Page 106 of Just One of the Groomsmen
Addie stared at the email until the words swam together, and then she blinked and read it again.
Her former professor, the one she’d emailed after one of her especially crappy days at work, did know of a job. An amazing job.
The University of Alabama had an opening for a sports therapist. It was similar to the one he’d told her about right after graduation, but this position was higher up in the pecking order.
It was the type of job she’d dreamed about back when she was forcing herself through difficult classes.
Not only did they have the opening, he’d already talked her up, and they’d agreed to an interview, so she’d have to travel to Tuscaloosa and meet with them.
He warned it was a competitive position, and there were a few other applicants, but he thought she’d be a good match, and with the in he had with the team, her odds were even better.
Could I really abandon my War Eagle cry and cheer Crimson Tide?
Her friends and family would tease her endlessly about being a traitor, but now that she was older and wiser—and had experienced working for Moody Overlord—she recognized how huge this opportunity truly was. She’d be working for one of the biggest football organizations in the state.
Hell, in the country.
A two-and-a-half-hour drive was long enough that commuting on the daily was out but close enough that… Well, weekends would be tricky with games.
Her heart sank. Maybe it was stupid to even consider it. She had her family to think about.
Mom often needed help with Nonna, this was her home, and Tucker had barely moved back—from a place a lot closer to Tuscaloosa, nonetheless, which seemed a lick mean on fate’s part—and things were going so well with him.
She placed her hands on the keyboard and tried to think of how to respond, but it was a big decision and she didn’t want to do anything rash. She’d sent a few other résumés out as well and ought to give other people time to respond so she could better assess her options.
The interview was already set up, though, so she didn’t have a lot of time.
No reason to drive up there if she didn’t plan on taking the job. Then again, she had nothing to lose by going to the interview and seeing what the job entailed, if she’d be a good match.
If she’d received this email a couple of months ago, she would’ve been jumping on her couch, Bama or not.
Sure, most of the same worries would’ve come up, but with Nonna stable, Addie’s main worry now was that taking the job might mess things up with Tucker.
Tucker, who didn’t want people to know they were dating.
She mentally batted away that errant thought.
They’dbothdecided it would create extra drama, and she knew how much he hated having people in his business. With his dad in town, reminding him of why, the timing for the going-public discussion wasn’t great.
But last night, things had changed.
Then again, here she was, considering ignoring a huge opportunity withoutknowinghow much. If he wasn’t ready to become an official couple, or at least take some steps in that direction, then she needed to know that, too.
Ugh, this means we’re gonna have to have a serious discussion about it.
Ihateserious discussions.
That went double for relationship ones, and she worried about coming across as too clingy, especially since it was so new—with a side of already being complicated—and she’d never been great at talking about her feelings as it was, so the chance of messing it up was that much higher.
The question is, do I talk to Tucker before or after I respond to the email?
Since a beam of heavenly light didn’t pop up to point her in the right direction, she slammed her laptop closed and punched on the TV.
When in doubt, procrastination always made a nice alternative.
A knock came at the door, and she checked her phone to see if anyone had texted about coming over. No messages, and if it was Tucker, she planned to tease him about being in booty call range, and how she thought he was opposed to that.
Not thatshewas opposed to that. Bring on the booty.
