Page 159 of Only in Your Dreams

Luke raises his brows. “What job is that?”

“The predictive analysis one,” I say, and he nods in recognition. “She’s very good at getting things out of me, so if anyone should be concerned about her having this job, it’s my boss. She’d be the best spy you’d have. I hope this isn’t a mark against her.”

He barks out a laugh. “Are you kidding? You just scored her some major points. She’s got guts, going after a job with your rival team. I like her moxie.”

“Trust me, if it’s moxie you want, she’s the one.”

Luke eyes me a moment. “If I told you something, could I trust you to keep it to yourself?”

“Sure.”

He turns to stare out at the stadium at the end of the parking lot. “This is my last season.”

I frown. “With the Knights?”

“With anyone. I’ve decided it’s time for me to retire. Well, my wife’s decided it, and I wouldn’t dare cross her,” he says, eyeing me again. “It’s not being announced for another month. But my bosses are aware, and they’re already working through a list of potential replacements.”

“Ah,” I say with a nod. “Well, as great as that is for you and your family, I’m sorry to hear that. It’ll be weird playing an entire season without seeing you on the sideline.”

Luke waves away my words. “I appreciate the ass-kissing, but that wasn’t my point. You’re on the list, Porter. A recent addition, if I’m frank, because those were some rough opening games. But the way the Huskies have played the past few weeks hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

“They’re looking at me?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I think if you keep turning your team around the way it looks like you are, you’d probably have a damn good shot at the job. It would be smart of them to bring in someone young. A whole lot fresher than I am, after thirty years in the league.”

I stare at him. Shocked, but overtaken by flashes of what it could mean if I had this job. It would mean only a handful of months of long-distance with Melody. I could finish up the season with the Huskies in the early new year, assuming we make it to playoffs. And then I could move here, too. We could be here together.

“I’m happy to let them know you’re interested, if you want me to,” Luke says.

“I…”

Fuck, I want that. I want it so damn bad. Luke raises grey eyebrows in the wake of my silence.

“I need to think about it,” I say at last, and it feels like ripping away a piece of my own soul. I nod at the stadium. “Need to talk to her about it. She’s got first dibs on a job here, and I won’t crowd her space without her blessing.”

“Assuming she gets the job.” Luke pauses. “Coach to coach, is she any good?”

“Coach to coach, she’s the smartest person I know. And she’s been unofficially doing the job for us on the side.”

Luke nods, smiling from behind his beard. “You’re a good guy, Zac. Good coach, too. You’ll let me know what you decide about that recommendation, yeah?”

Chapter 41

Zac

Brooks and Parker stand staring out onto the field as Noah launches ball after ball at his teammates.

Parker spots me first as I near them on the sideline. He’s dressed in workout gear, meaning he probably hit the Huskies’ training facility after wrapping up work at the athletic rehab center. It’s been slow and a little awkward, but after he and I met for a drink the other week, it feels like we’ve got a good shot at getting our friendship back to where it used to be.

“I’ve watched this kid play for two full seasons and I still can’t get over how good he is,” he muses, following the arc of Noah’s throw.

Watching Noah play with that kind of ease really never does get old. And it’s all the more amusing knowing that he’s also the guy who walks around the house in unironic Iron Man pajama pants. He’s also been the one with a front-row seat to my relationship with Mel—an actual, real as hell relationship—in the weeks that have passed since our talk with Parker.

In the moments when I’m driving home alone from work, or else falling asleep after Mel, there’s been nothing more soul-crushing than realizing that, eventually, that house is going from a pseudo-family of three to just me.

Mel’s on the verge of hearing back from the Knights, and was even called in to interview for a similar job at the other college in the city. Scouts from all over the NFL have been chatting up Noah what feels like every couple of days.

And I’m on the verge of going from having everything to nothing.

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