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“Okay?” Tanner replied with a hesitant edge.
I looked up at him and smiled. “Okay. Let’s go back to Covey and show everyone what I’m made of.”
Tanner smiled back, holding his hand out to me. “That’s what I like to hear. Let’s do this, Teach.”
Epilogue
“Stop fussing with your cast,” Hayden, my friend and Adam’s girlfriend, said. Adam tilted his head, moving away from her touch, but that didn’t stop her. She picked at the back on his sling, making sure it was flat. He rolled his eyes but looked at her with the same affection I remembered from before his injury. I couldn’t believe how much had happened between the championship game and now. Adam hadn’t been here for any of it, choosing to rehab at home, and Hayden went along with him. He looked better, but that was pretty easy considering the last time I saw him he was being carried across the field on a stretcher.
It was bittersweet that this was the first time I’d seen him in so long, and the last time we’d live together.
“I can’t help it. It’s itchy.” Adam tried to move his shoulder, and winced at his pain, but when Hayden caught his eye, he gave her an easy smile, trying to mask it. He then looked over at me, trying to get the attention off of him. I was certain he was tired of people questioning him about his future now he was injured. “Are all your bags packed?”
Not only did I have a large suitcase on one side, but I had my gym bag slung over my shoulder on the other. Both bags were filled with enough clothes for three weeks of traveling before I needed to be back at Covey for the start of football camp. Yes, you heard that correctly. football camp. Not summer school. I was off the hook and not only passing my classes, but I had a B average in most of them.
It was a strange feeling, not having to worry about my grades, but one I was immensely grateful for, and it was all thanks to the beautiful girl standing next to me. Slinking my arm around her waist, I clasped onto her hip and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She copied, wrapping her arm around me and offering me a small smile before resting her head against my chest.
“Yup. So are yours.” I glanced down at his three large suitcases, and then at the sling across his shoulder.
“What are your plans for the summer?” Hayden asked with her sweet smile. I’d never seen her happier, but as she looked at me, I was pretty sure she was thinking the same thing about me.
I rolled my gaze to Aster, and she answered for us. “I'm going to visit Tanner's parents in Georgia, and then we're going to travel around the south a little.”
“Parent's already?” Adam said in surprise. He hadn’t seen mine and Aster’s relationship develop over the last few months, so it probably did feel fast for him.
“Yeah. Well, you know, I've already met Aster's parents. Hell, her mom has pretty much adopted Thea as her own daughter now that she's becoming an Alpha Delta Theta, so I thought it was only fair that my parents meet the girl I can't stop talking about.”
Aster pinched me on the side because she hated showing too much affection in front of other people. I, on the other hand, didn't mind one bit. I wanted everyone to know that Aster Paige was it for me. There was no one else in this world that would compare to her. Especially after watching the way she came back from her scrubbed from the record suspension. She didn’t care and addressed every single rumor with more sass than I thought possible.
When I looked at Adam, he gave me a knowing glance because we were more alike than the rest of the house. We weren't ones to fuck around with girls we weren't interested in. Neither one of us had the time or inclination for that. He knew I was just as serious about Aster as he was Hayden.
“Where are you going?”
Aster paused, glaring at me. “Not sure. Tanner wouldn't let me plan an itinerary. He thinks we shouldsee where the wind takes us.”
“Come on. I only get three weeks off until I have to come back, and I’ve never had the opportunity to be spontaneous. I think it would be fun to have no plans andenjoy our time together.”
“I’m not great with spontaneity, but I’ll do it for you.” She smiled with a smirk on her face because I knew what she was referring to and it all had to do with last night and our impromptu make-out session in the car last night, which may not have ended with kissing.
“Are you coming back to Covey with Tanner?” Hayden asked, breaking me out of my Aster haze. It’d been almost four months, and I was still as infatuated with her now as I was when I first met her.
Aster pressed her lips together before answering. “No. I’m going to stay at home with my mom for those last few weeks and come back at the start of school. She's not been well, so I want to spend as much time as I could with her since she refused to let me stay with her for the entire summer.”
“What about you guys? Are you doing anything?” I asked quickly because I knew Aster wouldn’t want to answer questions about her mom. Although she was clearly getting better, I knew she still found it hard to talk about.
Hayden looked at Adam before answering, giving him a small smile. “We're staying around California because Adam needs consistency for his rehab.”
“Yeah, I won’t have a chance to play if I don’t get better,” he laughed sadly, and that made my stomach drop because here I was with all the chances and opportunity in the world to make it in the NFL while Adam was still fighting for his.
Initially considered a first-round pick, his draft prospects fell considerably after his injury and was drafted in the sixth round to the California Rattlesnakes but was immediately traded to the Charlotte Crossbills in a package deal. His medical prognosis meant he was wasting a rookie contract on rehabbing, and he’d have to prove that he was well enough to play. I could only hope that reuniting with his old roommate, Devin, would motivate him to keep pushing.
“We’re also going to Dev’s wedding.”
Hayden’s eyes grew wide at the mere mention of the guy that lived in my room before me. I'd only met him a few times because he was already on the way out by the time I moved in with Aiden. From what I could tell, and the way everyone talked about him, he was a nice guy, and I wished I'd known him through more than just a few grunts in passing. “How could I forget? A weekend in Vegas with Britt and Reign. It’s going to be so much fun.” A smile crossed her lips, and that made me happy since she was miserable when she first got here.
“Still can't believe he's getting married,” Adam said, shaking his head. “I knew he was obsessed with Reign, but he put a ring on it faster than he won the Super Bowl.”
I laughed, but dropped my gaze to the floor, because it all started feeling a little too real. The hard truth that we were going to say goodbye to Adam was sitting in between us like an uninvited houseguest. This was it. It was the end of an era for him, while mine was just starting. I was hoping to lead Covey U into a new legacy, and it was daunting, but I knew I could handle it.
