“What should work?” I ask.
“I want you to come with me.” He pauses. “To England.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Dead serious,” he says with a nod.
England? Really? “When?”
“We’re playing an exhibition game in London at Wembley Stadium a week from this Sunday. What do you think?” He lifts his brows.
My mind is racing with the possibilities—and the obstacles. I wish I could just pick up on a whim and go wherever I want, whenever I want to, but I don’t have that luxury. “I-I don’t know if I could get the time off.”
“Don’t you get vacation time?”
“Well, yeah. I get one week a year.” As in, I have five paid days off. “But usually we have to request the time off at least a month in advance.”
“Think they could make an exception?”
“I don’t know,” I answer, chewing on my lower lip.
I go quiet for a moment, thinking of all the things I’d need to do before I leave—if I even can leave, when Jordan finally asks, “Do you want to go to London with me?”
He sounds so unsure, and that’s unusual for Jordan Tuttle. He was—and still is—the most confident person I’ve ever known. He just always makes everything he does look so damn easy.
Throw a touchdown and win the game? He can do that.
Pass that test with an A yet never bothered to study? He can do that too.
Pursue his dream career with pure determination and end up playing for the NFL like it’s no big deal? Yep, he sure did that.
He can do anything he sets his mind to.
“Yes,” I tell him with a faint smile. “Yes, I definitely want to go to London with you. I’ve always wanted to go there.”
His smile is one of pure relief. “We can make this work.”
“Easy for you to say.” I’m teasing, but then again, I’m not. It is easy for him to say. It’s not so easy when I’m living a normal life and can’t take off whenever I want.
If you would’ve stayed with Jordan through it all, maybe you’d be his wife. Maybe you’d be traveling everywhere with him right now.
I push that nagging voice to the corner of my brain.
“Just put in for some vacation time or whatever,” he says.
“It’s hard to do it so last minute, though. They’ll need to find someone to cover for me,” I explain.
“And that might be difficult?”
“Sometimes.” Truthfully? I don’t know. But I’ve seen management scramble when someone calls in sick before, especially when it’s for an unexpected and extended period of time.
“I really want you to go,” he says in that determined voice I instantly recognize. “We could stay for a few extra days. Explore the city.”
Hope fills me, along with a healthy dose of excitement. “That sounds amazing,” I say softly.
He brings his phone closer to his face, and it’s like a shock to my system. Will I ever get over how handsome he is? “I’ve never been to London before.”
“Me either.” I’ve never really traveled out of the U.S., minus my extended weekend trip to Mexico with some of my girlfriends. It was for a friend’s bachelorette trip. We all saved up, shared one hotel room at a resort, and had the time of our lives. I got a little wild and crazy and hooked up with an extremely drunk, extremely cute guy from South Carolina. I liked his drawl. He liked my ass. I’ve never had a one-night stand before until then. Once I returned home, I never spoke to him again. It was a match made in wild-weekend-in-Mexico heaven.