They want me to take them to their next championship.
All things unheard of for a rookie, but things every rookie wants to hear.
Fuck. Yes.
"No offense, sir, but why were you the one to tell me? Coach said I would get a phone call tomorrow." Coming back down to reality, I’m dumbfounded.
I haven’t seen this man since high school. Considering his son and I haven’t been friends since we were teenagers, I expected to never see him again, yet he’s the one to tell me the news that just changed my life?
"I have friends in high places, Harley." He smirks. "I told them you were like family to me," he says, a lot more serious this time, his voice softer.
As we both stand from our seats, he brings me in for a hug that lingered way longer than I care to admit, but I’m too overwhelmed to question or pull away.
A hug from my childhood hero after hearing the best news of my life?
It doesn’t get much better than this.
"I’m proud of you, son."
I’m going to the NFL.
thirty-five
Cassandra
Last night was long.
Probably the longest night of my life.
I ended up heading to the beach after my conversation with Austin, desperately needing the sound of crashing waves to help me find clarity, before slowly making my way back to the hotel where Harley was waiting up for me.
Harley.
He’d sat on the edge of the bed in nothing but his boxer briefs, pulling me in for a hug, and I’d welcomed it. Allowed myself to sink into him, even if just for a moment.
He didn’t demand that I tell him why I was back so late.
He didn’t demand to know what had happened.
He didn’t demand to know who I was with, even though deep down I think he knew, but didn’t want to say the words out loud.
Didn’t want to hear me say it, and have it be…real.
Once I’d finally showered and crawled into bed, he let me cry without trying to pressure me into talking about it. Becausetalking about my night and everything I’d learned made me feel sick.
I wasn’t ready to tell him.
I wasn’t ready.
And Harley knew that.
He made sure to keep telling me that everything was going to be okay. And I’d hoped, with every fiber of my being, that he was right, even though something in the pit of my stomach told me he wasn’t. Everything was about to change, and I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t protect him, no matter how badly I wanted to.
I couldn’t keep it from him.
Not this.
But I couldn’t just blurt it out, either.
