“Lovesick,” Jayden snickers, shaking his head at me. “You could just send her a text like the rest of us do. I’m pretty sure women don’t even dig grand stuff like that. They just want the thought of it or whatever.”
“And that’s why you can’t keep a girlfriend,” Marcus says flatly. “You have to put in some effort. Though,” he pauses, looking over at me. “I don’t know that it’s worththismuch effort. Texas might be overdoing it.”
“Just a hair,” Jayden snorts.
“Shut up,” I shoot back at them, giving up and standing to my feet. “I just want her to know that she matters to me. She mattersa lot.”
“Ooh,” Marcus coos. “Think you might be in love, Texas?”
I ignore him and sling my bag over my shoulder. “I’ll see you guys on the flight home. I’ll probably spend the evening with my family.”
“Have fun,” Jayden calls after me as I exit the guest locker room at the stadium. “And don’t forget to check on those flowers, Loverboy.”
“Uh huh,” I call back, while the two of them burst into a fit of obnoxious laughter. However, my annoyance shifts to dread as soon as I catch sight of my agent, Edward, who I haven’t seen in person since the trade, standing with my parents and brother.
Something about the looks on everyone’s faces has my stomach somersaulting. I approach slowly, straightening my shoulders before I finally make it to them.
“Hey,” I choke out, sounding like I haven’t spoken in hours.
“Honey!” My mom spins around, her darkish gray hair bouncing against her shoulders. “I’m so proud of you. You played like a superstar out there.”
“Thanks, but I’m pretty sure you’re biased, considering you used to tell me that in second grade.” I chuckle and embrace her. I give her a tight squeeze, the familiar scent of her filling my nostrils and reminding me of how much I missed her.
“Good game, bud.” My dad lightly pats my shoulder. “I’m proud of how far you’ve come.”
I shake his hand as I straighten up and let my mom go. My brother stands a few feet away, a smirk on his face, as Edward turns to me. My agent has been in the game for a long time, and it shows in his painfully receding hairline and the wrinkles around his eyes. But despite that, his suit is crisp and ironed.
“Good news,” he says, giving me a nod. “I know that you were on the fence about Los Angeles, and after your game tonight, you’ve officially caught the eye of your dream team.”
My heart stutters in my chest. “You mean the guys wejustbeat?”
“I mean, you might not have beaten them if you’d been on their side.” Edward smirks, and I’m not sure what to think about it.
“Justthink,” my mom interjects. “You could be right here in Texas with us. You would only have to be a couple of hours from home.”
“I mean…” I don’t know why the words die in my throat. I don’t know why I don’t feel a morsel of excitement over the conversation.
“You could be home for the holidays,” my dad chimes in, furthering the guilt starting to build beneath the surface.
“And you could see Mia grow up.” My brother’s mention of my niece makes my stomach shift from knots to just a pure ache. “It would be awesome to have you around. I know how much you felt out of place in LA.”
“I just needed to settle in,” I mumble, and I realize they’re barely coherent as my eyes bounce from person to person in the circle. “I just… I don’t know…”
Edward clears his throat. “We can talk about it later. I’ll let you guys catch up.” He steps toward me and then places his hand on my shoulder, leaning in, his voice dropping to a near whisper so that none of my family can hear him. “This could turn into a real conversation between front offices. I need to know how hard you want me to push back—or if you want me to listen for now.”
I give him a nod, unable to come up with any other response. “Okay.”
Edward slips away from us, heading toward the exit, leaving me with my parents and brother, who are looking at me with varying levels of confusion.
“You wanna go grab something to eat?” my dad asks, giving me a ghost of a smile. “You must be starving.”
“Yeah,” I hum, plastering on a fake smile. “Lead the way. I’ll ride with y’all.”
I follow my family out of the stadium toward the VIP parking. Most of the fans have all cleared out, leaving just a few stragglers. Honestly, it was a good game, and the whole team was really jiving, and…
And it felt like I fit.
But still, Texas was my childhood dream.
