Page 58 of Hail Marry
But, to be fair, we kind ofweredoing something. Until he arrived.
Which is probably for the best. So, why do I feel such intense frustration with his timing?
“Come here,” I say, and I gently push past him, leading the way back to the living room.
I glance behind me as Tori comes out of the room, her eyes on me. What’s she thinking right now? Is she bummed Zach showed up? Or is she relieved now that we’re out of the moment?
I jerk my head toward the living room, inviting her to join, and she walks over to stand next to me.
The commissioner’s voice comes on over the mic on the TV. “With the 135th pick in the 5th of this year’s NFL Draft, the San Diego Admirals select Luca Callahan, wide receiver, USC.”
The room erupts. Popcorn goes flying in the air, everyone’s out of their seats, and there’s an unintelligible barrage of yells. Zach bear hugs me, and soon I’m being clobbered by everyone there.
I’ve won a lot of big games over the years, but nothing compares to this feeling right here.
“We need a picture!” Mrs. Sheppard says, scrambling for her phone. She tries to do a selfie, and Austin steps in to take over, getting everyone in the shot in a way his mom couldn’t manage.
“Now you and Tori,” Mrs. Sheppard insists.
Everyone else ditches us, and Tori comes up next to me.
Why am I suddenly so nervous?
I put my arm around her, and she puts hers around the back of my waist. We look at her mom, who takes so many shots, Tori looks up at me and laughs.
And it’s that moment, looking down into her face with a grin of my own, when I realize: this is the best day of my life, and Tori’s the one who made it happen.
14
TORI
$4 million.
That’s what Luca’s four-year contract with the Admirals offers.
It’s an eye-popping number to me, but once my family leaves and we have a chance to talk with Zach about it, I realize how deceptive that number is. The only money he’s guaranteed is the signing bonus, which is $400,000. It’s still a boatload of money, but the rest comes in chunks based on his being kept on the team, which is far from guaranteed. In fact, statistically, it’s fairly unlikely. The chances of him getting injured, traded, or cut are frighteningly high.
I try not to think of the injured option. Or the others, honestly.
Meanwhile, the signing bonus—and the contract itself, technically—only take effect once he gets his employment authorization, which we’re still waiting on.
“Preston scheduled you for your biometrics appointment on Monday,” Zach says. “Shouldn’t take too long. I assume you saw the email he sent with everything you need to take along?”
I glance at Luca, since I haven’t checked my email all day. Based on his expression, he hasn’t either.
My mind veers away from the authorization and back to my room. I can’t believe we almost kissed. I mean, we’ve kissed before. For show.
This wasn’t that. No one was in sight. I jumped into the man’s arms, for heaven’s sake, like I was Allie fromThe Notebook.
I don’t know what came over me. Or him, because I swear he had every intention of kissing me too.
Chills ripple over my skin.
I actually do know what came over us, though. It was the excitement of knowing he’d been picked. We both got caught up in the moment. That’s all.
The thought of letting anyone in the way I let Ryan in sends a different type of chill over me. I may be jumping back into more risk, but getting romantically involved with someone isn’t one I’m willing to take. It would be crazy to do that when the end of Luca’s and my manufactured relationship is already planned.
Zach’s mention of the biometrics appointment is a nice reminder of what exactly we’re doing here.
