Page 122 of Hail Marry
What sort of person trips into the marriage of their dreams?
“Cutting it close, aren’t I?” I say.
He pulls back to look at me. “I was hoping we’d be able to eat lunch together, but your pork salad is on the counter. Extra cilantro. Extra sour cream. Extra guac.”
I smile. “You’re too good to me.”
“Impossible.” He pushes a piece of hair out of my face and sighs. “Guess I’ll see you on Sunday?”
I cock a brow. “You’ll see me sooner than that.” I pull out my phone, open an email, and put up my screen to show him the flight I bought fifteen minutes ago.
He looks at it, then his gaze flicks to me.
“Bought with my brand-new salary as a program director at Summit Reach Youth Center. Well, technically not withthatsalary since I won’t get a paycheck for a good three weeks, but?—”
Luca sweeps me into his arms and kisses me, shutting me up in a very effective way. My favorite way.
He pulls back and looks at me, so much pride in his eyes, I could cry. “Congratulations. Are you happy? Do you feel like this job is what you want?”
“One hundred percent,” I say. “It’s just dumb it didn’t cross my mind as an option until Angela brought me into her office—once I realized she wasn’t about to get mad at me for throwing candy around like confetti.”
There’s a honk outside, and Luca’s eyes clench shut in consternation. “I want to celebrate with you,” he says, setting me down.
“Oh, you will. A huge, old party because we’ll be celebrating my new jobandyou winning your game.”
He smiles, then cups my cheek as he brings his lips to mine. “See you in the stands?” he whispers after kissing me.
“See you from the stands.”
Luca playsa stellar game in Fort Lauderdale, and I have an amazing time with the three other WAGs who flew out. It’s a strange feeling that ripples underneath the surface of all the happy, though. The future hovers like a dark figure lurking in the background, and I can’t help wondering how long any of this will last and simultaneously wishing it could continue forever.
Our prep meetings with Preston punctuate a life that’s otherwise full of happy moments. Luca and I are convinced Preston has guessed the truth of things between us, but thanks to Zach, we know we can’t tell him explicitly. He’d have an ethical obligation to report us, which is exactly the opposite of why we’ve hired him.
“What if we just tell the truth at the interview?” Luca repeats when we’re out to lunch with Zach a week before the interview. “I want to be done with the stress of trying to cover our tracks.”
I totally get what he means. “Yeah, there’s gotta be some appreciation for honesty, right? Wouldn’t it be better to get ahead of things if they’re likely to discover the truth anyway?”
“You guys have got to think positive,” Zach says. “Visualize your success, or you’ll create your own failure.”
Suddenly, I feel sympathy for Joyce when I was talking about manifesting. It just sounds hokey.
“This is their job, though, Zach,” I say. “Identifying people who’ve done exactly what we’ve done. Aren’t they likely to show more mercy if wedon’ttry to lie? I can only imagine the consequences will be harsher if we dig in our heels and lie through our teeth.”
Zach’s already shaking his head. “Preston says all they care about is whether two people married for a green card, and if you admit that to them, youwillface the consequences. It’s much better to take our chances. You guys arein a legitimate marriage now, right? So, you’ve got a good chance, I think.”
I press my lips together, but I just can’t take it. I’ve had frustration with Zach building inside me for weeks now. “Takeourchances? You include yourself in that like you’re the one who’ll be facing the consequences if it goes poorly. And maybe you should. You were the one who suggested Luca get married—and yes, I know you were joking—but you were also the one who didn’t tell us the stakes once you found out we’d done it.”
It’s dead quiet, but Luca’s grip on my hand tightens.
“You’re right,” Zach says quietly, spinning his glass of lemonade slowly. “I just…really thought it would all work out. And it still might. I just don’t want you guys to give up yet.”
I don’t want to give up, either. That’s the problem. The life I have right now is so freaking good that the thought of everything changing is becoming unbearable. Luca says he cares more about me than the NFL, but he deserves the NFL too. He deserves it all.
My hours at Summit Reach continue to be my most valued distraction as I tutor and play games and sports with the kids there. Luca has started coming by once he’s done with practice, and there’s an immediate run for the field whenever he does. Everyone loves playing football with him. Even Dallin participates.
He’s made progress since our little talk a couple weeks ago. He’s been getting his homework done first thing once he arrives—“So you’ll leave me alone,” he claims—and I’ve seen him practicing drills with a couple of the younger guys afterward.
The Admirals lose their last preseason game by two points, and the week before the Stokes interview is taken up by Luca’s grueling practice schedule. It’s supposed to go long Thursday, which is the day before our interview, so I plan to spend my time at the youth center.
