First thing in the morning was the worst time to get news like this because it was all I could think about the whole day. I tried to forget while at the gym, then at practice, but it didn’t work. All I could think about was Miami and how much fucking space was between here and there.
Don had texted me back by the time I got back home. He suggested that we hit a bar, but we couldn’t do that today. I needed him focused. I headed out to his ranch. He didn't live in the farmhouse that his dad stayed in, even though his place and his dad's were on the same property. His house was smaller, a little less than a quarter mile from his dad's. A porch wrapped the whole way around and it had two stories, even though he stayed there alone. He answered the door with wet hair and no shirt on like he'd just come out of the shower.
"Hey, man," he said. "What was up with those texts?" All I had said was that I needed to talk to him and that it was important. I followed him inside and shut the door behind me.
"Remember that trip I took a couple weeks ago?"
"To play football? Yeah. What about it? I thought it went well. Didn’t that guy on the plane or wherever tell you that he wanted to get you on the team he works for?"
"The coach called me today," I said. He turned to face me, holding a beer in each hand that he'd pulled out of the fridge.
"That's good, right? What did he say?"
"That I was their first pick. I have till Friday to accept or refuse their offer."
"What the fuck, Rome, that's great," he said, slapping me on the arm. "I don't see what the problem is here. You told him yes, right?"
"I asked for the extra time before I had to decide," I said. He put his beer down and crossed his arms.
"Why the hell would you do a thing like that?"
"Because the team's in Miami." He was confused before it dawned on him. He scrubbed his face with his hands.
"Godammit, Roman. I swear to God. I'll drag you to Miami myself if that's what it's going to take to make you go."
"I can't leave. Not now."
"Yes you can and you're going to," he said forcefully. "Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about throwing this offer back in their faces."
"If I have to trade it for Ron, then yeah. I just might." He swore, crossing his arms again.
"What the fuck are the chances that this will ever happen again? If she was out of the picture, just think. After a whole year not playing, a team picks you out of hundreds of guys and offers you a spot. How often do you think that happens? How many guys would murder you to take your spot?"
"I can’t make this decision like I don't have other things that matter to me. If you asked me a year or two ago, I would have said yes and been in Miami tomorrow – no hesitation. This is different, Don. Football's not the most important thing to me."
"But the girl you just got back together with is?" he asked.
I shrugged. "I know I don't want to leave her."
"You did it before and look what happened. When you got back, she was still in one piece."
"You can't compare this to that time."
"Why not? You had to go then, and you have to go now. You had to leave her then, and you have to do it now. Talk to her, whatever you need to do, but fuck it, man, you have to take this deal. "
Why did it feel like this meant more to him than it did to me? I knew he was my friend and supported me, but what was the big deal? He had backed out of his own sports career, maybe it would make him feel better somehow if I went through with it?
I didn't get it, though; he had quit. He had loved baseball, too, and he had still hung up his mitt to work here every day. He had chosen what mattered more to him and it hadn’t been baseball, so why couldn’t he see that I felt the same way?
"I have till Friday to tell them. I'll wait till then," I said, sipping some of the beer. How long had it taken him to make his decision? Had he just been so worn down by his dad that he'd thrown his hands up and quit, just like that?
I knew I had asked for more time and things could change over a couple days, but far as I could tell, I had to pick. Ron or football. Right now, it wasn't looking that good for Miami. Right now, if someone asked me straight up to pick, I was picking her. I didn't want football if it meant she and I would have to split up again.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Veronica
Roman didn't sleep in. He had sort of been like that before, but it had never been this severe. My alarm hadn't rung yet, but I was awake. He was next to me, looking at his phone. The light was illuminating his face ghostly white.