Sawyer (Carolina Reapers 2)

“He is,” Coach agreed. “He also said that you’re a family-oriented man with a lot on his shoulders.”

Asher Silas leaned forward in his seat, while Coach Hartman kept that soul-stare on me, picking me apart without having to say a word.

“My mother,” I said easily. “She has stage four Parkinson’s. That’s why I chose Seattle for college, so I could be close to her. Well, that and the full ride to U-Dub didn’t hurt.”

That earned me a chuckle from the three men who would decide my future.

“I do put her first, Coach, because she put me first. It’s been the two of us since I was fifteen. That doesn’t mean I can’t devote myself to my team—”

“Stop,” Coach ordered softly, putting his hand up slightly, palm out. “I’m a family-first man. I believe the Reapers are only as strong as the men on the ice and the families who stand beside them, which means we don’t ask you to choose. We ask how we can support.”

“Sir?” At least my voice didn’t crack.

“We have several assisted living facilities here in Charleston that provide first-class care,” Silas said. “Or if you’d prefer, we can find excellent at-home care to make sure your mother is cared for.” A corner of his mouth lifted. “Though from what I’ve been told, she quite likes the company of other adults.”

“You’ve been told?” I repeated like a fucking parrot.

“By your mother, herself,” he confirmed with a nod.

Holy fucking shit. Asher Silas called my mother?

Did that mean…

“We’d like to offer you a contract, Sawyer,” Coach McPherson said with a grin.

My stomach flopped, and something I was terrified to call happiness welled up in me so fast that I almost jumped out of my seat.

“A contract?” I repeated, and this time my voice lifted at the end.

“You’re our guy if you want to be,” he confirmed with a nod.

I glanced at Coach Hartman, who nodded.

“You’re slow in the footwork, but that’s probably due to not playing in the last few months,” he noted. “But your instincts are unlike anything I’ve seen.”

“Thank you,” I replied, knowing I’d be dealing with a coach who didn’t pamper or coddle. “I’m not afraid of hard work.”

“Oh, I know,” he answered with a grin that spoke of my upcoming shape-up at his hands.

“What do you say, Mr. McCoy?” Silas asked with a slight tilt to his head. “Would you like to be a Reaper?”

I quelled my immediate instinct to shout in the affirmative. “Yes, sir. I would love nothing more, but there’s someone I need to talk to, first.”

“Go ahead and call her,” he said through his smile. “In the meantime, I’ve heard you don’t have an agent, so Axel sent his down. Does that work for you? You’ll want someone to go over this contract.”

I nodded mutely. Of course I didn’t have an agent. I never thought I’d actually need one.

“Excellent. We’ll bring her in immediately.”

With that, I walked to the corner of the conference room and whipped out my phone. None of this was real until she agreed.

She answered on the first ring.

“Sawyer?”

I leaned my head against the cool glass of the window and grinned. “Mom. They want me. I made it.”

“Oh, honey!” Her voice broke, and I would have given anything to be with her in that moment. All the time and cost. All the equipment and the tears. All of the times she’d hauled me to practice...it had all paid off. “Sawyer, I’m so proud of you!”

I laughed softly through misty eyes. “Mom, I won’t do it if you want to stay in Seattle. I’m not going to leave you, but I won’t make you give up everything you know, either.”

She sighed. “You cannot live your life for me, Sawyer McCoy.”

“I’m not,” I promised, looking out over the street and seeing Scythe just a few blocks away. “I’m living it with you.”

“Honey, why don’t I just go up to Virginia and be with my sisters?” she offered softly. “I won’t hold you back.”

My heart twisted. “Mom, you’re not holding me back. And if you live here...if we live here, then either we can do at-home care, or we can find another place that you like even better. But if you don’t want to come, then I’ll turn them down. I’m not going to walk off and leave you for money.” I fucking refused to turn into what he had been. We might share the same blood, but I didn’t carry his selfish or weak nature. “This is a decision we make together. As a family. Because that’s what family does.”

She quieted for a moment. The only sound coming through the phone was her steady, soft breathing. Mom had always been that way, strong, steady, reliable. Everything about her spirit was unbreakable and formidable. It was her body that refused to keep up with her.