His phone rang again.
He cursed and shut it off a second time.
Mine started ringing right after that.
Our eyes caught and held, and I frowned.
“Fucking hell.” He stood back up, reaching for my phone. Seeing who it was, he pushed the button to answer. “This better be a damned emergency.” He was silent, then fell absolutely still. “Are you sure?” he asked. Fear, stark fear, showed in his eyes a moment before he blanketed it. His jaw clenched. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” He ended the call, handing the phone back to me.
I took it, not thinking as I put it into my pocket. I felt tension growing in my chest. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
His voice was so faint. “That was Logan. He talked to Taylor’s dad when he got home.” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he half-turned away.
I reached for him, grabbing hold of his hand before those last two fingers slipped away. I pulled him back. “Hey. What happened?”
“Quinn sent that video to Cain University’s coaching staff.”
Fighting wasn’t tolerated. At all. It was their policy.
My stomach grew uneasy. I knew what that meant.
Mason finished, “I’ve been suspended pending a personal investigation.”
“Mason, it’ll be fine.”
“No.” He sat down on the comforter, resting his hands over his knees. He watched as I sat next to him. “The fighting’s on my record. They’ll get ahold of the case we have against Caldron. Then they’ll start looking into the past. I was fucked before I even started.”
“Mason.” I reached for his hand. I needed to say more, but that seemed to be all I could get out. I didn’t want to hear what he was going to say next…
“The NFL has a strict policy on scandals, and this whole shitstorm over the summer? They’ll see it as one giant scandal. It’s over for the NFL.”
“Mason.” I closed my eyes, just holding onto his hand.
Then the question came. I wasn’t expecting it, though I should’ve been.
His voice sounded raw.
“Sam, will you marry me?”