Page 161 of Tangled with the Tight End

“I’m glad.”

We’re quiet for a while. He runs his hand over my arms and back, tracing lazy little patterns.

After a while, I ask, “So … how many houses are we talking about here, exactly?”

He just laughs.

Chapter 25

Declan

The most precious gift you can give

to the one you love is your true presence.

~ Tich Nhat Hanh

I lay back on the weight bench, settling my grip on the bar.

My strength coach, Mac, is right behind me.

I’m benching three-fifty. Nothing showy, but it’s more than I’ve been set up to do for weeks.

“Five by five,” Mac says. “I’ve got you.”

I unrack the bar, lowering it toward my chest. Then, I press upward with a full exhale. On the inhale, I lower the bar to my chest again, and press up with another strong exhale.

My cast comes off in ten days. Somehow the finish line on this stage of my healing feels both like a massive relief and an impossibility. I’m itching to get back to practices and games.

I’ll be spending more time at the facility.

More meetings. More workouts. More check-ins with my treatment team.

And that means less time with Winona, even though she usually drives me here and either waits for me while she studies, or goes to work and circles back to pick me up.

I never would have believed it was possible to miss someone when I’m seeing her so consistently, but here I am—missing her in the middle of a workout.

“Focus,” Mac says, as if he’s a mind reader.

I extend the bar overhead and return it to the rack and breathe.

“How’d that feel?” he asks.

“Good. Like coming home.”

“That’s what we want to hear. Now stop slacking and get to your next set.”

“You married?” I ask Mac before I lift the bar in the air and slowly lower it to my chest for the next set.

“Focus, O’Connell.”

I do. I push all the way through the next set, feeling the promising burn of each press.

When the bar’s back on the rack, Mac says, “Divorced. Never intend to settle again. Women are a complication. Finding the right one is a myth.”

“Ouch,” I say.

I am beyond certain Mac has never met the right one.