“And if she's not?”
He looks at me steadily.
“Then you find out you weren't running the right play.”
I sit with that.
He's not telling me anything I don't already know. Mike has told me. Olivia has told me. My parents have told me. Hell, even Honey has told me, in her own way. The realization isn't new.
What's new is that someone who has actually done it is sitting across from me telling me it's survivable. That the gamble doesn't come with guarantees and you do it anyway.
That's the part I needed.
“You're right,” I mutter.
And that's the scariest part of all.
The phone light illuminates my face as I sit on the balcony, working through my third beer and the twentieth email of the evening.
So far, all but one have been bullshit.
I swipe down.
Delete. Delete. Delete.
I take another swig of my beer and open the next one.
From:C. Masters
Subject:Commitment
Zach,
If I didn’t make it clear on the phone yesterday, I’ll make it clear now.
Get your ass on the next flight to Rome, or I’m benching you for the first five games.
You’re sitting on a $40 million contract, and you’re not here with the rest of the team. That’s not how leaders act.
You are the face of this franchise for the foreseeable future, and your teammates are watching how you handle yourself. They see where you are. They see what you’re doing.
Right now, it doesn’t look like the guy I told ownership was worth betting the future on.
So you have two options.
You can keep doing whatever the hell you’re doing and start the season from the sideline., or you can get on a plane, get back here, and remind everyone why you’re the quarterback of this team.
Your move.
Coach
I rub my face, sighing, knowing he’s going to kill me when he finds out I’ve been rescheduling sponsorship meetings to be out here. I’m contractually obligated to those and could face some serious repercussions for missing them.
How did I get here?
I got everything I thought I wanted. The NFL. The starting position. The contract that set me and my family up for life. I made sure Tiff and Ella were taken care of, got them a house, helped Jamie get settled, and made sure they'd never have to worry about money again.
I did it all. Checked every box. Lived the dream.
