Page 100 of How to Prevent a Fumble

“The second I was able to make money from my sport, I did. And it was a lot. I paid off my parent’s house, retired them, and moved them where they wanted after sending them on a world tour as a thank you for everything they did for me. But my sister was living with her friend at the time, struggling to make her own dream come true. She wanted to be an artist, as you know, and she didn’t really have much time to make that come true as she was working constantly.

“So I bought the place next door and told her she didn’t have to worry about rent. Just make sure you can eat, focus on your art, sell prints, whatever you have to do. Just do it. I wanted her to make a name for herself, and I wasn’t going to rest until that happened for her.”

He pauses, biting his cheek.

“If I failed when I was younger, it was like I was letting every single person in my life down. There was so much expectation that the only thing I could do was make sure that I was everything they expected and more. And I think I definitely made it. But I wanted to make sure that my sister had her own success story, and in doing so I went above and beyond when I shouldn’t have. I should have realized that she could make her own decisions, and for that I’ve been kicking myself for months.”

I sit back in my seat, my arms propped on the side of the chair. “Why do you have such a hard time just letting things be?”

He contemplates this for several moments before he leans forward, looking down at his feet. “I don’t really know. I just feel like I’ve been in control of everyone’s destinies. Like I was in control of whether my parents were happy or not. Andeven though it was my decision to help her, I was in control of whether my sister could make her dream come true. I don’t know why I have such an issue with it, I really don’t. But I do know that it’s a problem,” he pauses, his green eyes meeting mine, “and you were the only person to really wake me up to it.”

“You should have been woken up about it before me,” I tell him with no hesitation. I feel mean, but it’s something that needs to be said.

He nods. “I know. But no one really stands up to me. And I wish they did.”

As annoying as it is, I understand where he’s coming from. As our eyes meet, I feel like I’m staring at the other end of a magnet.

Someone who’s been so in control of everything in his entire life to the point of self-sabotaging when he’snotin control, and a woman who’s been so out of control of everything that sometimes she just doesn’t care.

And sometimes, she cares too much.

And the cycle continues for the both of us.

I decide to drop it for now, instead taking another bite of pancake. “Your publicist emailed me last night,” I tell him, watching as he visibly relaxes, letting out a breath.

“Oh yeah?” he asks, taking a slow sip of coffee, his eyes trained on me.

I nod, stuffing my face. “She says everything is on track. We’re doing well, and that you’ve been getting some good press.”

His eyes don’t leave me as I continue on, and they don’t leave me when I get up and rinse my plate off.

And they don’t leave me as I make my way back down the hall without another word.

But I feel it.

I feel it much more than I want to admit.

30

LEO

“How’s the plan coming along?” Cooper asks as we huddle around the practice field.

We got our asses handed to us today, that’s for sure. Not only was Coach livid about our terrible performance yesterday, but we watched tapes until half of us were falling asleep. We lost communication somewhere, and we can’t do that again unless we want to lose our momentum and therefore the season.

It’s a slippery slope. Lose two games in a row, lose our hope, and we’ll just keep losing. We need to get on a hot streak and win game after game.

“I don’t know, we had a heavy conversation this morning. Elara was up and?—”

“Elara’s her kid, right?” Dirwin asks, stretching his quads.

“Her daughter, yes. She was up when I got up for some reason. Said her mom was upset last night and she wanted me to make her breakfast to make up for whatever I did.”

“She’s got her daughter working for her. Smart woman,” Cooper says, scratching his scalp.

I shrug. “She just kind of said that my publicist emailed her to say that we’re doing great, finished her breakfast andthen went back to her room. I had to get ready and get here quick, so I didn’t see her after that. I’m not sure what to do, you know? I really like her but I don’t know if this is something I can win.”

“Why wouldn’t you be able to win this?”

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