Hail Mary: An Enemies-to-Lovers Roommate Sports Romance(71)

I was sobbing.

The emotion bubbled up from my chest, making each breath shorter until the first cry escaped my lips. I wasn’t even sure what it was that had me choked up. Was it Leo and everything fucking with my head in that regard? Probably. But it also felt… bigger. More. Like I had just faced every fucking trauma that had ever held me down and I’d ripped each one to shreds.

Julep hugged me tight, and when she pulled back, she framed my arms, her eyes bright and shiny, too.

“Pole therapy,” she said.

Then, she slid a champagne flute into my hand, and with tears still drying on my cheeks, we clinked our glasses together and proceeded to get absolutely tanked.





Mary

“I swear to God, there’s nothing better than Cheetos when you’re drunk.”

Giana punctuated that statement by shoving a complete handful of the orange chips into her mouth, half of which landed in her lap and the floor around her. She crunched and groaned her approval with a smile.

We’d slammed shots at a night club until we all realized we’d rather be back at the hotel in our pajamas, which was where we were currently, sucking down a bottle of tequila and devouring the various snacks we’d had brought up.

Well, all of us except Riley, who chose to stay sober only because she didn’t want to die at practice the next day. Giana was able to get the day off and so was I, and Julep didn’t fly back to Charlotte until the following afternoon, but Riley couldn’t escape Coach’s wrath with the season starting up, and therefore was our sober spirit guide.

“I don’t know, I think this pizza wins my vote,” Riley argued as she twirled a hot piece of cheese dripping off her slice around one finger before popping it in her mouth. “I’ve been eating so clean all through camp, I forgot what a good greasy slice tastes like.”

“You look fucking insane,” Julep said in the way of a compliment. “Like, more ripped than I’ve ever seen you.”

“Well, I am insane,” Riley said. “Because I thought if I could put on some weight, build muscle, and level up my kicks, I’d have a shot at the draft.” Her eyes softened, losing focus somewhere beyond her slice of pizza. “What a fucking joke.”

She took a bite while the rest of us offered her sympathetic looks of understanding.

“They’re idiots,” Giana said.

“Is there any other way you can play?” Julep asked. “Like a women’s league or something?”

I smiled a bit at Julep offering a solution, because this time last year, that girl was a walking rain cloud with no optimism or silver lining to be found. Holden had changed that.

“Actually, kind of,” Riley said with a shade of hope. “The Women’s Football Alliance. It’s a minor league, and the pay isn’t great, but… the Boston team is really good. They’ve already reached out with some interest.”

“See!” I said, nudging her knee.

Riley smiled on a nod. “Yeah. It’s cool. It’s just…”

“You should be able to play in the NFL,” Julep finished for her. “You should be able to at least have the chance.”

Riley shrugged, but we could all feel her agreement in the air. It was a tricky situation. To play on a field full of massive grown men could be dangerous for her. But as a kicker, would she really have that much contact anyway? And she wasn’t just a good kicker, she was the best one playing college ball right now.

But because she was a woman, she didn’t even have the chance to prove she could handle it.

I couldn’t imagine her frustration.

“Anyway, how’s the wedding planning?” Riley asked Julep.

“It’s great,” Julep said with a bright smile as she picked up a piece of chocolate. “If spending hours on seating charts and flower arrangements is your cup of tea.”

“Sounds fun!” Giana said, which made us all snort.

“It’s fine,” Julep added, without the sarcasm this time. “Mom has been helping a lot — which is… weird,” she admitted. “And also nice. I just wish Holden could help, too. And he wants to, but even riding the bench, the team gets ninety percent of his time. And I’m happy for him. He’s living his dream. And I know it’s just the season where he’ll be like this. I’ll have a little more of his time come February.”

“That’s why you planned the wedding for April, right?” Riley asked.

Julep nodded. “Yeah. And he helps when he can, but he’s tired after practice or games, and let’s be honest — what little time we get together, we’re not spending on filling out our registry.”

Giana waggled her brows at that.

“Does it ever freak you out?” I asked, trying not to project my own insecurities but failing. “Him on the road, all the women throwing themselves at him both in person and online…”

“It’s hard sometimes,” Julep admitted honestly. “I mean, any woman who says it’s not is lying. It doesn’t matter that I trust him, that I know he’d never do anything with anyone else. It’s still sharing, even if he’s not a participant. He’s part mine, and part the rest of the world’s, too.”

I nodded, a thick lump in my throat at the fact that it would be the same with Leo. Then, I mentally slapped myself for even thinking that far ahead when we’d literally just slept together. But I couldn’t help it. He’d been so engrained in my past, threaded through the very fabric of my being for so long… and now, he was in my present, saying things and touching me in ways that made me think he wanted me.