Win Big: A Bad Boy Sports Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

can the difference between getting drafted and being passed over. And what if it’s more?”
    Slade’s brow furrowed. “Geez. Will you try not to think like that? You know it’s not true. These scouts have already seen you. You’ve got agents coming out of your ass, for God’s sake. They’re practically stabbing each other in the back to get close to you. A groin injury…”
    “…makes me damaged goods,” I said, finishing his sentence. “A player gets hurt once, and they’re more likely to get hurt again. They get cautious, too. They don’t have the same full-on energy on the field because they don’t want to get hurt again. You know it as well as I do. This is a shit sandwich, no matter which way you slice it. It would have been bad enough during the season, but I only have seven weeks until the combine. I can’t afford to take it easy. Once they know I was hurt all that interest could dry up.”
    “You’re blowing it out of proportion, but whatever.” He sat in one of the guest chairs in the corner, leaning his elbows on his knees. “We won’t know anything until the doc comes in.”
    I held my tongue. Slade didn’t get it. He had his academics to fall back on. I wasn’t in dire straits, but my GPA was simply okay. It wasn’t stellar and unlike a few of these guys, I had no fallback career plan.
    NFL or bust.
    It was premature, but I started to wonder what I could possibly do if going pro was no longer an option.
    The option.
    My parents would be supportive. I didn’t have to doubt that. I just couldn’t imagine what other path I could take now. For my whole life, this was all I worked toward. This was all I ever wanted. Sure, I was dwelling in the absolute worst case scenario that if this injury was really bad, I wouldn’t be drafted right out of college the way I had always planned. I could wait a year, but I didn’t want to do that. Waiting was not in my DNA. I had no idea what I would do in the meantime, either, besides work out and keep myself conditioned. A whole new group of players was coming up next year too. I would be old news by then. The scouts and agents would move on.
    I clenched my jaw to hold back the agony.
    Falling apart and praying were not options either.

4
    Samantha
    I received a phone call from Dr. Jeffries around three o’clock on Monday afternoon. Kristy was at a meeting to be assigned an unplanned tutoring student due to some kind of mix-up, so I was alone in my dorm room, researching the school’s baseball team players, their stats, past injuries, that sort of thing. I knew most of them already, but liked to be on top of the people I worked with.
    When my phone rang and I saw it was my department head, my stomach did a flip. Trouble was brewing. Why else would he call me? And in the middle of an afternoon where I wasn’t expected anywhere? Come to think about it, this was actually the first time I’d ever heard his voice over the phone.
    “Hello?” I answered.
    “Samantha?”
    “Hi Dr. Jeffries. Yes it’s me.”
    “I’m sorry, but an item has come up that I need to discuss with you.” He sounded tense. He might as well have said, we have a problem . I could hear it in his voice. This was bad news along the lines of end of the world stuff.
    I slumped a little in my desk chair. “What is it?”
    “One of the top-tier football players had an injury during a practice yesterday.”
    I frowned. “They’re still practicing? Even in the off-season?”
    “Yes. You know they condition year-round. This is one of our graduating players, one who shows promise for a top ten or top fifteen NFL draft pick come spring…which is why I’m calling you.”
    “Me? I’m not sure why, Professor,” I stuttered out. This was football he was talking about. In my mind, I wasn’t interested. “It’s good to know you think that highly of me.” I was at a loss, just blabbering, hoping he wasn’t calling for the reason I thought he might be calling. He didn’t randomly