Hail Mary: An Enemies-to-Lovers Roommate Sports Romance(47)

Now, she looked like she really felt at home, like we were family.

“Man, I’m fucking beat,” Zeke said, groaning a bit as he joined me in the kitchen and hopped up to sit on the counter. He squinted, massaging his neck with one hand while the other held his beer. “Am I getting old, or is Coach riding us hard this camp?”

“We’re a championship team now,” I reminded him. “More to prove.”

Clay sauntered in to join us, and I tossed him a beer out of the fridge when I saw he was empty-handed. Zeke lifted his beer once our cans were cracked open, and the three of us tapped them together before taking a long pull.

“Feels weird without Holden,” Clay said.

Zeke and I nodded, and I felt that mixture between nostalgia and nausea sweeping through me again. I wondered if it would be with me all season, if I’d constantly be caught between soaking up our last year together at NBU and reminiscing on all we’d done together the last three years.

“Hard to believe we’ll all be going our own ways soon,” I said.

“Eh, different teams, maybe, but we’ll all be pro,” Clay offered with a confident shrug of one shoulder.

I cocked a brow. “You realize the odds of that are pretty slim, right?”

“And you realize you’re in the company of the best college football players in the nation, right?”

I chuckled, lifting my beer in a salute. I loved that he was confident, and with his talent, he should be. His confidence was different from mine — it wasn’t cocky and half a joke. It was calm and sure, as if it’d already happened.

Still, I couldn’t quiet that realistic voice inside me whispering that only one-point-six percent of college football players make it to the NFL.

“I, uh… I actually don’t know if that’s what I want.”

Clay and I both whipped around when the words left Zeke’s mouth.

“What?” Clay asked. “The fuck are you talking about, man? That’s been your only goal ever since I’ve known you.”

“Long before that,” I chimed in.

“Yeah, I don’t know,” he said, grabbing the back of his neck. “I still want a career in football, of course, but… I was leaning toward coaching, maybe.”

Clay and I were both too shocked to speak.

Zeke checked behind him before looking at us again and lowering his voice. “I just… I don’t know what’s next for Riley.”

That sucked the air out of the room.

“She wants to go pro as bad as the rest of us,” he continued, shaking his head. “But, I mean, we all know there’s never been a female drafted to the NFL.”

“Fuck, man,” Clay said, running a hand through his hair. “My stupid ass never even thought about that. I’ve been running my mouth about going pro all camp like a fucking asshole.”

“It’s fine, she’s used to it,” Zeke said. “When she first came on the team, I don’t think she wanted anything past college, you know? She’s got a career in art curation waiting for her easily. And she’d be damn good at it, too. But something has shifted over the last two seasons.” He paused. “She got an agent, and let’s just say the agent is not-so-gently suggesting she consider sports broadcasting if she wants a career anywhere near the sport she loves.”

“He doesn’t think she has a chance at all?” I asked.

Zeke scoffed, meeting my gaze with an incredulous look. “Come on, man.”

I nodded, falling silent. Riley only started playing football because of a promise she made to her brother, but fuck if she wasn’t the best kicker I’d ever played with. She loved the game, she was a great teammate, and any team would be lucky to have her.

It pissed me off that she might not even be considered.

“I’m sorry, man,” Clay said, squeezing Zeke’s shoulder. “But I don’t think she’d want you to hold yourself back just because the NFL hasn’t opened their eyes yet. She will make a way for herself and you know it. If anything, it’d piss her off to hear you talking like this.”

Palico strolled into the kitchen then with a croaky meow, which made us all chuckle. Clay bent down to scratch the little thing under the chin.

“He’s right,” I said. “You were born to play ball, Z, not coach on the sideline.”

Zeke nodded, but didn’t have anything more to say. I could see it in his eyes that he felt one thing above all else.

He didn’t want to leave her behind.

But I also knew that no matter what came next for them, they’d be together. Something about that made my chest sting, and I rubbed the spot absentmindedly as I changed the subject. “My biggest question is are you two going to take the route Holden did and put a ring on it before the draft? Because I need to know now how many suits I need to be saving up for.”

They laughed me off, but I didn’t miss how they both fell into a quiet contemplation. They were head over heels for their girls. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised when they made it official and claimed them for life.

“Speaking of which…” Clay arched a brow at me. “What the hell is going on with you and your new roommate?”

I surprised even myself with the casual coolness with which I took a sip of my beer. “Well, she hasn’t tried to kill me this week, so that’s nice.”