“You always have to make things so difficult,” she tells me before a sob bursts from her chest. “Don’t you, Parker?”

I push up on my knees and envelop her from behind, crushing her into my chest, cocooning her. Her tears flow down my arm, pooling in the crook of my elbow as my hands—as gently and lovingly as possible—rub over every part of her I can.

I arch, peppering her turned face with so many kisses, each one a silent promise to never let her feel like any part of her—her fears, her struggles, her rebellious antics—doesn’t matter. I whisper to her over and over that I’m with her, that she isn’t alone, that she never will be again.

The moment I feel the scar on her back pressed against my racing heart, I slide down, kissing the unhealed part she carries around with no other choice. I tell her I’m with her, but inside, deep in my heart, I promise I’ll love that part of her too. Because for me, it’s all of Parker or nothing. There’s no other choice for me either. As long as I can remember, there never was.

Chapter 28

“How’s that for a marriage announcement?” Parker tosses a newspaper down on the bed the moment I step out of the bathroom in a towel, and I pick up a copy of The Boston Journal.

REBELS STARTING CENTER REPLACES ELVIS IN PRESIDENTIAL VEGAS WEDDING.

Here I was thinking no news is good news. When I woke up this morning and found that, while there were congratulatory—and what the fuck—messages from a few friends, there were none from Nick or Coach. I even went so far as to check my email, but apart from a few Amazon notifications and a reminder about the Thacher School Alumni barbecue in a few weeks, there was nothing from my crew.

“They buried the lede, but I guess every good lineman deserves his moment,” I snicker, securing the towel around my waist. “Josh will get a kick out of this.”

Her shoulders rise and fall beneath the plush white robe she wears. “We did it. We really did it.”

I tug her closer, pulling her back on the bed with me. Parker slides up, snuggling into my side as I read.

“It was just days ago that the White House graced the country with a photo of what looked like the All-American couple. With the luscious flowers of the Rose Garden as a backdrop, it was hard to hate Parker Montgomery and Fitzgerald Rhodes even just on the surface, let alone after you learn their backstory. But now the photos tell a different story. Now? After she walked down the aisle of Las Vegas’ infamous Little White Chapel in a football jersey on the arm of her soon-to-be-husband’s teammate, it’s impossible not to love them.”