He considered all that he would gain if he signed on to Micah’s plan. The naysayers wouldn’t have any ammunition for their attacks, not if he showed them that he’d gotten back into playing form. More importantly, it would give him the chance to showcase Taylor’s work. He would give her all the credit and make sure it was understood that without her help, he would never have gotten through any of this.

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was wrong to hold this workout under false pretenses.

Unless…unless he didn’t hold it under false pretenses.

He could be up front with the teams from the outset. Or even if he waited until the end of the workout, he could immediately level with the scouts, let them know that he would not be entertaining any offers. If all it cost them was an hour of watching him perform the drills via a video stream—that wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Not if it meant holding up the end of his bargain with Taylor.

And, at the end of the day, he was still leaving the game of football on his terms. Even better, he could convince himself that he’d given all that he could to make the dream he’d taken away from Silas a reality.

He would eventually figure out what to do about Big Silas’s care. Maybe he could do as Taylor had suggested and downsize. Between the sale of the house and the couple million he had in the bank, he could take care of his family, Silas’s family, and Taylor, and still live comfortably until he figured out his next step.

He could do this. This final test, this final stand, would be enough. It had to be enough.

“Okay,” Jamar said, the word coming out in a raspy whisper.

“What was that?” Micah asked.

He spoke up. “I said okay. If it’s all virtual…” He paused. “If it’s all virtual, I’ll go through with the workout. Hell, try to get even more teams to tune in if you can.”

“Excuse me?”

Jamar jerked around at the sound of Taylor’s voice. His eyes never leaving hers, he said, “Um, Micah, I’ll check in with you later.” He clicked the computer mouse, ending the FaceTime call.

“So you’re not canceling the workout? Even though, by your own admission, you could barely dance on Saturday night?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, Taylor. It’s not what you think.”

“Really? So what is it? Based on what I just heard, not only are you planning to go through with this, but you want even more teams there.”