Page 93 of Tangled with the Tight End

“It really is,” she says. “I’m having a hard time picturing you making Declan laugh.”

“Why? Don’t you think I’m funny?”

“I think you’re hilarious. It’s just … making him laugh … that feels like a stretch.”

“We laugh a lot.”

She’s quiet. My phone pings with another text from Declan.

Then Cass says, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. You do bring the sunshine wherever you go.”

Declan: So when do I get to see this surprise?

Winona: I’ll bring it when I come by tomorrow to take you to the practice facility.

Declan: Are you hanging out there again?

Winona: I’m going to drop you off and then I’m going to see my other patient. I’ll be back in the afternoon to pick you up.

Declan: The guys will be bummed. They liked seeing you at lunch.

Winona: How do you know that?

Declan: They texted me.

Winona: About me?

Declan: Yeah. You made quite an impression.

“Huh,” I say.

“What?” Cass asks.

“Nothing. Just the guys on the team were asking Declan if I was coming to lunch tomorrow again.”

The car swerves lightly when Cass’s head pivots toward me. “What?! You had lunch with the Thunder?”

“Not the whole team. Just Keller, Linc and Hendricks … and Declan, of course.”

“Of course? Of course? What on earth, Win? You had lunch with the running back, left tackle and two tight ends of the Tennessee Thunder and you didn’t say anything? The Tennessee freaking Thunder!” She huffs out a breath and shakes her head. “You don’t even like football. I would give a week’s salary to sit with those guys.”

“I didn’t know this would mean so much to you. And for the record, I do like football—a lot more than I used to. I just had to understand it. Declan’s been teaching me.”

“He has?”

“Yeah. He’s a really good teacher.”

I think back to him teaching me to throw and I can’t stop smiling. I glance out the window so Cass won’t see my face.

“Declan O’Connell is teaching you about football?”

“You say his name like he’s a movie star.”

“Winona, he basically is. He makes more than most movie stars. He probably knows a bunch of movie stars. The question isn’t why I sound starstruck. The question is why you don’t.”

I think about her point. “I don’t know why. To me, he’s just Declan.”

She smiles over at me. “You’re one of a kind.”