Page 102 of While We Waited

“Yep.”

I smile at her as if my heart isn’t breaking. As if I don’t have to let Hudson go for him to be happy.

Chapter 33

Realization – Can sometimes hit you harder than a defensive lineman

Hudson

“Good. The women are gone. We can talk shop,” Seth says as soon as Naomi and Nova are out of hearing range.

My brow wrinkles. “Talk shop? You mean reminisce.”

“Nope. I mean talk shop.”

“There is no shop. My Achilles and ankle are fucked. I can’t play anymore.”

What I wouldn’t give for my words to be a lie. I had at least five more years of playing in the NFL until a defensive player plowed into me with an illegal tackle.

“I saw you running this morning.”

“I can run, but I don’t have the speed to be a wide receiver anymore.”

“You were running pretty fast to me.”

I snort. “Everyone appears to run fast to you, slowpoke.”

“I’m not a slowpoke.”

I cock my brow. “Did you or did you not win the slowest offensive tackle award two years in a row?”

“It’s not a real award.”

“I remember buying you a damn trophy.”

“Because you made up the award to piss me off.”

“I was trying to motivate your ass to go to the gym.”

“I went to every practice.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “You did the bare minimum. Imagine what you could have done if you had pushed yourself harder with extra workouts.”

“Extra workouts didn’t help you much.”

I flinch.

“Fuck. I’m an asshole,” Seth says. “Forget I said anything.”

How can I forget how my career was ruined? How I had everything I ever wanted and it was stolen from me in one extremely painful moment.

Seth sighs. “I didn’t come here to give you a hard time.”

“Nonetheless, you’re doing a damn good job.”

“I came here to offer you a job.”

I shake my head. “I can’t play. The doctor said one more bad tackle and I’d never walk again.”

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