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Riley let out a breath like she’d just done a workout. “Football games are a lot more exciting than I remember. Also, Annie, I want to borrow your shirt sometime.”
Olivia sunk down on the couch. “I miss Carson. How many times do you think they’ll run the replay of his touchdown?”
“Not enough to satisfy you,” Riley said. “You should give him a call.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s busy right now,” Olivia said.
Almost immediately, the station ran a replay. Carson in slow motion, running down the field, all muscle and determination. The guy looked good in shoulder pads and tight pants. She was going to have to sketch him that way. “I’m never going to get tired of watching this,” Olivia murmured. “I hope they show it a few more times.”
Annie put her hand over her heart. “Ahh. To be so in love with a guy that you want to rewatch him do the same thing you’ve already seen twice. It’s sweet. It really is. I’m going to do the dishes.” She picked up the Brussels sprouts dish and wandered into the kitchen. “Help me with this, Riley. You’re not in love so you don’t have an excuse not to clean.”
Riley picked up the chip bowl and followed Annie. “It’s not my fault that I’m not in love.”
Her roommates were right. She was completely in love, and she was sitting here in her living room watching Carson on TV when she could have already moved to Denver and be watching him in person.
Megan was somewhere in that stadium. And all those cheerleaders. And who knew how many women would be hugging him in congratulations.
Okay, Olivia was in love with him, but that didn’t mean she had to berecklesslyin love with him. She should still think carefully about uprooting herself and moving to a new place. Logic had to have some part in her decisions. She had to think about her family. Granted, her father wouldn’t miss her that much. He hadn’t even looked at her the day he’d left for good.
The scene came back to her mind. Her mother in the room crying. Olivia struggling to cook mashed potatoes by herself. Matt clutching the baseball team form.
She’d never asked him why he’d refused to play baseball after that, just as he’d never asked her why she’d stopped eating mashed potatoes. They tasted like disappointment on her tongue. Now as she thought about the day, she wondered if they’d been wrong not to talk about it.
What would happen to Matt and her mother if she left?
The commentators were going on about how Carson had proved he could not only do his job but a running back’s too. His career was far from over.
Olivia picked up one of the couch pillows and held it to her stomach. She imagined herself sending out resumes to Denver schools. Surely all the teaching positions were filled for the fall. She’d be there, jobless, penniless, and bored.
Did she even really have a chance with Carson? Had his strained distance this week meant he’d already noticed that there were other women around who were more suited to him?
A reporter came on the screen for the post-game interview in the locker room. He spoke first with the Broncos’ quarterback, then interviewed Carson.
Carson. There he was, close up. Sweaty and dirty and gorgeous. His voice was so rich and deep. His eyes were so blue. And those shoulders.
He played in Vegas next weekend. She ought to fly there to see him.
The reporter asked Carson about the winning play and his comeback after an injury. The other players milled around in the background of the shot, happily jostling each other as they took off their gear. Carson was smiling. That’s what Olivia noticed most.
The reporter glanced at Carson’s wrist in surprise. “Are you wearing 49ers colors? What’s that about?”
Olivia had been so busy staring at Carson’s face, she hadn’t noticed his wrist. He held up his hand to show the red silicone wristband with yellow writing. “No, these are my high school’s colors. I was in my hometown this summer.”
One of the players ducked into the camera frame. “We would’ve made him take it off, but his girlfriend gave it to him. Dude never takes it off.”
Olivia’s lips parted into a silent exclamation. Carson had said he would wear it when he missed her. He never took it off?
It was as good as anI love you.
She wasn’t going to wait until next week to fly to see Carson. She would be on the next flight to Denver, and she would take the steps she needed to move there.
It turned out, she was recklessly in love after all.
25
The next flight to Denver wasn’t until the evening, so Olivia had time to stop by her mother’s house beforehand. She packed her suitcase as full as it would go and lugged it into her car. She would leave her car at the airport and come back for the rest of her things later. Moving would take some effort. Her message to the school telling them she was leaving town was hard, but she worried most about how her mother would take the news.
Would she try to talk Olivia out of doing something so impetuous? Probably. Would she cry? Maybe. Would her life fall into disrepair? Olivia didn’t even want to calculate the chances of that. She wasn’t leaving like her father had. This wasn’t abandonment. This was growth. Carson was right. Eventually, Olivia had to fly all of the way out of the nest. This was the best time to spread her wings.
