Page 59 of Rocking Player
I’d never throw that away again because of fear.
Chapter 18
Michael
My armsstill ached to hold the best thing in my life, to ensure she was real and here.
Today had been like a dream come true when she'd walked in the door.
I didn’t fucking deserve her or this elation in my blood.
She’d been sweet, and I’d fucked this up. All my life I'd defined myself from this game, and how I was on the field. Georgie had just wanted me.
The only way I changed was if I listened to her and my heart that she possessed.
I kissed her first as I needed to know she was real, and her kiss magnetized me.
I needed her like the wheat fields need sun.
Once I let her breathe, I held her sides and said, “I want you here to listen to the offers.”
She didn’t let me go past her to get Phil. Instead, she placed her arm on my shoulder and blinked as she asked, “Why are we at the stadium?”
I held my head down and listened to the beat inside my heart as I told her a truth I’d avoided for a while now. “I like my team. They’ve been good to me in Oklahoma.”
Her eyes widened and she asked, “So not New York?”
“Honestly, it’s one of the best stadiums I’ve ever played in and the team is top notch.” Right. I’d been so adamant about the dollar proving I’m the best that I'd hurt my family in the process.
If I didn’t let go of being the best, every day I’d die and eventually I’d start losing in the game, too. Georgie meant more to me. I honestly had no idea how she’d snuck into my heart these past seven years and how every day I played and prayed she’d somehow find me. If I chose the game over her, then I wasn’t honoring my own heart. I said, “The numbers aren’t what I wanted, no.”
She sucked in her bottom lip and bounced on her feet until she let it go and spoke, “Then we go to New York.”
And let her be miserable? And leave my team for the cold hard cash that, yes, I deserved, but at what price?
My own happiness? Georgie’s? I shook my head and said, “I can’t force you to go somewhere you don’t want. How would you feel about staying with my team?”
She was a sweetheart when she pressed her palm against my cheek and said, “I don’t care where we live as long as I’m with you.”
I tightened my hand around her waist and said, “We need to make a choice as a family and, in pursuing money only, I almost lost you. I can’t lose my son and, if possible, I’d like to be loyal to the team that groomed me.”
For a moment, neither of us moved. She closed her eyes, and I held her tight. It was like the warmth of light was in my life again and I never wanted to let her go. However, I kissed her cheek and she went on her tiptoes and kissed me back.
Her lips were firm. I ached for her. But I held back. We were in a side office. I let her go and she took the seat beside where I’d been and playfully elbowed me when she asked, “So what are the offers?”
“Let’s get Phil,” I said and stood, kissing her forehead as I passed. Then I opened the door and waved for my agent down the hall. “Come in and tell Georgie what’s going on.”
“Sure,” he called out and walked in with a new cup of coffee in his hand. He retook his seat on the other side of the table and said “Hello” to Georgie as he took out his folders. “This morning we are fielding two more competitive offers. One is Houston where they bumped their numbers to twenty-seven million for nine years.”
Good. Georgie and my parents had wanted that. And that was a good offer, but I asked, “And the Sooners?”
He opened his paper with the offer and said, “Twenty-eight million for ten years.”
I reached for it, but Georgie put her hand on it to stop me and said, “So it’s less if we go to Oklahoma?”
I nodded and said, “Yes, but Texas was what you and my parents agreed to.”
She let the paper go but asked, “Look, do you want to be loyal to the Sooners? Is that what this is?”
