Page 60 of The Comeback

“Who?” She frowns.

“Duane Mitchell.”

“He’s nothing like you. Your body types are different.”

“I realize that, but they wouldn’t have invited him to camp if they didn’t think he could do the job.”

“And if they didn’t think you could get the job done, they wouldn’t have invited you to camp.” She glares like I’m not smart enough to walk and chew gum at the same time. Maybe I’m not.

“Touché.” I pace from one end of the room to the other. It doesn’t take long. I pivot and walk back to the spot I started from. “If they want me on the team, why haven’t they offered me a contract?”

“Because they’ve been hashing out Liam Ehlers’ contract.”

“What?” I wrinkle my nose as I try to understand her reference.

“Liam Ehlers is up for a contract. The owner and his agent have been going back and forth for the last two weeks.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s been all over the news.”

Could it be that simple? They need to iron out Liam Ehlers’ contract before they know what’s available to offer me.

Fuck. If that’s the case, I acted like the biggest ass to Charlotte.

“You’ve clearly been busy.” She smiles. “How’s Charlotte, by the way?”

“We broke up tonight.” I close my eyes, and they refuse to open again. Even they don’t want to see the disappointment on my mother’s face.

“Young man, you need to look at me.”

I slowly crank open an eye to find hers narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest as she taps the toe of her shoe on the carpeted floor. “Why?”

I open my eyes wider and sigh. “It’s complicated.”

“Enlighten me.” Irritation radiates off her.

“I need to focus on football.” Even if Duane isn’t here to take my job and the owner is finalizing someone else’s contract before mine, I’ve been too wrapped up in her to know what’s going on around me. I’m not focused when I’m with her. “The most important thing is stability. I need a solid contract before I can consider a future. This is not the time to be in a relationship.”

“Why do you need a stable future?”

“What?” That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard come out of her mouth.

“You have money. You have your rookie contract, which you’ve barely spent a dime of, and you have endorsement money.”

“It’s not enough.”

“Why is it not enough?”

“Because….” Shit, if I say I need a stable future to have a family, she’s going to slap it back in my face that I dumped my future tonight. And she’s right. I can’t have a future without the girl. I don’t have a future without Charlotte. “If I have to move, she won’t go.”

“Did you ask her?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know if she wouldn’t go?”

“Because she wants a stable person who’s around to raise children with. If I’m moving from city to city, that can’t be me.”

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