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“Tori seems like a sensible woman. She also said similar things to me about y’all’s relationship. Not so much about fixing it but that she had screwed up and that she didn’t want it to impact your game. I thought you should know before we go any further,” Sam told him.

Chance was out of his seat. “I have to go,” he said and ran out of the office.

What was going to happen here mattered less than going to Tori right now. He had been to hard on himself and her over what happened. Sam was right the other day that he needed to earn her trust and this wasn’t how.

He heard Sam and Derek yell after him but he ignored them. Skipping the elevator, he took the stairs two at a time, finally reached the bottom and then headed for the front door.

A few guys were in the parking lot and tried to stop him. He would apologize later. He needed to go to her now. Nothing was stopping him.

She had come to defend him and that told him more than anything else. She was his and he needed her or the outcome of this meeting didn’t matter. He didn’t want to go into the next phase of his life without her on or off the pitch.

Twenty-One

“What do you say to ordering pizza tonight?” Tori asked Emmett.

“With breadsticks?” he asked.

“Now you’re talking.” She sat next to him and pulled out her phone.

They spent a few minutes making their dinner order together. She paid and set her phone down again.

Emmett was watching some weird cartoon, and she stretched out on the sofa to wait for the pizza. It was a lazy kind of night.

No news from anyone today about Chance’s meeting. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, and it was tearing her stomach up just thinking about it.

She worked from home today and was in leggings and Chance’s jersey trying to send positive vibes his way. Emmett was also sporting Chance’s jersey but that was a coincidence not planning on her part.

She wanted to call Maddox but figured if there was anything to say, he would tell her. She’d given him her number when they got back Saturday, and he promised to let her know.

They could still be talking to Chance, but his meeting was three hours ago. If they were still talking, then it probably wasn’t good news. Sitting up, she grabbed her phone and searched for him on the internet again. Nothing, still.

“When this goes over, we can pick out a movie. I’ll get plates and we can eat at the coffee table picnic style,” she told Emmett.

“Cool,” he said and started pulling up their streaming service to find a movie.

“Nothing with fart jokes,” she told him and went to get the plates.

Her doorbell rang and again Emmett beat her to it. She assumed it was the pizza delivery, so hurried after him. She needed to talk to him, again, about answering the damn door.

Surprise didn’t cover it. Standing in her foyer was Chance, someone she hadn’t expected to see for a while other than from afar. In his hands was a bouquet of flowers and a wrapped box.

“This is for you,” he handed the box to Emmett. “These are for you,” he handed her the flowers.

Tori stood speechless, staring at him.

“You’re supposed to take those, mom,” Emmett told her.

She blinked a few times before reaching for them. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“They reminded me of you. Organized chaos,” he smiled.

Just behind him someone cleared their throat. Chance turned, accepting the pizza and giving the man a tip before closing the door.

“I already tipped him,” she told him.

“Then tonight was his lucky night.”

She and Chance were still standing in the foyer. Tori was afraid to move, and he disappear.

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