Page 56 of Hail Marry
“It was no problem,” I say. Do I wait until he’s not looking to wipe the slobber off my arm?
But Tori’s one step ahead. She grabs a dish towel and pats down my arm. “Did she bite you? She’s a teething monster right now.” She pinches Eden’s cheek softly. “But she’s the cutest little monster I’ve ever seen, aren’t you, my little princess?”
Eden shows her nearly toothless grin.
“Come sit down, you two,” Siena’s husband Jack says, nodding at the empty spot on the couch. “They’re getting started.”
Here come the nerves again.
I follow Tori to the couch, where Jack is sitting on one end. Siena’s not there, but I sit against the opposite edge from Jack, and Tori sits next to me.
Jack and Austin are debating whether Austin’s favorite player from University of Texas will go this round when Siena comes back over and plops down on the couch.
“Hi, hello,” Tori says. “You’re sitting on me.”
“Scooch over,” Siena says, eyes on the screen and hand in her refilled popcorn.
Tori stares at her for a second, then grabs a piece of popcorn and chucks it at her sister’s face.
Siena grabs the piece when it falls to her lap, then plops it in her mouth.
Tori sighs, then scoots closer to me.
There simply isn’t room for my arm between us, so I pull it out and sling it over the back. It’s long enough that my hand hovers behind Siena, which feels weird, so I try a couple of shifts, then settle for resting my arm around Tori’s shoulders.
She doesn’t react. I’m not even sure she noticed. But as the first 4thround pick is announced, she leans in to me in a way that scrambles my nerves, making it impossible to tell what percentage is due to the draft and what percentage is due to her. It’s nice having someone to hold onto while my nerves go haywire, though.
There’s a knock on the door, and Mr. Sheppard answers it.
Zach walks in, and Tori introduces him quickly to her family while my eyes stay glued to the screen.
He comes up behind the couch and squeezes my shoulders. “We’ve got this, Callahan.”
I nod, but the only thing I’ve got for certain right now is a desire to vomit.
Mrs. Sheppard insists Zach come get some food, and I’m grateful. Right now, I don’t need pep talks. Holding onto Tori is helping my nerves the most. Which should probably scare me, but I’m not going to think about that right now.
My phone is in my pocket, pressed between my leg and hers. I’ve got it on vibrate because I don’t want everyone to know when the call comes in. If it does.
But the fourth round ends with no call and no pick for me. The Copperheads and the Sunrays choose different wide receivers, and my stomach starts to churn more and more.
Tori grabs my hand and threads her fingers through it without saying a word or even looking at me. Is it weird that I find the clamminess of her hand sweet? She’s nervous for me. It also makes me smile slightly as I remember her making fun of how sweaty my hands were at the hospital. I’ll definitely be teasing her about this later.
Unless I’m too busy being depressed because I didn’t get drafted.
I shake off the depressing thoughts. I’ve got to think positively.
I can hear Zach, Troy, and Austin arguing which teams will make it all the way to the Superbowl as a commercial break starts. When I glance back, Zach’s holding Troy’s baby. He’s confident, unlike I was, and he holds her up in the air and smiles at her.
She smiles right back. And then spits up in his face.
Tori snorts and hides her face in my shoulder while Troy apologizes and directs Zach to the bathroom. The corner of my mouth twitches, and I lean my head into Tori’s hair.
“You’re terrible,” I whisper with a smile.
My phone vibrates, and my smile vanishes.
Tori pulls away and looks at me, a question in her eyes.Thequestion.
