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I sip the wine and sigh happily, finally feeling warm from the inside out.
“Tell me why you’re no longer a quarterback.”
A brief frown pulls his eyebrows together as he looks down into his glass, gathering his thoughts. Just when I’m beginning to wonder if I should have kept my big mouth shut, Drew sighs and looks up at me with sad blue eyes that hit me square in the heart.
“I got hit.” He takes a sip of his wine, as if it will give him the courage to continue. “Junior year of college. Fourth quarter. Concussion.”
I close my eyes and nod slowly.
“It wasn’t the first. No, if it had been the first, I might have been able to stretch out the career some, but it was the fifth. And it was the worst. I was dizzy for a year. I still get headaches. I was convinced that I could go back to it, but that was wishful thinking. Every doctor—and I saw many, looking for the opinion that I wanted, trust me—said the same thing. No more football. If I got hit like that again, it could kill me. Or worse.”
He takes a deep breath and drinks his wine. He’s looking out the dark windows, as if he’s watching a movie of that time run through his mind.
I shouldn’t have asked. This is obviously a painful subject, and I hate seeing that look on his impossibly handsome face.
“Drew, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me any more.”
“It’s fine.” He sets his glass aside and wipes his hands down his face. “It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about it.”
“Liar.”
His lips twitch into a small smile. “Okay, it’s not my favorite subject, but I’ll talk about anything at all with you, babe. I decided, after quite a long stretch of sulking, to go into coaching. And it’s done well for me.”
“You’re healthy now?”
“I’m as good as I’m going to get, and I’m lucky. Aside from the headaches, there don’t seem to be any long-term effects, and I’m checked once a year to be sure.”
“But if you got another concussion, it could be catastrophic.”
“That’s true.”
Fear shoots through me as I think about the way he hurled himself down that mountain today.
“For fuck’s sake, Drew, you could have killed yourself today.”
“I didn’t fall.”
“But youcouldhave. Oh, my God.”
“Wait a second.” He holds up a hand, stopping my tirade. “London, I can’t stop living my life altogether. I refuse to do that. I wore a helmet today, and I’m not reckless.”
“You obviously didn’t see yourself flying down that run,” I insist.
“I’m good at physical things,” he insists. “I didn’t fall at all today. I love being active, and with the proper equipment, I’ll continue to do that. I won’t stop. But I’m not an idiot. I’m careful.”
“If something hap—” I swallow hard, unable to complete the thought. “I couldn’t—”
“Hey.” His voice is gentle now as he moves over to me quickly and tugs me into his arms. “Nothing’s going to happen. I’m not accident-prone, you know.”
“Now I’m going to freak out every time you do something stupid like hurl yourself down a mountain.”
“Don’t.” He tips my chin up and kisses me long and slow. “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”
Chapter15
Drew
Ididn’t mean to scare her. I can see by the look in those beautiful eyes that she’s worried, and that’s the last thing I want.
