before preseason. We’ll send over paperwork this week, but congratulations, man. You earned it.”
I sit down on the edge of the bed, towel still clinging to my hips, and drag a hand through my hair. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“Say you’re in,” Cole chuckles.
“I’m in,” I breathe. My heart’s thudding so loud I can barely hear him over it. “I—thank you. Seriously. Thank you.”
“Go celebrate,” he says. “You’ve got a big few months ahead. You’re gonna be a part of our history now.”
When the call ends, I just stand there in the middle of the hotel room, phone still in hand, trying to catch up to what’s just happened.
It’s real.
I got it.
Relief and disbelief war in my chest because can this actually be real? I finally get what I’ve been chasing for months?
But then I think about her, and as much as this job feels like everything I’ve wanted, I can’t stop wondering if taking it means leaving behind something even bigger.
***
The flight is fast, a blur of bad coffee and restless legs. By the time I get to my car at the airport, I’m a mess, wired, exhausted, and running on pure adrenaline. My body is jittery with excitement but also with something else I can’t quite name.
Sleep completely evaded me after that phone call. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it all. California, the stadium lights, the work I’d get to do, the travel, the team. And Liv. Always Liv.
I spent half the night trying to figure out how to make everything fit. How to take this dream without losing the one that’s already here. The part of my brain that loves to fix things wouldn’t stop spinning scenarios—what it would look like if she came with me, if we made it work long distance, if I could somehow have both.
But beneath all that planning, a quieter truth kept whispering through the noise: I don’t want to imagine any version of my life that doesn’t have her in it.
By the time I hit the highway, the sun’s pushing through the fog, and my pulse hasn’t slowed. Every mile closer to home, theanticipation builds: how I’ll tell her, how she’ll light up, how maybe, for once, everything will feel like it’s falling into place. I have to believe it will.
When I finally pull into the driveway, the sky’s dimming into a golden dusk that makes everything feel calm. I grab my bag from the back seat and head inside, still buzzing with nerves and hope.
The second I open the door, warmth hits me. Not just from the heating, but something else—something rich and inviting, like spices and citrus and home. Candles flicker across the counters, light bouncing off the walls, and the table’s been set with actual plates, not our usual mismatched ones.
“Liv?” I call out.
She steps out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel, and for a second, I just look at her. Hair twisted up, cheeks pink from the heat, eyes bright, and hot damn… she looks… Fuck, I think I might be speechless. Standing in front of me, she looks like a dream in a black minidress that glistens as she moves closer. My hands itch to touch her in it.
“You’re home,” she says, those blue eyes sparkling, and that alone undoes me a little.
“I am,” I say, still trying to find my voice. “And you… wow. You look incredible.”
She laughs quietly, the sound warm and easy, then closes the distance between us. Her arms loop around my neck, her body pressing close, and when she kisses me, everything in me goes still. It’s deep and familiar, her lips soft against mine, her taste pulling every ounce of tension out of my body.
When she finally pulls back, my forehead rests against hers. I breathe her in.
