Page 59 of Wildflowers and Wide Receivers

What I wouldn’t give to head back down there after work today. But the drive is just a tad too long to commute, and I know he and Vivi have a week full of fun things already planned.

Tempting, but I can’t. Duty calls. Make sure you both wear extra sunscreen.

I may be in orthopedics, but that doesn’t change the fact that I know the long-term damage caused by overexposure and burns from the sun.

You know I will.

Thank you for the amazing weekend.

I hope we can do it again sometime.

I heart the comment and then set my phone down to get back to work. It’s then I check my email and find one from MCOSC, Minneapolis Children’s Orthopedic and Scoliosis Center.

My heart rate picks up, and I click it open.

It’s from the office administrator to Dr. Leville. She’s informed me that they have received my interest in joining their practice, and she would like me to call her at my earliest convenience to schedule an interview.

Oh no.

And just like that, Mistress Fate has me wondering what she’s doing now.

I’ve dreamed of this moment. I’ve lain in bed for years and thought about what it would feel like to finally get the opportunity to go home. I expected to feel so much excitement. After all, this is the next step in my dream of returning home, my plan, but I don’t. At all. Instead, I feel confused in a way that I don’t know what to do with myself. Dreams and plans are these giant-pie-in-the-sky endgame goals. They’re the things people work toward while still living their life, like a life where you meet people who might be changing you. Where you melt over the sweetest smile and little hands wrapped around yours, as well as big hands that know just how to touch you to set your world on fire. I know three days with them shouldn’t weigh on any decision I’m trying to make about my future, but somehow, I find it does.

Chapter 24

Jonah

Being back at the training facility feels a little bit like going back to work. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing football, and if I could it for the rest of my life, I would, but this feeling has more to do with just rolling off an amazing vacation and trying to get into the swing of things.

Last week, my body was thanking me for the reprieve. Today, it’s cursing me for the drills I’m putting it through. We’ve been at it for only two hours, and I’m exhausted.

Vivi and I had planned on coming home today, but when Bryan texted that a bunch of the guys were getting together to prepare for the upcoming minicamp, I couldn't say no. Well, I could, but I didn’t want to. Full team practice starts in a month, and I need to make sure I’m as ready as I can be. Vivi was okay heading out a day early, so we packed up yesterday and came home. She’s spending some time at Camille’s this morning while I’m here, on a Sunday, sweating my ass off.

“You’re looking mighty tan there,” Sully says as we convene around the water station. A water station in our new practice facility. The organization went all out on this one with three natural-grass practice fields, a ten-thousand-square-foot new weight room, three hydrotherapy pools, a turf outdoor field, a new outdoor cooling trailer that is set at twenty degrees to quickly lower core body temperature, and more.

His tone has me pausing the green Gatorade bottle I’ve just lifted, and my eyes shoot to his. He’s smirking, and it doesn’t take a genius to know what he’s talking about. I glance around at our group. Sully, Tyler, Reid, Bryan, and Camden are all watching me.

All of them knew I was taking Vivi away for the week, but only one person knew that Sophie would be joining us. My gaze swings to Reid, and he gives me a half-apologetic shrug.

“Really?” I ask, shaking my head, sweat dripping down next to my ear.

“You know nothing stays a secret around here,” he says.

“Well, maybe this could have. I’m still processing.” I swallow some water, toss the bottle, and then grab an unused towel off the bench to run over my face. Now that I’m thinking about it, if they all knew, then I’m surprised they waited two hours to ask me.

“Process through talking to your favorite people,” Camden says, grinning from ear to ear. Camden is the quietest of our group and also the fastest. While he’s really good at football, he’s also wicked smart. It doesn’t surprise me that he used the word “process” since he processes everything. Somewhere along the way, he earned the nickname Superman because he’s all buttoned up with his glasses on during the day, but then when duty calls and he steps into his uniform, beware.

“You’re definitely not my favorite people,” I say as I look at each of them. One whole wall of the new facility is windows, so the light streaming in is natural and bright.

“Lies,” Tyler chimes in from where he’s standing to my left. “Football is family, and family is football,” he says all innocently, and I want to remind him that some families hate each other.

I feel circled. They’ve each taken a spot around me, placing me in the middle, and I want to laugh. This is what wolves do with their prey. Maybe they’re playing for the wrong team and should be heading to Washington.

I look each one of them in the eye, toss the towel, pull off my gloves, and throw them to the ground. I tilt my head from side to side to crack my neck and then look at Reid first.

“You ready?” There’s no humor in my tone, only seriousness.

“For what?” he asks, suddenly skeptical of me.