Page 14

CHAPTER 14

anna

“ W hat’s that?” I asked, sitting in the back seat of an SUV next to Blue. He was a free man. Finally. After two long days in the hospital, Dr. LaForce cleared him to return home so he could head back to classes. I wasn’t sure how Blue was supposed to keep up with them since he couldn’t remember what he’d learned the week before. But Daisy assured me, with a wink, that UK would worry about Blue’s grades. So the second he was cleared to leave the hospital, they put us in a car to take him to Smoky Mountain Stadium for the long-awaited press conference.

Blue scowled, looking down at a fancy legal document, bound in a dark green sheath. He whispered, “Something my dad wants me to sign.” He pointed to the words “The University of Texas” at the heading of the page.

I glanced at Coach Whitlock who was riding shotgun, chatting it up with Coach Shelton, who was driving.

“May I?” I whispered.

Blue handed the document to me. As I read, my stomach twisted in a knot.

This Agreement is entered into on this 27th day of September 2024, between the University of Texas at Austin and Blue Walker Bishop.

It was followed by paragraphs of legal terms like compensation, performance expectations, use of player’s likeness, etc. But the most important thing I gathered was that they were going to pay him more than UK. A lot more.

Blue put his mouth right next to my ear. “My dad thinks that now that I got a concussion I won’t go in the draft this year. So I should take this deal because they’ll pay more. And they’re ranked higher.”

“What’s that?” Coach Whitlock looked over his shoulder, eyebrow rose in an arch.

I held up the document so he could only see the blank green back and waved it like it belonged to me. “Just trying to decide about the contract Daisy gave me.”

“Oh, gotcha.” He turned forward and started talking to the other coach again.

Blue pulled his phone out and texted while I read.

Blue

What should I do?

I pulled out my phone.

What do you want to do? Do you want to go to Texas?

Blue

No. That’s like a bazillion hours from you. Five is already too many.

I held in my laughter and my blushing.

Forget about me…

He jammed an elbow in my ribs and scowled.

Blue

Never.

Okay. Fine. If I didn’t exist, would you want to go to Texas?

Blue

I don’t think so? I don’t know. How am I supposed to decide that right now? I don’t know if I like it at UK. I don’t know if I even have any friends other than Stilts. I don’t know if anything anyone is saying to me is even true.

My lips twisted as I thought.

I don’t know enough about football to help. But I know someone who knows legal stuff and football and specifically your career.

I looked up at him and whispered, “Are you okay if I text my uncle Holden?”

His eyebrow raised. “Can we trust him?”

“With our lives.”

Then he mouthed the words, do it.

I tapped on Holden’s name in my messages and sent him a quick breakdown of what I knew. Thirty seconds later, he responded.

Uncle Holden

Hmmm. I wouldn’t sign anything right now.

Even if they’re offering more money?

Uncle Holden

It’s peanuts compared to what he’ll make if he goes pro. And he’ll burn major bridges with UK. So unless he knows for sure that he’s okay with that, I wouldn’t. Besides, just because he got a concussion, doesn’t mean he won’t get picked in the draft this spring. If he signs that contract, it’ll look like he’s scrambling for a backup plan. He needs to wait and give it time. See what happens.

I glanced over at Blue who had just finished reading the message.

A look of resolve crossed his face, and he smiled as he put an arm around my shoulder. I flinched, and I hated myself for it. But I couldn’t relax around him. Not until he remembered everything. It felt like a time bomb was ticking right above my head, and until it went off, I wouldn’t let my heart get more involved. For now, I would be his friend. But that was it.

As we pulled into the parking lot, my phone buzzed.

Uncle Holden

Send me a snapshot of the contract and let me look over it really quickly just to be sure.

I did as he asked and hit send.

Twenty minutes later, I was standing in the recesses of Smoky Mountain Stadium behind Blue, donning a UK shirt, like I belonged there and knew anything about any of this. I was wishing with all my heart that Missy and Colt hadn’t left the day before to head back to Seddledowne.

Shane walked up, a stern question in his eyes. Blue handed the contract back to him.

As Shane flipped it open, Blue said, “I’m not signing that, Dad. I’m making a full recovery and going pro.”

