Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 69794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I heard the snap of her bone breaking, and decided that I would never, ever be able to unhear that sound.
I was running down the steps toward the bench as her teammates pulled the woman off of her.
She was crying, holding her arm that was bent at an unnatural angle.
The center ref, Eloy, was hovering over her as she was carried off the field.
I waited impatiently at the sidelines as she was carted over on a side-by-side.
Eloy was talking to her, but stopped when I got to Magnolia’s side and said, “Are you okay, baby?”
Magnolia’s pain-filled eyes found mine, and I saw relief written in them. “I’m…”
Eloy looked stunned. “Who are you?”
I leveled my gaze on him. “Aren’t you supposed to be reffing a game? If you can call what you’re doing reffing.”
Eloy looked like I’d punched him in the mouth.
He opened his mouth and then closed it.
But I had a point, and he knew it.
He disappeared back onto the field, his steps stiff. You could tell that I’d pissed him off.
I looked back at my girl, and she said, “Take care of Iris?”
“I have her, darling. I have her.”
EIGHTEEN
I just want someone to love me for the raging, unpredictable, horrific bitch that I am.
—Magnolia’s secret thoughts
MAGNOLIA
I had a broken ulna.
So broken, in fact, that it required surgery to repair.
It was a fine ending to a pretty shitty day—at least for me.
For the Cowgirls, other than losing me for the rest of the game, they’d done pretty damn well.
We won the game 4-2, and no other players were hurt in the game besides me.
Unluckily, again for the United States Referee Association, all eyes were on them. And the professional soccer world was not happy.
This was now three games in a row where we’d had issues with our refereeing and not a single person was liking what they saw. Not professional team owners. Not the league officials. Not the players. And certainly not the fans.
My arm breaking had made worldwide news, and the USRA was scrambling to come up with answers to questions that they couldn’t get out of answering.
To be completely honest, it was quite comical to see everyone scrambling.
Like right now, I was watching SportsCenter where our last three games were being played on a loop as everyone dissected the game to see where everything was going wrong.
My phone rang, and I picked it up with a smile. “Hey, Merrill.”
“Don’t ‘Hey, Merrill’ me. Why didn’t you call me to tell me what happened?” she grumbled.
I smiled as I picked a thread that was dislodging from the sheets that were covering me.
“I would have, only I went straight into surgery. Then when I was out, it was pushing nearly two in the morning. Then I was in recovery, then Iris was there. I just didn’t have a second to spare until now. Which was why I called you,” I explained. “Though I’d like to note that you got that call two hours ago.”
She sighed. “I’m busy.”
My brows rose. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.” She paused. “I’m moving.”
I blinked. “Moving where?”
She sighed. “You know where, dufus.”
My heart leaped into my chest. “You’re moving here? To Montana?”
“Yes,” she grumbled. “I can’t survive without you. Plus, there aren’t any great men around.”
I laughed. “You’re in Texas, which has the second highest population in the US.”
“Yeah, but after a quick Google search, I found out that Montana has the most men.”
I grinned. “That’s because it’s cold as fuck here, and women don’t want to deal with the weather.”
“Whatever it may be, I am going to move to stupid, cold Montana. Where there are cowboys and men that like having rough hands.”
I giggled, thinking about how rough Beau’s hands were.
He may have been working in a suit the last eight months, but that didn’t stop him from having work-roughened hands.
“When will you be here?” I asked.
“I’m actually winding down my two-week notice now,” she said. “And I already got a job at Jesper County Memorial. I’ll start as an x-ray tech soon.”
“Good.” I smiled. “We’ll be able to see each other all over again!”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “Do you think that shit is going to hit the fan with Eloy?”
I frowned. “What? Why?”
There was a long pause and then Merrill said, “He all but outed your relationship—or previous relationship—to ESPN. He said that you were the love of his life, and he wishes that he’d excused himself from that game, because he was trying to hide his feelings for you, and in doing so, he stopped making calls that could’ve protected you.”
I blinked.
Then blinked again. Slowly.
“He what?”
And just as I all but screeched that last part, the door to my hospital room opened and none other than the topic of our conversation walked in, looking sheepish.
This motherfucker.
“I gotta go,” I grumbled. “The asshole is here.”
Merrill sucked in a breath. “Do you want me to call your new man?”