Page 60 of All This Time

Elliot leads me into his office, a more than ample space filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and the biggest mahogany desk I’ve ever seen. The walls are filled with his framed degrees and accolades he’s earned throughout the years, and one of the walls is almost entirely taken up by a window that looks out toward the mountains that surround the town. “You want something to drink?”

“Water would be great.”

He points to the mini fridge in the corner next to a couch as he takes his seat. “Help yourself.”

After grabbing a bottle of water and drinking down half of it, I take a seat in one of the cushioned chairs opposite his desk. “So, how’s business?”

Elliot can’t hide his smile. “Really fucking good, man. The practice is thriving, our win rate is nearly perfect, and I’m getting married. Life is fucking great right now and I feel like I’m living the dream.”

A small twinge of jealousy hits the center of my chest. “I’m happy for you, man.”

“Thanks, Fletch. I know I said this to you on the phone when I called, but it really fucking means a lot that you’re here for the wedding.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it, Elliot.”

“I guess it was lucky that it happens to be the offseason too, huh?”

I nod. “That definitely helps. I’ve still got about a month before training camp.”

“You ready to get back on the field?” he asks as he begins glancing between two spreadsheets and scribbling down some numbers.

“Always. I feel kinda antsy between seasons.”

“So, what do you plan on doing between the wedding and then?”

“Probably just go back to Charlotte and train.”

“You could always hang around here for a while longer,” he suggests, glancing up with a knowing grin.

“I mean, I could…”

“You’re always in a hurry to leave when you come to visit… I mean, at least the handful of times I’ve seen your face in the past few years.”

Yeah, and there’s a fucking reason for that.

“Well, my life is in Charlotte now.”

“Yeah, but Henley, Rhonan, and I are here,” he counters. “It’s fucking weird not havingyouhere too, man.”

“You act like my jobjusttook me away from here, Elliot. I’ve been in the NFL for ten years now.”

“Yeah, but you’ve also missed a lot.”

Don’t I fucking know it. Sometimes it feels like my life here in Blossom Peak was a movie I watched as a teenager but never got to see the end of. “I can’t be in two places at once.”

Elliot sighs. “Fuck, I know. I’m not trying to lay on a guilt trip, I just…” He blows out a breath as he drops his pen to his desk and leans back in his chair, reaching up to make sure that his black hair is still styled in place. “I guess with the wedding coming up, it’s just making me sentimental. You guys are the brothers I never had, you know?”

“Take that up with your parents,” I joke.

Elliot laughs. “You’re right, and fuck. They’re so over the moon about the wedding. Since the moment I introduced Tori to them, mymom acts like she’s her biological child and I’m chopped liver. Dad just wants to make sure I have a son to carry on the family name.” He rolls his eyes at that.

“I thought you didn’t want kids,” I say, curious what changed his mind.

“I didn’t, but when Tori and I talked about it, it didn’t sound so fucking scary anymore. Like, with her, I think I want to take on that challenge. Plus, my parents are dying to be grandparents, so having them close by means they’ll be here to help when we need a break, you know?”

Hearing Elliot talk about him wanting a family just reminds me that the man I share DNA with is the one who made me never want to have a family of my own.

Yet here’s my friend, sitting right in front of me, saying words I thought I’d never hear him say.