Page 68 of The Surprise Play (Nolan U Football #3)

WILY

Fuck.

The look on Satch’s face as she left.

I feel even worse now than I did before.

I need to explain it to her, but I couldn’t do that with my parents right there.

I should have told her weeks ago, but whenever we’ve talked about my family, I’ve always steered conversation toward football and their love of the game.

I’ve told her surface-level stuff and not once brought up the fact that if they know she’s my girlfriend, they’ll somehow find a way to blame her for my injury.

It sounds insane, but they’re so obsessed with my football career and devastated over what’s happened to me.

Introducing her as my girl right then would have put her directly in their line of fire, and I don’t have the headspace to cope with that right now.

My knee is busted.

I have to have surgery.

I’ll probably be out for months .

No Scouting Combine. I’ll be lucky to get drafted at all, because who the fuck wants to take on an injured rookie?

My dad’s comments are all bravado and bullshit.

The truth is… I’m fucking screwed!

My parents’ grand plans for me and my bright pro future are going up in smoke.

Glaring down at my injured leg, I clench my jaw and berate myself for not mentioning the twinges I’ve been having. They were only little spikes of pain occasionally. I thought they were no big deal. It’s not like I limped off the field. Every little tweak could be shaken off, so I left it.

I fucking left it, and now I’m laid up in a hospital bed waiting for surgery and freaking the fuck out.

I want Satch back.

I need her.

She held me and let me cry on her shoulder. She told me everything was going to be okay.

She’s wrong, but just hearing her say it soothed something inside me.

And now she’s walked away, no doubt gutted that I introduced her as my tutor and nothing more.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

My parents are talking to me, but I don’t know what they’re saying.

I keep staring down at my knee, my heart thumping a dull beat, my head pounding right along with it.

“It’s Blake.” Mom holds her phone out to me.

I didn’t even hear it ring.

Or did Mom call her?

“Wily?” My sister’s voice is tinny through the speaker. I take the phone, pressing it against my ear and grunting so she knows I’m listening. “Holy shit, dude! This can’t be happening! I’m so sorry.”

I remain quiet, unable to speak past the boulder in my throat.

“I’m coming down, okay? I’m already on my way to the airport.”

But what about school? You can’t just fly across the country for me? I want to ask her those questions, but my voice is shot.

“What did she just say?” Mom tips her head, pulling the phone out of my hand.

“You’re coming here? You have class tomorrow.

” She blinks, then looks at Dad, obviously confused.

“But we’ve got this. You need to stay in Chicago.

” After a listening beat, she scoffs. “I hardly think your professors said that.”

“Gimme the phone.” Dad takes it from Mom’s hand. “What’s going on, bean?” He listens intently, nodding, his mouth curling at the corners. “Well, I’m sure your brother will appreciate the support. And you can catch up on the classes later.”

“David,” Mom interjects.

He raises his hand to silence her.

She tuts, then huffs, her gold bracelets clinking as she flicks her hands wide and gives him an exasperated look.

“Love you, honey.” Dad hangs up and passes Mom’s phone back to her.

“Why did you say that?” she snips. “Blake has studying to do. We’ve got this. She doesn’t need to be flying down here to sit by Wily’s bedside. I can do that.”

“She’s worried about her brother,” Dad tries to soothe her. “And she’s ahead of schedule on her assignments and has already arranged with a friend to record any classes she’s missing. She’ll catch up on the work. You know Blake.”

Mom rolls her eyes but has to concede.

Blake is smart and will no doubt breeze through this year with minimal effort, although knowing her, she’ll put in maximum effort.

That girl will end up studying on the plane, hang out with me, and then spend her nights catching up on the classes she missed.

We really should be backing Mom up on this one and telling Blake to stay put.

But selfishly, I want her here.

We’ve always had each other’s backs, and she’ll support me when I tell my parents about Satch.

Shit, I should probably do it now.

Or maybe I can wait until Blake arrives.

Fuck! I want Satch to come back.

Dad lets out a heavy sigh, his expression glum when I glance at him. “I’m so sorry this has happened, Wily.”

His genuine sadness makes my chest hurt in new ways. Shit. I feel like I’m letting him down.

“But everything’s going to be okay.” Perching on the side of my bed, he’s careful to avoid jostling my body and softly rests his hand over mine.

“Your career isn’t over.” He starts to smile—just a soft, closed-mouth look that’s no doubt supposed to comfort me, but my stomach is still writhing.

“When I first heard, I was absolutely devastated, but Austin reassured me on our drive up here that there are plenty of great options to get you back on track.”

“Can’t we just get through the surgery before talking about all this?” Mom complains. “Look at his face, David. He needs to rest. ”

“I’m trying to give him hope,” Dad bites back. “And if we’re going to pursue this private training camp idea, then we need to get on it now.” He looks at me. “Austin said he can easily get you into one.”

I nod, silently asking for more information.

“You’ll do your rehab at the camp, be surrounded by expert care, and they’ll prep you for the season ahead, make sure you’re on track to be playing as soon as humanly possible.

If the draft knows you’re going to these efforts, it’ll no doubt put you higher up on the list, and you might still get picked by a really great team and be offered a decent contract. ”

Hope starts to stir just a little, but my stomach is still twisted into a tight knot.

I don’t understand why. I should be jumping all over this thing.

I think my brain just heard that pop, felt that searing pain in my knee, and immediately thought my career was over.

Everyone keeps telling me it’s not, but it fritzed out and went to worst-case scenario.

I try to blink past my pounding headache and focus on what Dad’s saying.

It’s not over.

There’s still hope.

So what the fuck is my problem?

“It would mean dropping out of school now. There’d be no graduation, but you hate school anyway, right?”

My eyes dart to Dad’s face as he keeps running through this epic solution… and now my chest is caving in.

Leave immediately?

Drop out ?

A few months ago, I probably would have accepted that idea without a problem.

But now…

Satch.

Her face floats through my head, the look of sad acceptance she’ll no doubt give me when I tell her the news. She’ll be disappointed that I won’t be graduating. I know it won’t sit right with her.

And I don’t even know if it sits right with me.

“Austin and I think that’s your best move.

” Dad pats my hand, his eyes lighting as he gives me a genuine smile.

“We’re going to see our football dreams come true, son.

You just hang in there and get better as fast as you can.

It’s all about mindset. I want you to start filling your head with positive thoughts, telling your body that it wants to heal and is capable of coming out even stronger than before. ”

Mom sniffs and starts nodding, her eyes glassy as she takes my other hand.

“It’s all going to work out, darling. Austin and Dad will take care of the details, and you can just sit back and enjoy this new adventure, okay?

I know it’s not the way we originally planned, but we’ve got your back.

We’ll do everything we can to help you through this. ”

I glance between my parents’ hopeful faces and know I should be cracking a smile right now.

They’re giving me solutions that I should want to hear. But all I can feel is a deep disappointment, because I don’t love either scenario. If I drop out of school for this training camp thing, I’ll be kissing my degree goodbye… and Satch. I’ll have to leave her sooner than I want .

If I stay, I could fuck up my chances of getting drafted with the best team possible.

I don’t know what the hell to do.

This should be a no-brainer, but it’s not.

I’ve never felt more uncertain before in my life. My course has always been so narrow and singularly focused, but I have a woman who I love now…

A woman who has opened my eyes to more than just the game.

A woman who my parents will never accept if they think she’ll sway my decision away from football.