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“The sunrise should start in about ten minutes,” the attendant told us as they ushered us toward the elevator. We climbed a few flights of stairs after we got off the elevator before finally coming to our destination.
Lottie gasped when the attendant stepped out onto the small landing with a railing that circled the top spire. We could see for miles—nearly all the island. Lottie’s eyes drank everything in as if she were trying to commit the view to memory. I couldn’t blame her, this felt like a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity. The wind was fiercer up here and picked her hair up, sending it flying around her face. She laughed as she grabbed a piece that had fallen over her mouth and tucked it behind her ears.
“Look,” I told her when I noticed the first splashes of color breaking across the horizon. I could hear her suck in a breath next to me as a splash of pink threw itself across the sky.
The two of us sat in silence as we watched the sun begin to enter a new day. It was one of those moments where you knew you were witnessing something that would become a lifelong memory in your mental scrapbook, and I was doing it with theperfect person. Neither of us felt the urge to fill the silence as we took in the beauty before us from our perch. It might not have been the place she had originally imagined when she made that bucket list item, but judging from the smile on her face, I wasn’t sure she cared.
Chapter 9
Nolan
It was the perfect fall day for a football game. The slight breeze that swirled around inside the stadium smelled like buttered popcorn and hot dogs. Mixed in with those nostalgic fall scents was the smell of sweaty men as both teams crouched down on the line, waiting for me to call for the snap of the ball.
It was the beginning of the fourth quarter, and we were leading comfortably, by two touchdowns. From even before the game started, I was already feeling different about this game than the first week. That familiar flutter of excitement had still filled the bottom of my stomach when I waited in the tunnel to run onto the field with Hawthorn and Derek. But instead of feeling overwhelmed with nerves, I had the smallest amount of confidence from the previous week with Lottie. The time the two of us had spent together putting me through different exercises and drills wouldn’t have improved the strength of my knee by much, but it had given me the start of some ideas on how to use my body in ways that I hadn’t done before to compensate for the mobility loss my knee injury had caused.
Lottie always came every morning with a new idea. She could have given some NFL coaches a run for their money with how intelligent she was when it came to the game of football. It was clear I may have misjudged her from the jump. By this morning before the game, any doubts I had about the reputation she had earned herself within the industry had faded away. She was ambitious, intelligent, and we shared mutual goals forthis season—do whatever it takes to keep me healthy so I can be successful on the field. Lottie let me lead our sessions and was respectful of my reservations toward therapy, even if that went against her way of thinking. She reframed drills for me to understand the practical, real-game application they had. She listened and adjusted plans when I had objections to certain treatments. It was like watching someone who had mastered their craft operating at the highest level.
And by the second touchdown I had thrown before halftime of today’s game, I was beginning to think that maybe Charlotte Thompson was magic.
“Set. Hike!” The ball snapped into my hands, and I dropped back three steps into the pocket that my linemen made for me as they blocked the Gladiators’ defense. My eyes locked on to Derek, who was open down the field. I started to pull my arm back to throw when I felt a blow to my side. It felt like getting hit by a car as you were standing still. A crack sounded in my ears, and I felt my neck snap back before my body made impact with the ground.
A groan passed my lips as I screwed my eyes shut and tried to will the ringing in my ears to stop. I could feel hands on me as people rolled me onto my back. Voices sounded like they were shouting at me, but they were so far away. Finally, after I willed a few small breaths in through my nose, I cracked my eyes open only to see a pair of vibrant blue eyes staring back at me. They were the same pair of eyes that I was beginning to find myself getting lost in for brief moments whenever I looked into them—similar to what was happening now.
“Nolan, I need you to tell me what hurts.” The noise from the stadium began to filter back in as the ringing in my ears faded. My vision widened to take in more than just those blue eyes that reminded me of a beautiful summer sky on a cloudless day.Lottie’s face was etched with concern as her eyes scanned my face, waiting for a reaction from me.
“Just got my bell rung,” I managed to tell her. My voice was strained with pain that I hadn’t yet registered.
“Can you move your arms and legs?” Her hands were on either side of my helmet as she tried to stabilize my head.
“Yes,” I told her. I wanted to ease the worry I saw in her eyes as she continued her assessment. “I’m fine, Lottie.”
I saw the relief I was looking for pass over her face before the mask of professionalism she was so good at wearing slammed back down.
“We’ll need to take you back into the locker room for concussion protocol.”
I groaned, but this time not because I was in pain.
“There’s four minutes left in the game.” My argument was weak. I knew the rules of the NFL. Anytime you were hit in the head, you had to be assessed for a head injury.
“Caleb can handle it. You’re up by two scores.” I didn’t miss the way her voice softened as she mentioned the rookie quarterback. She knew I was having a hard time with realizing that my time in the league was coming to an end quickly and someone would soon take my place.
“Let’s get you up,” Lottie said. Her face pulled away and I realized just how close she had been leaning over me. Her hand extended toward me, and I reached up to grab it. A feeling of contentment washed over me as I wrapped my hand around hers. Her smaller one fit into mine like a matching puzzle piece. She pulled backwards to give me enough leverage to push myself up onto my feet.
As we began to walk off the field, I realized that both she and Zeke had a protective arm around me as they made sure I didn’t fall over on our way to the locker room. Once I was secure onone of the beds in the training room, Lottie told Zeke that she could handle the testing so one of them could still be on the sidelines for the rest of the team.
“I’m beginning to wonder if the football gods have it in for me,” I told Lottie once the two of us were alone.
I watched as she started the concussion protocol testing. Her cheeks were flushed a beautiful shade of red. I wasn’t sure if she was flushed from the chill in the air today or from the adrenaline of having to run onto the field to reach me.
“This will be good for Caleb to get a few minutes of game time experience,” she replied. Spoken like a true sports expert. “You know, you’re missing out on helping him out.”
“I don’t really find pleasure in helping out my replacement,” I told her.
“Everyone gets replaced eventually, Nolan. We’re all just renting our spots in the jobs we occupy. Someone will replace us on our way out. That’s how the world works.” I watched the red in her cheeks deepen as she grew more passionate. “You love this organization more than anybody else. You’ve done your entire career with this team. That’s a rare feat. If you took the time to help Caleb prepare for next season, you’d be helping this team.”
When she put it in perspective like that, it made me sound like a real asshole.
Lottie turned the computer she was working on toward me so I could test myself against my baseline. She sat across from me with her arms crossed over her chest and a look that would turn anything to ash if it were possible.
