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“Uh, yeah. Just class, and then I went to the gym. Finally saw Archie. He stopped in for a hot second. When I asked him where he’d been lately, he kind of acted weird, then told me about a girl.”

“SHUT UP! Archie has a girlfriend? No freaking way.” Her mouth is hanging open.

“Well, not really, I guess, but he wants her to be. He bolted out of here within a few minutes of getting a text, so I assume it was her. He’s gotta leave soon for the combine and then the draft, so I guess that might be causing a problem or something.”

“It’s funny that you bring that up. What are we going to do if you enter the draft next year? I’ll have one more year of school left. And once you get drafted, you’ll pretty much leave right away, right?”

She bites down on her lower lip. I want to pull it out and kiss it.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve never really thought about it. I mean, I know we’re always going to be together, so I just assumed you’d go with me or come as soon as you could. Either way, it has to be your decision. You know I want you with me all the time.”

She scrunches up her face. It’s both adorable and disturbing. So, I reach out and brush my thumb along her nose and cheek, across the freckles that are lightly scattered there.

“Oh! Speaking of the draft, I thought we could have a draft day party. I was thinking I could invite Arbor and Lily so I had someone to talk to while you guys watched.”

“You don’t want to watch?”

“Of course I will, duh. But I mean, you guys start talking about plays and all kinds of stuff that I don’t know about.”

“What are you talking about? You know more about football than any girl I know and even some guys.”

“You’re cute for saying that, but that’s not true.” She shakes her head a little. “Okay, maybe I do know more than the average girl, but I still want friends here too.”

“Fair.”

“Okay, yay! So, I think it would be fun if we watched?—”

“Draft Day.”

“Yes! Like we always did. And I’ll make some snacks, we’ll get some beer or whatever you guys want, and we’ll watch some of our friends have their dreams come true.” She smiles and kisses me. “Sound good?”

“Whatever you want, babe. I’ll see if Casey wants to invite anyone over, but I’ll probably invite Callaway and a few other guys.”

“Perfect.” She kisses me. “So, tell me, what was the best part of your day?”

I stand with her in my arms. “How about I show you instead?”

As soon as we get to our room, I drop her onto the bed, where I do, in fact, show her what the best part of my day is. Her coming. On my tongue.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

CHARLIE

It’s now April,and it has been a few weeks since the combine. We’ve seen Archie very little since he’s been back, but when he is here, he’s either eating or sleeping. We did get to say goodbye to him before he went back to Texas to be with his family for the draft. He opted to be at home instead of going to the draft ceremony. But we’ll still get to see him on TV.

He’s FaceTiming with Beck and Casey right now. He’s in the kitchen at his parents’ home. From what I can see, there is a ton of food there. A whole crowd of people circling it, laughing, patting Archie as they walk by.

And Archie is the same ol’ Arch. He’s calm and smiling.

“I’m pumped, man. I just want it to start already.”

“Do you know where you’re going yet? Or can you not say?” Beck asks him.

Archie winks at him in response.

“Okay, so you know or no? Come on, brother. You’re killing me!”

Archie laughs. “How about this? You’ll find out in about thirty minutes or so. Along with the rest of the country.”