Shane’s glare narrowed on me. “You talked him out of it, didn’t you?”

I shuffled back a step.

A muscle in Blue’s jaw pulsed. “Leave her out of it.”

Daisy motioned us forward into a huge room full of camera people, reporters, and at least a hundred fans. She hadn’t been lying. Sweatshirts and T-shirts printed with Rocky Top Me, Team Blupree, and Love at the Fifty Yard Line were scattered in between all the orange and baby blue attire. My heart punched at all the curious faces looking right at me. Blue reached back, fumbling for my hand. Once he found it, his shoulders relaxed and we moved forward together.

I had no idea how this was going to go. Blue was about to tell the world that he had amnesia but he planned on making a full recovery, as if he had control over such a thing. And I was supposed to hold his hand like we were a couple. Not because that’s what UK or Daisy Foxhorn wanted but because Blue had asked me to.

People smiled at me like I was their granddaughter, sister, and best friend. I got a few thumbs up.

“Marry me, Blue!” a teenage girl yelled, tears streaming down her fangirling face.

“No, marry Anna!” an older lady yelled.

“Geez,” he muttered over his shoulder to me. “Is this for real?”

We were almost to the front when a pretty blonde about my age slithered out of the crowd.

It took a second for me to place her. But when I did, I blanched.

Lacy. Blue’s ex. And she was eyeing me like I had something she wanted and she was going to take it back.

The way Blue was looking at her, I knew she looked familiar to him but he hadn’t put two and two together yet. His eyes widened and the recognition was evident. I tugged, trying to free my hand from his, but he tightened his grip.

“Blue, what are you doing with her?” Lacy gave me a withering stare. “You hate her. She dumped you because you were poor. ”

My blood turned to ice.

Blue dropped my hand and turned his body sideways between us. “What? No. That’s not true.” He looked like he wanted to pick her up and throw her out of the way. Then he swung his nervous eyes to me. I could see he wanted her to be wrong. “Is it?”

I shook my head. “No.”

His angry expression relaxed a bit.

Lacy snarled. “Yes it is. He couldn’t afford a plane ticket home for Christmas, so you dumped him.”

His eyes widened and his face went slack. “Anna?”

That was the accusation Blue had hurled at me when I’d broken things off. It was a partial truth. But there was so much more to it than that. He must’ve told her this version and now she was using it to call me out in front of everyone, cameras rolling.

I told myself not to cower but I couldn’t help it. Everything in me screamed to run. To get out of there now. I stood my ground. “I hadn’t seen you in eight months. You promised you’d come and then you called me up and told me you couldn’t afford it. I just…” I gulped. “I couldn’t do it any more. I missed you terribly. It was…really stressful. That’s all.” There was so much more to it but it was a conversation we needed to have alone. Not in front of a bunch of strangers.

“Lacy’s right, son,” Shane said smoothly behind me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Daisy appeared out of nowhere, a sickening smugness on her lips. “I did some digging and she’s right,” she purred, trading a glance with Lacy. “I think you’ve been backing the wrong horse. Lacy is the one who’s always had your best interests at heart.”

My legs trembled. A camera man inched closer. This was the stuff the night terrors were made of.

Blue’s eyes pinballed between me, Daisy, Lacy, and Shane. For a moment they stopped on me. A gulp jerked his chin. “I asked you why we broke up and you left all of that out.” Then to Shane. “You let me spend all this time with her and you knew that?”

I took a step away from him, the betrayal stealing my air. That’s all it took for him to turn on me?

Lacy walked over and put a hand on his arm. “She’s the reason you chose Knoxville. We chose Knoxville. You said you were going wherever the money was because you were never going to be poor again.” Her glare was poison-tipped. “She hated that you grew up in a single-wide. Hated that your mom was an elementary school cafeteria worker. Hated that your parents were divorced. Because she’s the great Anna Dupree. Her family is perfect. And they own a fancy cattle ranch.” Her hand gestured at me from head to toe as if my outfit screamed money. It didn’t. I had on my usual leather cowgirl boots, yes. It was basically the Dupree family shoe of choice. And I was wearing a pair of Seven jeans but I’d gotten them off the clearance rack at TJ Maxx. I had on the same shirt as Blue. A Knoxville baby blue and orange athletic tee that someone had shoved at me when we walked in the door. My cubic zirconia studs were from Target. Lacy’s brow quirked and her lips pursed. “And her uncle is stupid rich. This girl doesn’t care about anyone who doesn’t have money.”

