Page 46 of Hail Marry
She’s right. And some of us—namely, two of us in the room—haven’t fallen in love at all, on stage or in secret. Some of us are apparently calling their wives a name they hate.
“Fair enough,” Austin says. “So, does this mean you’ll be moving wherever he gets drafted? That’s coming right up.”
I glance at Victoria. I have no idea how to answer these questions. This is her family—it’s her territory, and only she knows the ins and outs.
“We’re waiting to see what happens,” she says. “I’ve got my job here, obviously?—”
“Yeah, but you don’t even like it,” Austin argues. “I’d think you’d jump at the opportunity to move somewhere new and leave that place.”
Victoria doesn’t seem to know how to respond to this. I’m really wishing we’d hammered out the details of our story before now.
“You know how things go in the League,” I say. “I don’t want her to quit her job only for me to end up on injured reserve or even cut.”
“Which won’t happen,” Victoria says firmly. “But we’re still figuring things out.”
Austin nods. “Does that mean you’ll be away from each other during training season?”
“Probably,” Victoria says, looking at me with a grimace.
“That’ll be so tough,” Mia says sympathetically. “I can’t imagine being newlyweds and being separated for the first months of marriage.”
“For sure,” Victoria replies. “But we’ll figure it out. That’s what you do when you love each other, right?” She grabs my hand, which has a fork in it and red sauce dripping down, and she looks at me with a smile. I nod, ignoring the two drips that fall on my pants.
The thing is, I believe her. Not the whole love part, of course, but that we’ll figure this out.
A while later, Austin and Mia gather up their things to head out, and Victoria and I walk them to the door.
Mia gives me a hug. “Welcome to the family, Luca,” she says in my ear before pulling back with a smile. “Don’t let my husband fool you. The Sheppards are the best.”
Austin puts out his hand, and I shake it. “I came prepared to dislike you, Luca. Don’t get me wrong—I’ll be keeping careful tabs on you to make sure you’re taking care of my sister—but…so far, so good.”
“Your protective big brother act is adorable,” Victoria says, pulling him in for a hug. “Especially seeing as you’ve spent your life being the one I needed protecting from.” She steps beside me again and grabs my hand. “But the tables have turned. My husband could take you down in two seconds flat.”
Austin does a childish taunting face, then reaches over and gives his sister a noogie. Then he grabs Mia’s hand and pulls her toward the car, sending a wave over his shoulder before opening the passenger door for his wife.
We wave at them as they drive off, and the second they turn the corner on the street, we let out simultaneous breaths of relief.
Victoria looks up at me, her eyes wide. “I amsoincredibly, unbelievably, extraordinarily sorry.”
I cock a brow. “Are you, though?”
“Yes,” she says firmly. “I should’ve known one of my siblings would pull something like this. They’re the worst.”
“Your sister-in-law disagrees,” I reply.
“She’s wrong.” She shoots a look at me from the corner of her eye. “Okay, fine. She’s not wrong. My family is the best. But they’re also the worst.” Her hand squeezes mine, which is the moment both of us realize we’re still holding hands.
We let go simultaneously.
“Maybe you should just tell them the truth,” I say. “It’d reduce your stress. A lot. And mine.”
She shakes her head. “I thought about it. Believe me. I did. I even planned on it. I just wanted to mess with them, you know? But…the more I think about it, the more I feel like telling them might make things harder.”
I raise my brows. “Harder than that?” I jerk my thumb back at the house.
“Yes,” she says. “I know my family, Luca, and they’re great at a lot of things. Keeping secrets is not one of those. I may change my mind tomorrow, but for now, I think this is the best approach.”
“Okay,” I say, not totally convinced.
