Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82543 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82543 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
And hey, I get another laugh out of him, which is more than I’ve gotten the last week. It slowly fades, and then Brady sighs.
“Those guys I was with?”
“The SEALs. How can I forget?”
“Well, yeah, I kinda wish I could forget.”
“Didn’t end well?”
He shrugs. “It ended fine. We’ve made a stupid promise to catch up again next year whenever they’re on leave and I can get away from New York, but …”
“But what?”
“I think having them in the back of my mind might hold me back from other possibilities. What if I pass on the love of my life because of these two guys I randomly hooked up with a couple of times? It feels like they’re keeping me on the hook. Stringing me along to be their side toy whenever they want me. And the sad thing is I know I’ll go running every time.”
It’s not like I haven’t thought the same of Peyton. Come April, he’s going to know his future, but until then, it’s so up in the air. He could be drafted to somewhere horrible and cold and stupid. Like back home to Chicago. Or the farthest, completely opposite side of the country he can get. Like … Maine. Wait, does Maine have an NFL team? I don’t think they do.
Either way, we’re going to have to do the same thing Brady is with the guys he was seeing. Do we try to make long-distance work? Do I defer my art degree and enroll wherever Peyton gets a contract?
These are all things Peyton and I are going to have to discuss closer to his graduation. I’m too scared to bring it up now when we have months left to wait and twiddle our thumbs.
I try to find some reassuring words, but I don’t think I have any, so I go with a cliché instead. “I’m sure that when your soul mate … or soul mates come into your life, you’ll forget all about your SEALs.”
Brady smiles over at me. “I really do hope you and my brother work out. I can’t really talk to him about this stuff.”
“Can I ask why? Peyton will support you always.”
“I know, but our dynamic is already shifting. Ever since I quit football after high school, it’s like we’ve stepped into our future roles. He’s the athlete, and I’m the person who makes sure he stays in line. Our relationship is all about him, and I’m okay with that. It’s what I signed up for when we came up with this plan to be agent and athlete when we were older. But I don’t know how to change the topic to talk about me.”
“Well, I’m always happy to give you shitty advice when you need it.”
“Thanks … future brother-in-law.”
“Whoa, too soon for that kind of talk.”
Brady scoffs. “It’s cute you think our dads aren’t already planning the wedding.”
I try to hide my smile because that actually sounds like the exact thing I want. Someday. To officially become a Miller.
Goodbye to the toxic Levingston Vanderbilt name. Hello, Levi Miller.
One day.
I let out a hard breath and bounce my legs, and it’s not because I’m freezing, which I am, or because the person belting out the national anthem can’t sing, which she can’t. It’s because I’m so damn nervous for Peyton over this game.
When the song ends, Brady grips my shoulder. “Geez, you look worse than Peyton did this morning. You do know you’re not playing, don’t you?”
“Thank fuck I’m not,” I mutter. “Then they’d have no chance, Peyton would blow his shot at the big time, and then neither of us would have a future.”
Brady laughs. “You can relax. With how Peyton played in the semifinal, he’s more than proven all the media crap about you two didn’t affect his game. He could choke tonight and he’ll still be okay.”
On the other side of Brady, Talon slaps the back of Brady’s head.
“Shut your blasphemous mouth.”
“It’s true, though,” Brady complains. “Hell, he could choke and still be the number one draft at this point. He’s had a killer year. His college stats rival your own from back in the day, you know, when you weren’t over the hill—”
There’s another slap to the back of Brady’s head.
Brady swats his dad’s hand away. “Hey, I quit football to avoid getting a head injury.”
“Think positively. You know the game is more mind over matter than skill.”
“Yes, but I think that only applies to the ones playing.”
Miller puts his head forward and looks past the other two toward me. “We really shouldn’t have sat this way because these two will be at it for the whole game.” He pokes his husband. “Switch with Levi.”
“You don’t want to sit with me?”
“I’ve been sitting with you for too many years already. One of our boys has found someone who doesn’t live and breathe football like you do, and I have someone to be an actual grown-up with.”