Page 82 of Most Likely to Score
“It’s not?”
He shakes his head. “Tough break, but that’s how it goes.”
I grab hold of the counter, and it feels like someone yanked the carpet out from under me. Garrett’s life is my worst nightmare. I’ve played against guys who’ve had their careers curtailed by injury, but I don’t usually bump into them at my gym. Maybe I misunderstood him. “That’s it? You can’t play again? You can’t rehab?”
He chuckles deeply, sounding as warm as Santa Claus and just as wise. “Let me tell you something. Idid nothing but try to rehab my knee for the last two years. I did everything I could. I went and I tried out for Baltimore, made it through training camp this summer, and then in the first pre-season game, my knee gave out again. Someone was trying to tell me something.”
I blink. “Like a higher power?” I ask, trying to make sense of the unthinkable.
“I suspect the universe was telling me it was time to focus on something else. It’s not happening for me in football.”
Words that don’t compute. Words that make no sense. Words I never want to have to say.
“I nabbed the first job I could find. Because of this.” Garrett smiles, a big, authentic grin. Reaching into his shorts pocket, he grabs his phone, clicks to his camera roll, and shows me a picture: a tiny baby with bright eyes and a mess of dark hair.
“This is my baby daughter, Gabriela. My wife gave birth three months ago.”
“Congratulations. That’s fantastic. I’m so happy for you,” I say. The words sound genuine coming out of my mouth, and they are. But I’m not happy. Not at all. I’m more sad for his knee than happy for his kid. “Sorry about your knee, though.”
“Me, too. But what can you do? It happens. You do your best. You move on. You do something else.”
But there is nothing else, my brain screams.
“What about the money you lost?” I ask, bracing myself for the onslaught of more bad news from him.
“I’ll be okay. I was smart enough to sock at leastsome of it away, so I’m not going to be hurting. We’ll get by. That’s really all that matters, right? To be okay.”
Is he convincing himself, or is he telling me? I’m not entirely sure. “Do you want to get something to eat? Breakfast, maybe?”
“I wish. I have a client coming in ten minutes. Let’s do it another time?”
“Definitely.”
I leave, but I can’t shake this cloudy feeling from my head for the rest of the day. Like it’s full of static and confusion. I try to train my thoughts back on Jillian, try to think about calling Liam and Ford. But as I head to the practice field, running routes and reviewing plays, all I can think about is Garrett Snow. Everything that’s in front of me is gone from his life. Every single thing.
I know what the déjà vu sensation is. It’s déjà fear.
What happened to him could happen to me.
33
JILLIAN
Lily frowns. “What?”
I try again, to let her know I’m aware of the consequences of my choices. “I understand that I may have lost your trust. That you might not want me in the department anymore. And if I’ve lost my job, I’m prepared to accept that.”
She shakes her head so vigorously I’m worried she’ll bring on a headache. “No. No. No. I don’t want you to resign. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to this department. You’ve done amazing things for this team.”
I breathe a deep sigh of relief, one that spreads to my bones and feels like silver and gold.
“But I’m shocked,” she adds. “Honestly, I’m probably surprised for the reasons you’d expect. I didn’t think Jones had it in him to fall in love.”
“I thought the same, too. But now that I know him, I don’t see him in any other way.” My heart warms, and a sense of contentment flows through me. Jonessurprised me, too, but now I see the parts of him that have always been there, just hidden from public view, and I’m thrilled that he has so much love in him. More than that, I’m grateful that I’m the one he’s giving it to.
Lily’s not done with me, though. She pins me with a sharp stare. “Are you prepared for what this means?”
“What do you think I should be prepared for?” I ask carefully.
