Page 97 of The Heartbreak Blitz

Charley

My heel bounces up and down against the hotel meeting room’s patterned carpet. Cranberry red with gold diamonds. I haven’t been this nervous since my father’s surgery. It feels like my nerves are eating really important organs from the inside out. Soon, I’ll just pass out, and I won’t even be awake when they announce Cade’s name in the draft.

What is happening? How is this my life?

Months ago, I had zero friends, a father who couldn’t stand me, and the proud owner of a black shroud of loneliness that I didn’t even know was there. I was just a time bomb waiting to go off, and thank everything, the person who set me off was Cade Farmer.

Grandma’s hand comes down on my back, rubbing it. “Deep breaths, dear. You’re going to give me a coronary episode just looking at you.”

I choke out a laugh that sounds more like a deranged person, and holy shit, she’s right. I’m not going to make it if I don’t get my anxiety under control.

Taking a deep breath, I hold it in my chest, blocking out the noise from the rest of the room. Nearly everyone in Cade’s life is here, except for his parents, and only because they’re with him. His Nan is on the other side of my grandmother. His friends Briar, Lex, and the infamous Reid Parker are on the other side of me. I can’t even look their way.

The coach for the Wildcats is interested in Cade. Anything can happen on draft day, of course, but he wants him.

Cade can hardly stand the stress, and he says he’d be happy if he even got drafted, but I know how much it would mean to him to get drafted to play for Reid’s team. They’d be back together again. As someone who grew up with very few friends, I can’t fathom the kind of relationship that he has with the three people to my right. It’s the kind of thing you see in the movies in some tear-jerker, or some uplifting drama where souls just click.

“I’m not going to lie,” Cade said to me last night in our shared hotel room when we just lied there, staring at the ceiling. “It would be a dream.”

It would be the sort of ending everyone would root for. The last few months have been absolutely bananas. Not only were Cade and I navigating our new relationship, but there was a Championships win, an invitation to the Combine, and now this.

Cade is an absolute fucking rockstar. Scouts, meetings with possible teams, an agent. A freaking agent! I’m living my very own personal fairy tale because Cade is most definitely the prince in this scenario, and I’m the orphan girl who cleans houses with mice as friends.

Briar peers over and takes my hand in hers. “I know what it’s like. I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but I’m not sure it does.”

I squeeze her hand. I’m on a text thread with her, Bailey, and Kenna, and another friend named Jules who I haven’t met yet, but she sounds lovely. Taking another breath, I let it out slowly. “I think it’s because I want it so much for him, but there’snothing I can do. I’m literally just stuck here, and my body wants me to be doing something to help, but I am relegated to this task of sitting and waiting.”

A knowing smile crosses Briar’s lips. “You’re a good one, Charley. If I could’ve chosen a girl for Cade, I would’ve picked someone like you.”

A genuine smile parts my lips. That means a whole hell of a lot coming from her. I bump her shoulder with mine. “Thank you.”

Reid abruptly stands and starts pacing. I watch his massive figure as he shoves his hands into his pockets and stares at the very same floor I’ve been looking at for the past twenty minutes.

“I think he’s more nervous for Cade than he was for himself.”

I’ve only met Reid a total of two times now, and he definitely gives off intense vibes.

“You guys are killing me,” Lex states, his gaze moving from Reid to us.

I spot his own leg jumping up and down. When he catches me looking at it, he, too, stands and starts to walk.

With the two guys out of earshot, Briar says, “I wish Coach C would’ve said something to Reid. Anything.”

“No indication whatsoever?”

“Nothing.”

My stomach clenches, and I place my hand over my belly button, willing my nerves to calm down. I really am going to worry myself into an early grave, and if what Briar said is true, it’s never going to get any better.

“I think it would be easier on everyone if we just wanted him to get drafted. He’s a shoo in. But?—”

“Oh, don’t jink him,” I tell her, my voice rising a few octaves.

“But,” Briar says. “I can’t wait to see him in a Wildcats jersey. It’ll be like Spring Hill all over again. Reid sent Coach theirquarterback/receiver stats from high school. Who knows if it helped?”

I might need to go somewhere by myself soon. My gaze darts everywhere in the room. It’s truly nothing against anyone here, but I can feel my body surging toward panic, and the person who usually helps me through these moments is currently a few miles away about to have one of the biggest moments of his life.

The door to the meeting room opens, and a hotel staff member walks in holding a vase of roses. “Charley?”

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