Page 50 of Hail Marry
He grabs a towel and wipes his neck with a smile. “I’d love to be at 4.55.”
I stare. “That’s a tenth of a second difference.”
“It is,” he says with a hint of amusement at my amazing skill with numbers.
“But…that’s nothing.”
He drops the towel. “It makes a difference in the game. Believe me.”
I watch him reset the stopwatch, wondering why he’s bothering to work on his drills at this stage. I’ve learned a lot about the draft in the past few weeks, and it seems like his real chance to showcase his skill and agility already happened.
But I’m pretty sure I know the answer to my own question. He’s stressed out of his mind, so he’s working on things he can control.
“Want me to time you?” I ask. “I’ve got a lightning-fast thumb.”
He hands me the watch. “Let’s see.”
I hold up the watch, my eyes on his, then tap the start/stop button two times as fast as I can. “See?” I show him the watch face. “Lightning-fast.”
He laughs. “Okay, yeah. I’d appreciate you timing me.”
For the next twenty-minutes, my thumb gets a workout nearly as grueling as Luca’s entire body. If I keep at this on a regular, I’ll have one massively muscular thumb and one skinny, useless one.
His time improves to 4.63, then starts to get slower again, indicating he’s fatigued.
“How are you feeling about everything?” I ask as he squirts half a water bottle worth of water into his mouth.
“Fine,” he says as we reach the bleachers.
I sit down and look at him. Classic one-word answer. “Really?”
He holds my gaze for a second, then sits down next to me. It’s quiet for a few seconds. “I’m nervous. Crazy nervous.”
I offer a grimacing smile. “It seems like torture the way they do it—letting the entire world know at the same time as you.”
“It’s intense. I’ve watched the draft over a dozen times. It was always so exciting. Now, it’s just…”
“Terrifying?”
“Yeah.” He stares ahead, his brow creased, and it’s quiet for a few seconds. “What if I don’t get drafted?” He turns and looks at me.
I meet his gaze, searching his eyes. I’ve chosen not to tell my family the truth about our situation, but Luca? He doesn’t have that choice. He has no family to support him, no one to be there for him. Except Zach, I guess. But Zach means business. He doesn’t seem like a great listening ear.
“I really think you will, Luca,” I say, and I mean it.
“But what if I don’t? And I put you through all of this for nothing?”
I swallow. This is not a man who needs me to saddle him with the information I learned tonight. Added stress is not what the doctor ordered. He’s facing the night that’ll determine his whole future, and he’s still worried about me.
“You’re a really great guy, Luca. You know that?”
He breaks his gaze from mine and shakes his head.
“I mean it. You can’t even get a criminal record that’s not honorable. But you’ve got to stop worrying so much about me. I’m a big girl, you know. I get that your first impression of me wasn’t very confidence-inspiring, but I’m not a total disaster.”
“I don’t think that about you.”
I cock a brow, then talk before he can double down. “The point is, I’m rooting for you. But I’ll be fine no matter what.We’llbe fine. We’re in this together, right?” I grab his hand and give it a squeeze, smiling at him.
