Page 74 of Golden Rule

He excuses himself from whoever he’s around, and when he focuses on me again, I hear the concern in his tone. I’m guessing my sobbing has him worried.

“Slow down. What happened?”

“I’m fine,” I manage to say. “But I just got a call from Dr. Tyler.”

He hesitates for just long enough for me to notice. “What did he say?”

A huge smile breaks free, and I’m crying harder than before now. “We get to try again.”

He lets out a breath on the other end, and I imagine it’s a sigh of relief.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.” I can hear in his voice that he’s smiling, and it has myownsmile stretching from ear to ear now.

“I’ll tell you all about it when you get home. Get back to practice before Coach catches you,” I laugh.

“Just give me a couple more hours, max.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

I’m practically squealing when I end the call. Today is the best day I’ve had in a long time, and while I thought it was amazing to get another step closer to realizingoneof my dreams… it seems that may actually betwodreams.

@QweenPandora:

Hey there, beautiful people!

Okay, so does anyone remember when I posted about #KingMidas and #NewGirl being spotted outside an abandoned building on the city’s south side? Well, it seems #NewGirl, and the crew’s honorary baby sis, were photographed outside that same building.

Only, this time, the pair were accompanied by an unidentified hottie. They moved the party indoors, and while this might seem strange, there’s a rather honorable explanation.

Your girl did a bit of research and dug into Cypress Pointe public records. Apparently, this building—a former youth center—was recently acquired by #KingMidas and #NewGirl.

Does this mean they’re re-investing some of their many, many millions back into the city?

That seems to be the case, but you know I’ll report back when I find out more.

Later, peeps :)

—P

Chapter Twenty-Two

West

“Dude, no fucking way that just happened,” Jett roars, rearing back in his seat when Dane intercepts his pass. Crazy as it is, they’re getting just as worked up over a video game as they do on the field.

“Stick around after this round. I’ll autograph your t-shirt,” Dane taunts, drawing a deep, gruff laugh out of Jett. It’s such a distinct sound, I could easily pick the guy out of a crowd. And lucky for the girls upstairs, the basement is pretty much soundproof.

“Whatever, asshole. Just play the fucking game,” Jett barks out.

They focus on the screen again, diving right back in. We could’ve easily just played on the TV, but Chase insisted we fire up the projector to get thefull effect.With drinks and pizza to last us the week if we wanted it to, it’s safe to say the guys are having a good time.

Out of the three teammates I reached out to with an invite, two showed, and the third already had preset plans with his wife. So, while this is a small step, it’s still progress. If someone had asked just a month ago if I could ever see myself inviting guys from the team into my personal space, I would’ve responded with a resoundinghell no.But to my surprise, things have been pretty chill, natural. The newcomers are even meshing well with Ricky, Hunter, and Dusty.

Chase rears back in his recliner, running a hand down his beard. The guy looks exhausted. Then again, he almostalwayslooks exhausted. There might be a story behind that, but we’re nowhere near close enough for me to ask what that story might be.

Dusty has his shoes kicked off, and his feet up on the footrest. With how many hours this man works, I think this is one of the few times I’ve actually seen him sitting.

“Busy day at the diner?”

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