Page 34 of The Run Option

We have a game tonight, and we’re traveling this morning down to Florida. I made sure Miles and his fiancée Ellie had nice box seats to watch the game. I planned for them to come before getting engaged. Now they’re definitely going to want to meet Willow. I haven’t talked to him–or any of the guys–because I put my phone on silent as soon as I posted the photo of us. I didn’t need any extra stress today.

A pair of large hands slap my shoulders as someone boosts themselves up, half jumping on my back.

“Another married man on the roster!” Troy, one of the wide receivers, shouts near my ear.

“I’m not married yet, just engaged,” I say as I push him away.

He laughs. “Not eager to say you’re tied down yet? If I were you, I’d have married her the same night I proposed. She’s–”

I give him a dark look.

“A very nice lady,” he finishes with a too-wide smile.

“Yes, she is. A lady you willrespect, not just because she’s my future wife, but because she is worthy of it all on her own.” My hard stare paired with my words has him nodding and backing away.

“Yep, yeah, of course,” Troy says, then books it onto the idling charter bus nearby.

I roll my eyes and scan the crowd for Willow. She should be here somewhere. I’m sure she’s coming along to get some behind-the-scenes content.

A hard slap hits my upper back, making me grunt.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” Jamal says as I turn to face him.

He’s one of the ones I’ve been anxious about. All the guys on the team are important to me, but if they’re cousins, Jamal and Calvin are my brothers. He knows too much to not be suspicious about this, or at least be offended I didn’t tell him.

“Yeah, everything has happened so fast.” I rub the back of my neck. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, man.”

“Aaliyah says she knew there was something going on between you two the whole time.” He shakes his head. “I told her there’s no way you’d keep it from me, but I guess I was wrong.”

“We wanted to keep things under the radar. You know how the media is.”

Jamal knows firsthand how vicious the media is. They’d hounded him plenty when he and Aaliyah got together. They crafted a whole story of him cheating on her and picking up some foreign side chick from the airport when, in reality, he was picking up hiscousinwho had just gotten back from a study abroad program.

“I’m going to let this one slide, mostly because I’m happy for you, and my wife claims all the signs were there. Personally, all the signs I saw pointed to her hating you but-” He shrugs. “What do I know?”

It takes effort to keep my smile from sliding off my face. I’d been vocal with a few of the guys about Willow’s disdain, but I thought it came off more as a funny, teasing relationship. If Jamal thought she hated me, then maybe this whole thing goes deeper than I thought. Then again, Aaliyah is smart, and she’s close with Willow. She wouldn’t claim to have known all along without evidence of her own.

It’s in this moment of inner conflict that I spot Willow. She’s wearing a heather-gray hoodie with a maroon varsity letter-style Lions logo on the front, and matching gray sweatpants. Her hairis up in a ponytail, and it swings when she turns to talk to one of the assistant coaches, Harry. She smiles up at him and bobs her head. I’m sure he’s congratulating her, the same he did me when I passed him in the facility this morning. Troy and Jamal aren’t the first and certainly won’t be the last to talk about the engagement today.

“Man.” Jamal’s laughter draws my attention from Willow to him. “I don’t know how you two hid this. You have it bad.”

“I’m marrying her in a week, of course I do,” I say, ignoring the tight knot of anxiety in my chest.

Sure, I’m marrying Willow, but that doesn’t mean I should feel like this so soon. My crush is growing fast, and I’m certain Willow is nowhere near feeling the same. This is supposed to be a ruse.

Jamal says something else, but my attention is back on Willow once more. Her eyes catch mine, and a tentative smile plays on her pink lips. Distantly, I register Jamal squeezing my shoulder and walking away. But all I see is her. I open my arms as she comes closer, and she steps into my embrace without hesitation. She must know as well as I do that we’re on display here.

I wrap my arms around her, dipping my head to whisper in her ear.

“How are you doing?” I ask, smirking when I feel her shiver in my arms.

“I’m okay. My parents took the news…surprisingly well. Granny’s approval helped.” Her voice is slightly muffled against my Lions sweatshirt. “Everyone else has been nice so far. I haven’t checked my post comments or the tabloids though. I’m too nervous.”

Her hands tighten against my back, grabbing fistfuls of my sweatshirt. I hate that she is anxious, but I love that she’s leaning on me.

“I haven’t either. Let’s just get through the game, yeah? One thing at a time.”

I feel her chest rise and fall with a deep breath. I run a hand up and down her back.

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