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Chapter one

Shane

R ing…Ring…

My gaze goes to my phone lying in my hand. I feel it buzz, but I can’t seem to move. When the ringing sound hits my ears, it should make me do something, but everything seems so far away. The entire room goes silent as the sound of my phone continues to echo through the room, but I can’t seem to answer it. The air in my lungs seizes and I can’t seem to take a full breath. This could be it.

My vision tunnels as I look around the room, knowing my whole family is here to celebrate me. It feels uncomfortable. I squirm, trying to shake the feeling from my skin. I know they all love me and tell me that this is a great honor, but it doesn’t feel right. Maybe because the only person who isn’t here is the one person who has supported me for the past two years, my girlfriend Shelby.

Ring…Ring…

“Honey, are you going to answer that?” My mom softly whispers to me, breaking me out of my panic. I look down at my hand. Oh yeah, my phone.

“Hello,” I answer, hoping to keep the shakiness out of my voice.

“Shane Mitchell?” the man on the phone asks.

“This is he.”

“This is Berkely Ryan from the Las Vegas Vipers. We hope you will come and play for us here in Vegas. Do you think you could do that?” he asks me.

I nod my head, then remember that the man can’t see me. “Yes, sir. It would be an honor,” I tell him as my hands tremble.

“Congratulations, Shane. We will be in touch with the details and are excited to have you on the team.”

“Thank you, sir,” I reply as I hang up.

I just stand there in shock, not sure how to tell my family that I’ll be moving to Las Vegas. “Well, what did they say?” my oldest brother, Taylor, asks me.

“Ugh…” I stutter at first, then it hits me all at once. I look back up to find my brother still looking at me, waiting, when I mutter, “I’m going to be playing for the Las Vegas Vipers.”

My brother and I stared at each other, both shocked by the words that just came out of my mouth. Before either of us can say anything else, a voice is welcoming the Commissioner of the National Football League out onto the stage where they’re announcing the draft picks.

Every member of my family is standing in the middle of the living room, hypnotized by the television as we watch everything all play out. The commissioner makes his way to the podium and leans forward. “The fourth pick goes to the Las Vegas Vipers and they’ve chosen tight end Shane Mitchell.”

The room bursts into celebratory shouts, and I can feel the camera pan over me and my family. My mother places her hand on my back, pulling my attention to her. She has tears in her eyes as she wraps her arms around my neck and whispers, “I’m so proud of you, honey.”

After a moment she pulls back and it gives me a chance to look around the room, I can see the smiles on everyone’s face and for the first time I’m able to shake the shock off. A smile spreads across my face when I allow the excitement to wash over me.

“I’m going to be on the Vegas Vipers,” I shout, punching my arm into the air.

“Yeah, you are,” my brother Cliff shouts.

The rest of my family takes turns giving me hugs and encouraging words. The last one to come up to me is Taylor’s wife, Mya. She places her hand on my elbow, saying, “We are all so proud of you.”

“Thanks Mya,” I say as my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I’m the worst at taking compliments.

My heart drops a bit when I remember that the one person I want here isn’t and won’t be coming. She said she was busy and couldn’t make it, but didn’t really explain. Just went on about a family emergency. Hopefully, everyone is okay.

Needing to hear her voice to settle my nerves, I pulled my phone out and dialed her number. It rings out for what feels like forever when finally, her voicemail picks up. “This is Shelby. Leave a message and I might get back to you.” Beep .

“Hey Shelbs, I have amazing news. Call me back. Love you,” I tell her. Hanging up my phone, I put it back in my pocket and turn back toward my family.

Two hours later, the camera crew has left and I’m in the kitchen helping my mother clean up.

“What an exciting day! I can’t believe you’re moving to Vegas. It’s so far away,” she says as she hands me another dish to dry.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll visit often,” I say, wiping the water off with a towel.

“I know you will,” she says while washing the next dish.

“Besides, won’t it be so much fun for everyone to come and watch me play?” I ask, furrowing my brow.

“It will be the best time. I can’t believe I’ll get to say my son plays in the NFL,” she says wistfully.

Right then, my phone rings. Placing the dish I’m holding on the counter, I pull out my phone hoping it’s someone worth talking to. It feels like since the announcement, everyone in town has been calling to congratulate me.

Relief washes over me when I see Shelby’s name on the screen. I take a moment to walk outside before answering so we can have some privacy. “Hey gorgeous,” I answer the phone.

“Shane,” she snaps back in a surly tone, sending up a red flag. The only time she gets like this is when she’s upset. Then I remember she had a family emergency and guilt hits me. What if something bad had happened?

I take a deep breath and wait for her to continue, hoping that she’ll explain why she’s so angry. She doesn’t. After a moment, I ask her, “I know you had something going on, but did you watch the draft?”

“No. I don’t have time for that,” she says, and it grinds on my nerves when she talks about football like that. Football is important to me, but Shelby has never cared about it. She just likes the perks and status it brings.

Ignoring her, I continue because this is great fucking news. “I’ve been drafted to the Las Vegas Vipers. I was the fourth pick overall.”

“Vegas? That’s far away,” she shrieks.

“Yes. Las Vegas,” I tell her, trying to stay calm. This doesn’t feel like a supportive girlfriend. This feels like something else.

“We need to breakup,” she bluntly replies.

“Wait, why?” I ask, confused as to why we need to break up.

“I’ll never move to Vegas, and I don’t want to do long distance.”

“Shelby, you knew this was a possibility,” I say in exasperation, throwing my free hand up in the air.

“I’ve been planning on breaking up with you for a while now. This is just the perfect excuse.” She says it with no emotion in her voice, but it pierces my heart anyways.

This is not the girl I fell in love with. My family always said that she wasn’t good for me. That she would never support me, that she was just using me to give her status at college. Is she showing me her true colors right now?

My eyes narrow at the empty space in front of me as if she was standing there. I ask the question I’m not sure I’m ready for the answer to. “I thought you said you loved me.”

Shelby laughs manically. “I never loved you.”

Before I can even respond, the line goes dead. My head swims with what just happened, and I can’t help but look to the sky as if all the answers to life will be up there. Being drafted was supposed to be the best moment of my life, and now it has turned into the worst.

“Are you okay?” A gruff voice interrupts my thoughts. Looking over my shoulder I see my two brothers standing behind me. I was so caught up talking with Shelby I didn’t even hear them come outside.

“How much did you hear?” I ask them as I look away and stare out at the land that my parents worked so hard for.

“Enough to know it wasn’t a happy conversation,” Taylor says.

Nodding, I mumble, “Shelby just broke up with me.”

“What?” they both say in unison.

“She said she never loved me.” I repeat the words that broke my heart.

“Fuck,” my brother Cliff says under his breath, then he grabs my shoulders and looks me in the eye. “Listen to me, Shane. She wasn’t worth it. One day you’ll find the person who is worth it, and you won’t have any doubts.”

“I loved her,” I say.

“But did you?” Taylor asks.

“What do you mean?”

“You hadn’t even asked her to move with you.”

“I was waiting to see where I got drafted to,” I defend myself.

He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. If you loved her, you would’ve asked her right away. I think deep down you knew she wasn’t the one.”

“How did you know Mya was the one?”

“I never wanted anyone else. No matter who was in front of me, I only thought of Mya. Everything I did was for her, to get closer to her.”

“Is that how it was with Shelby?” Cliff asks.

“No,” I mutter. “But it still hurts.”

Cliff tries to comfort me by knocking my shoulder with his, then he reminds me, “I know, but this is your chance to start over and find something even better.”