Page 110 of Hail Marry
The kicker puts the ball through the uprights, and it’s a madhouse as the crowd goes wild at the final score: 37-34 for the Admirals.
RIP my nails and my eardrums.
The other WAGs hug me, congratulating me like I’m the one who made the touchdown, and we make our way to the waiting area together, all high on the victory.
I participate in the conversation, but only half-heartedly because the other half of my heart is pounding at the prospect of seeing Luca. So much has happened in the past forty-eight hours between us, I don’t know what to expect anymore.
We walk through the hallway that leads to the locker room, which is teeming with family, friends, and media waiting for the players to emerge. It’s so crowded, it’s impossible to push our way through, and we give up temporarily.
Last week it took forever for them to come out, so there’s no rush.
“Tori!”
I turn at the sound of my name, wondering who in the world could recognize me here.
My muscles seize at the sight of Ryan. His arm is around Kimberly’s waist, and next to them is Tyler.
Ryan’s hair is shorter than the last time I saw him, which was admittedly a long time ago. He’s wearing a slick suit, which is just ridiculous. Who wears a suit to an NFL game?
The sight of him with Kimberly elicits a visceral reaction from my body, like the sudden need to hurl. On Ryan, preferably.
“We hoped we’d see you here!” He guides Kimberly toward me. “I work with Bennett’s dad.”
I should’ve guessed he’d have a connection to the biggest jerk on the team.
Ryan lets go of Kimberly to give me a hug.
I’m like a statue as his arms wrap around me.
He steps back, giving me a funny look, as though my reaction is strange. Has he forgotten the havoc he wreaked on me?
“I can’t believe you’re a married woman now. I was looking up Callahan’s stats, and I saw an article about how you guys met. Did he really save you from getting run over by a truck? I’m guessing that’s what took you to Tyler’s hospital.”
“No, they were already engaged when I saw them,” Tyler says.
My nerves go into high-gear. The E.R. interaction with Tyler is the weak spot in Luca’s and my story.
Impulse urges me to try to explain the timeline, but that’ll just get messy.
“Things moved quickly with us,” I say with a tight smile.
“I’llsay,” Ryan says with a laugh that nettles me. It’s like he’s insinuating that I tricked Luca into marrying me.
I keep my smile intact. “Luca’s not the type to drag things out. He knows what he wants.” I put a subtle emphasis on the wordhe.
Kimberly shifts, and her cheeks go pink. Tyler excuses himself, and I watch out of the corner of my eye as he approaches Bennett.
“Hey, Kimberly,” I say with a genuine smile. “You look beautiful.” I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. I have nothing against her, and it’s not her fault it’s taken Ryan this long to actually tie the knot. I genuinely hope he treats her better than he treated me.
“Hey,” she says back. “Good to see you.”
It’s a lie, but it’s a polite one. Seeing your ex’s new girlfriend is only slightly worse than seeing your boyfriend’s ex. This isn’t fun for either of us.
“We brought this for you.” Ryan pulls an elegant white invitation out of his suit coat and hands it to me. “Hope you and Luca can come. I think we added Admirals/Giants tickets to our registry.” He winks.
I have no plan to attend the wedding, and Admirals/Giants tickets are about as likely as peace in the Middle East, but I take the invitation politely.
“Can I borrow my wife for a second?”
