“Of course not!” I exclaim indignantly. “I would have made her marry me.”

“Wait—what? I thought you guys can’t get married?”

“Well, apparently we can. I’d have to quit football, move there, and become a Marcedenian citizen.”

“So…why haven’t you?” Mike questions.

“I’m glad you think it’s so simple, Mike,” I snap. I’m beginning to regret having told him anything.

“It is simple, Jace. When you brought her home last Thanksgiving, it was the happiest I’ve ever seen you. You barely cracked a smile when you got the call you’d been drafted. Doesn’t that tell you all you need to know?”

“It’s not that easy, Mike,” I insist.

“What’s so complicated about it? Have you even tried?”

“Yes,” I retort, angry now. “I asked about my contract, okay? I’d have to buy myself out, which is five million dollars I do not have. The last thing I need is more debt to worry about. The whole reason I even entered this season was—”

“Mom and Dad?” Mike guesses.

“What do you mean?” I ask carefully.

“Come on, Jace, I’m seventeen, not seven. We all know how tight things have been over the years. But I just got my scholarship, and things are better for the farm too. Mom and Dad have been getting checks from a small farm grant that have helped a lot. They’ve almost paid everything off.”

“What? A grant?” My mind begins spinning. “Since when?”

“I don’t know, the checks started coming right after last Thanksgiving…” Mike trails off, having come to the same conclusion I have. “She wouldn’t…would she?”

“She absolutely would,” I reply, both annoyed and touched.

“And your plan is still to do nothing?”

“She asked me not to.”

“Because she doesn’t want you or because she thought it was what you wanted?”

“I don’t know,” I admit.

“You love her, right?”

“You know I do.”

“Enough that it would be worth it? To give everything up? Even if it doesn’t work out? Especially if it doesn’t work out?”

I stare at my brother. “When the hell did you become some sort of love guru?”

My brother shrugs, smirking. “Girls can’t resist me. The other guys come to me for advice a lot.”

I scoff loudly.

“So?” Mike asks. “Is it worth it?”

I’ve known the answer for a while, but the fear of what the repercussions could be have always haunted me. “Yeah, it is.”

Mike smiles widely. “Damnit, I was just getting used to having a brother who made it to the pros. Guess you being a king will have to suffice.”

“Don’t jinx anything,” I tell him. “She might have meant it. And we didn’t exactly part on great terms. She might not say yes.”

“Jace, she’s a literal princess. And she came to Nebraska to spend Thanksgiving with you on our family’s farm. She stayed in our laundry room and went plowing with Dad. And the whole time she was here she looked at you like you’d just come back from hanging the moon. She’ll say yes.”