Page 67 of The Tip-Off
“What are you doing here?”
“I came as soon as I heard. Are you okay?”
She nods, but soon I can feel her shoulders shake and when I pull back and tilt her head up to see her face, tears run down her cheeks.
“Hey, hey, shhh.” I wipe her tears and then bring her head back to my chest. I rub her back and shoulders until my hands snag on the material caught around her neck. “Whatcha got going on here?”
“I-I c-couldn’t get my dress off.” She cries harder.
I bite back a laugh as I help her out of the dress and toss it on the floor. “Do you want me to grab a shirt for you?”
She shakes her head and then pulls at mine.
The laugh escapes this time, but I yank my shirt off and gingerly pull it over her head and get her arms through. “That shirt probably smells as bad as I do. I haven’t showered in almost twenty-four hours and there was a lot of sweating between then and now.”
“I like your sweaty smell.” She sniffles, the tears coming slower now. “How was the combine? Is it over already? I thought you were staying ‘til Sunday.”
“It was great.” My chest squeezes. I don’t know what the repercussions are going to be for walking out like I did, but I can’t think about that now. “I left a little early so I could check on you. It’s all good.”I hope.
She yawns. “I wanna hear all about it.” Her eyelids flutter closed, and she nuzzles into my chest.
“I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow,” I whisper. “Get some sleep, Gabby. I’m here.”
35
Zeke
“I’m sorry,did you just say you leftbeforeyour interviews with the teams? That sounds bad. Like you flaked on a job interview. What did Sara say?” Gabby pauses the movie and turns to face me.
After getting in early this morning, we slept late, and I haven’t been able to pry myself out the door yet. I did manage to shower, though, and Wes brought me over some clean clothes, so I have absolutely no reason to leave. I haven’t taken a day off working out in years. I’m cashing in on all those bonus workouts I did, and I can’t imagine a better way to spend it than with Gabby.
“She’s…” I move my head from side to side to come up with a better word than pissed. My phone has been buzzing pretty much nonstop with text updates to the mess I made. “Dealing with it. She told the teams I had a family emergency and she’s trying to set up times with teams individually.”
“Zeke, oh my God. Why did you do that? After everything you’ve worked for.” Her eyes search mine for an explanation.
There’s only about a foot of space between us on the couch, but I close the distance and take her good hand in mine. “I didn’t think. Just grabbed my bag and headed to the airport and got on the first plane out. I wanted to be here for you, knew it had to be hard, and if I’m honest, I guess I felt a little responsible after pushing you to drive again.”
“Are you kidding me? Do you know how huge it is that I finally drove? Years of therapy didn’t do half as much for me as you have.”
“Does that mean you’re going to try again?”
“Absolutely not. Nope. Never.” She chuckles. “I’m strictly a passenger from now on. In fact, I may just start biking everywhere. I’ll get one of those cute ones with the basket in front.”
“I bet you’d look pretty hot riding a bike around town.”
“Yeah?” She climbs into my lap.
“Mhmm. Tan legs, blonde hair blowing in the wind, and don’t forget about the adorable pink helmet to protect that pretty head of yours.” I cup her face and then kiss the top of her head.
She leans into me so we’re chest to chest. “Tell me more about the combine.”
We sit like that. I play with her hair and answer questions as she fires them off. I tell her everything, about the skills testing, the scrimmages. She asks about some of the other prospects that were there, and I’m surprised when she’s even done her homework to know which teams get the top picks this year. I leave out the worry that my leaving like I did cost me a shot at my dream, but what I told her was true. I didn’t think – just knew I had to get to her.
Sara calls a little later and Gabby goes to lie down while I take the call in the living room.
“Well, I got your interviews rescheduled with Denver and the Suns. New York hasn’t gotten back to me yet.” I can hear her exasperation. She’s been working her ass off for me, and I just made her job twice as hard. “I’m sending all the information to your email.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate it. I’m sorry.”
