Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 117872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
“You make my friend so happy,” she says softly. “And that means the world to me.”
My throat tightens as he hugs her back. Wow. I really can pick ‘em. I have an amazing friend in Rachel, and an absolutely incredible boyfriend in Jason.
The three of us sit and eat breakfast, and there’s nothing awkward at all about my guy meeting my ex-girlfriend.
When we finish, Jason and I go to the beach, heading to a basketball court on the edge of the sand. My friend Drew is by his lonesome, dribbling a basketball. He gears up to shoot.
“Hey! Want to see my ring?” I shout.
The ball soars, hits the rim, and wobbles off. He turns to me, shoots me a you’re dead look then says, “Why did I make plans to see you?”
“Because I’m your idol,” I deadpan.
Drew shakes his head, points his thumb at me, then looks to Jason. “You might need to expand the door frame in your home now that he’s got a ring,” Drew says.
“I can only imagine what it’ll be like when he actually has the damn thing to wear,” Jason says, then tips his chin Drew’s way. “Good to see you again, man.”
They know each other, since it’s a small world and all. But it’s good to see Jason hanging with a buddy of mine. This was something I once imagined. Something I wanted. Now, I get to have it, and it’s fantastic.
“You too. Wanna play?” Drew asks.
“Always,” Jason says, and as the three of us play an impromptu pickup game, Drew tells us more about his life here in Los Angeles, and this past season playing for the Devil Sharks. “No clue what’s going to happen next season. Sort of feels like everything’s up in the air. But maybe I’ll meet some beautiful lady who’ll take my mind off my team woes.”
“Sounds like a perfect solution to football woes,” I say drily, then shoot the ball.
“You know what? It sure does,” he says as the ball sails through the net.
The three of us hang out for a while longer, then I take off with my guy, walking toward the water, enjoying the day in the sun with the guy I chose.
The guy who chose me too.
As the waves crash, I reach for Jason’s hand, then give him a chaste kiss. Maybe people are looking, and maybe someone’s taking a picture, and maybe I don’t care.
I’m making him happy, and that’s what I care about most.
EPILOGUE
OTHER RINGS
Jason
When the next season starts, my dad comes to my first home game, and we grab a bite to eat after our win. The week after, when I’m out of town playing in Chicago, Dad goes to Beck’s home game. They check out a new food truck to celebrate his win.
The next day, once we’re all back in town, the three of us go out to lunch and take Snickerdoodle for a walk.
But sometimes, we dog-sit Snickerdoodle when Dad is busy with his new woman. Dad didn’t slow down much at work—he loves what he does, so I backed off on that push. I couldn’t resist the chance to set him up, though, when Zena asked me if my dad was single. Her older sister is a baker around my dad’s age. Zena had a feeling they might be perfect together, especially since her sister had had no luck on the apps.
Now, Dad is seeing Zena’s sister on the reg, and I can’t wait for Thanksgiving with the whole crew.
Beck and I are back at it with Monday Morning Quarterback too. But this year, we have a new addition to the show, a segment at the end called “A House Divided.”
We took Megan up on her offer to play into our romance and rivalry. During the segment, we take listener calls from any couple or family—even roommates—who live in a divided home with warring fandoms. Stars Wars versus Star Trek. Marvel versus DC. And, of course, Hawks versus Renegades.
And we share our chore list with the listeners every week. I don’t think we pacify everyone, but we adopted the Cheyenne and Mitch model, and letting people in on our housework incentives to keep besting each other has helped some worried fans come around.
We still have haters. Some fans still think we share team secrets, but I’ll never convince those people we don’t.
You can’t please everyone. But that’s life. Falling in love with Beck helped me get over my old habit of trying to make the world happy.
Now, I’m focused on making me happy, along with the man I love. He’s damn good to me—every now and then, when I volunteer at the Alliance, Beck comes with me to play table shuffleboard with the teens. We destroy him every time and beating him never gets old.
I also like making my teammates happy. This year, I don’t have to do the heavy lifting to make that happen.