I fell back a step, my heart trying to explode out of my body and bolt from this room before I could get my legs moving. I didn’t care one bit that he’d grown up in a single-wide. I loved that his mom was a cafeteria worker. Her kind smile had greeted me every day when I got lunch as a kid. Long before I even knew Blue. I didn’t care that his parents were divorced, and the irony of Lacy saying I had a perfect family was almost laughable. My mom got pregnant with me when she was fourteen, and my dad was an exchange student from Italy who took off and hadn’t tried to contact me once in my entire life. And Ford hadn’t been famous or rich when Blue and I broke up. He’d been a lost college dropout filming a music competition reality show.

I looked up at the boy who I’d always seen as a protector and friend. “None of that is true.”

Lacy’s lip curled over her teeth, reminiscent of an attack dog. She wound her long, thin fingers around Blue’s bicep. “Yes, it is. Stop lying. Now that he’s rich and famous you want him back. And since he’s lost his memory you’ve latched on like a leech.” She threw her hand out. “If you really cared about him, where have you been the last four years?”

I scanned the crowd for someone, anyone, to side with me. But I was completely alone. Everyone was glaring at me like I was a sycophant.

Blue’s fists curled and uncurled, his eyes ping-ponging between Lacy and me. “I can’t do this right now,” he hissed. His eyes landed on Lacy. “You need to go.” Her eyes narrowed. “Now.” She spun on her heel and shoved through the crowd.

I let out an exhale of relief.

But then he turned his disappointed, wet eyes on me. “You too, Anna,” he said in a power-whisper.

I stood frozen in shock for a moment. Then I nodded, tears filling my eyes. I turned, pushing my way through the crowd behind me, hiccuping sobs as the cameras took in every tear. My phone was out of my pocket before I got out of the room.

There was a text from Holden.

Uncle Holden

Absolutely do not let Blue sign that. He will lose money. If you read the fine print, all the extra money goes toward his dad—giving him a house and a fat living stipend if Blue switches to Texas.

“Too late. I don’t care,” I sobbed to myself. Then I dialed Ford. Thankfully, he answered on the first ring.

“Ford?” It took all my effort to speak. “Can you c-come get me?”

“Yes. Of course. Are you okay?”

“I-I’ll,” I hiccuped. “I’ll tell you about it when you get here. I’ll drop a pin for you to find me. I’m at the football stadium.”

We hung up.

I spun, trying to figure out how to get out of this cavernous maze of halls, and bumped straight into someone. I stepped back. “I’m s-sorry, “ I said, my eyes on my feet.

“Anna?”

I looked up to see Madden.

One look at my tears and he came forward, worried. “What happened?”

I shook my head, wiping my eyes so I could see. “How do I get out of here?”

He pointed behind him, but then he grabbed my arm. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“Y-you’ll find o-out when you go inside.” I whirled on my heel, to go. But then I spun back around. Because I did care. Even if Blue Bishop was the biggest jerk on the planet, I cared what happened to him. Cared way too much.

Madden had already made it to the door, his fingers gripping the handle.

“Madden!” His eyes skittered over. “Shane has a contract for Blue to transfer to the University of Texas. It benefits Shane. Blue will lose money. Don’t let him sign it.”

The last three sentences didn’t really need to be spoken though. The moment I said Texas, anger flashed across Madden’s face. “Got it.” Then he hurried through the door.

It took a solid ten minutes to find my way out. As soon as I was free, stepping into the sunlight, Ford’s truck screeched to a halt in front of me. I yanked the door open and launched myself inside. As the door shut behind me, I gave Smoky Mountain Stadium one last look. Because I was never, ever coming back.

I never should’ve come in the first place.

“Hey,” Ford said, confusion all over his face. “What’s going on?”

I dove into his arms where I stayed until we were past the Leaving Knoxville City Limit sign.