Page 104 of Thunderstruck
I’m still new to the idea that Darcy is one of the most notorious sports reporters of the last decade, but from the few articles of hers I looked up, she has a knack for saying exactly the right thing to expose the athletes who aren’t playing the game fair, no matter which sport. She’s like the opposite ofHollywood Hot Scoop. “I don’t know,” I say honestly, “but I’d bet she can answer that question for you. You might not believe me, but my sister is one of the good ones.”
“If she’s half the woman you are, then she’s a saint,” Cole mutters and kisses me again, momentarily making me forget where and when and who I am as he pulls me close and explores my mouth.
It could be minutes later or it could be hours, but eventually I remember that we can’t sit here all day and make out. Breaking the kiss, I fightto breathe again and say, “We have a reception to get to.” Granted, I agree with Cole when he groans and drops his head onto my shoulder. Derek said Cole needs to get closure from his last relationship before he can commit to a new one, but today’s adventures have felt pretty committed. Especially here at the mansion. Cole confiding in me about the Badgers feels like he’s fully trusting me.
But I think Derek is right. I don’t think everything is solved quite yet.
“We don’t have to stay for long,” I tell Cole, running my hands through his dark hair. “But I would hate for you to miss Freya’s coronation.”
He looks up, narrowing his eyes. “She told you?”
I fail to fight my grin. “I’m on texting terms with a princess. How cool is that?”
“Not cool at all,” he grumbles, lifting me off his lap and to my feet like I weigh nothing. “I love her, but she’s a pain in my—”
“Wedding first, curse the princess later.”
Taking my hand, he leads me back to the parking lot and the car that he asked to wait for us. We climb into the back seat, and Cole hands the woman a chunk of money that looks like more than I’ve ever held in my life.
I can’t help myself. “Just how much money did you make in the NFL, anyway?”
Cole flushes red and is a little too deliberate in fastening his seatbelt, but he’s smart enough to know he can’t avoid the question forever. He clears his throat. “When I started, I was third string, so my paycheck was small compared to—”
“How much?”
“Twenty-two million.” He practically whispers the number, wincing as he does. My jaw drops, and he shrugs as he adds, “Per year.”
For some reason, my reaction to that is to punch him, which brings a tentative smile to his face. “Are you serious?” I whisper back.
His smile grows. “I was negotiating a new contract before the whole…you know…thing went down, and it was going to be thirty-eight.”
“And yougave that up? That’s like a bazillion candy bars and enough to buy a yacht and now I get why you have two houses and why you fit right in with Derek and Liam and a freakingprincess.” I know I’m rambling, but I can’t comprehend having that much money. Technically I havenegativemoney because at some point I need to pay my parents back for paying for my schooling, no matter how many times they tell me I don’t need to. And I thought Houston was rich! And okay, yes, he is. The guy made something like twenty-five million every year he pitched for the Sun City Red-tails, and he was on the team for something like a decade. But still. “What does someone even do with that kind of money?” I ask breathlessly.
Something shifts in Cole’s expression, taking his amusement and pulling it in a completely different direction so he looks…surprised? That’s not right. Alarmed? No, he looks like a lightbulb turned on in his head.
“What?” I ask.
He scrambles to grab his phone from his pocket and starts typing furiously, pausing only long enough to say, “They buy a rugby team.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cole
Princess or not, Freyadeserves a good kick in the pants for making me come to this thing. Sure, I’m not complaining about the flowy blue dress Carissa is wearing or the fact that she’s clinging to my arm for dear life as we enter the venue. But there are so many better things I could be doing right now, like sitting in an ice bath or figuring out how to buy the Thunder from the current owners or kissing Carissa until I can’t breathe. Especially that last one.
I pause just inside the doors of the massive event center Sage and Javi booked, clenching my jaw. “What if we just tell Freya that we came?” I hold up my phone, camera already on to take a selfie of us and the wedding behind us. “See? We came. Now we can leave.”
Snickering, Carissa pinches my side, somehow hitting the one spot I’ve always been ticklish. I nearly drop my phone as I yelp and twist away,and her eyes go wide. “You’re ticklish?” she whispers, like it’s the greatest discovery she’s ever made.
“Nope.” I tug her deeper into the room. We missed dinner as well as the ceremony, which is fine by me, and if I’m going to endure this reception, I’m going to make it happen quickly.
“Evanson?” a deep voice says, pulling me to a stop.
My mouth stretches into a wide grin as soon as I turn around. “Burley!” Slipping away from Carissa, I grab the wide receiver and pull him into a tight hug. He hugs me back, each of us trying to squeeze harder than the other. “It’s good to see you, man!”
Once he’s free of my hold, he lifts an eyebrow as he studies me, grinning wide. “Did you get bigger or did you just buy a tighter suit?”
I laugh and shrug. “Rugby.”
