Page 5 of Heal Me, Love Me

Please tell me you’re okay

My food arrived, and I barely touched it.

Derek tipped his head to the side. “You’re seriously not eating?”

“I’m not that hungry.”

Mason stared at me. “Who are you, and what have you done with Keaton?”

Normally, I would’ve had a snarky reply. Tonight, I just shrugged and picked up my glass of iced tea to take a sip.

That must’ve told them more than I had meant to convey, because the mood around the table changed after that. Not enough to kill the celebration, but enough that I caught Derek glancing at his phone a couple of times. Even Mason got quieter.

Then Devon’s phone buzzed. He looked down at the screen and immediately straightened a little.

“Everything okay?” Coach Luis asked.

Devon’s mouth curved. “Actually, yeah.” He glanced across the table at me. “I have some news.”

I sat up straighter. Had Rowan texted him back?

He looked back at his phone. “Marcos Silva with Elevate Sports Management wants to meet with you tomorrow morning.”

Mason let out a low whistle. “Holy shit.”

He could say that again. My heart rate sped up. Marcos Silva’s reputation reached far beyond fighters trying to make a name for themselves. He represented athletes across multiple sports—MMA, baseball, football, and hockey. He wasn’t some random agent dangling a dream. He was the real deal, backed by an entire agency.

“Why?” I asked, and I immediately wanted to punch myself for how stupid that sounded.

Devon chuckled. “Because you had a good fucking night.”

“You’re serious?”

“I don’t joke about something this huge,” he replied.

Itwashuge and exactly the kind of thing I’d been working toward. Meeting with Marcos Silva could change my future.

Devon looked at his phone again, his thumb moving over the screen. “He wants to sit down, talk about representation, and see where your head’s at.”

Six months ago, hearing that Marcos wanted to meet with me would’ve been all I could think about. Now, I couldn’t stop wondering why Devon hadn’t mentioned Enzo or Rowan getting the same offer. They’d both won their fights too. Then my thoughts circled back to Rowan and the fact that he still hadn’t answered me.

Devon glanced up. “He’s available at eight-thirty. Does that work for you?”

I blinked. “What?”

“Tomorrow morning. Marcos said he’s available at eight-thirty. If he wants to make time for you while you’re in town, I highly suggest you take him up on the offer.”

I opened my mouth then closed it. What was I supposed to say?No, sorry, I might need to go lose my mind looking for the guy I’m secretly in a relationship with, even though I have no clue where he is or whether anything is actually wrong.

Instead, I nodded. “Yeah. That works.”

“Good.” Devon typed something on his phone. “That’ll still give us plenty of time to make our flight tomorrow.”

Derek reached over and smacked my shoulder. “Congrats, man.”

I forced a smile that probably looked as strained as it felt. “Thanks.”

The rest of dinner dragged on. At one point, Mason tried to convince the server to bring him extra fries, while Derek tried to get her number. All I could do was sit there, thinking how my biggest dream was within reach, but the person I wanted to share it with was missing.