Turn Over

I headed up to his office with my notepad and the binder for this week’s game. It changed, depending on the opponent. There was a full team roster along with their most popular plays. There was no way to count on the injury report until minutes before the whistle blew. I made my decisions with the information I had.

I rapped on the outside of the door.

“Come on in,” he called.

We did this every week. Three days before the game we sat down and discussed the final strategy. Last time I was in this office he had handed my balls to me on a platter.

I spread my materials out on his desk. “I’ve got my first two drives set.”

We were past pretending we needed to small talk.

“Before we get to that I wanted to ask how things are going with Charlie.”

“You could have fucking warned me she didn’t have a dick.” I eyed him.

He laughed. “Yeah, she’s not a man. She’s the best in the business though. She keeps a low profile, but she has resurrected quite a few AFA careers. You can be sure of that.”

“I’m also sure she’s got her shit in my business.” I glared at him. I wasn’t giving up this fight.

“I’m counting on her to bring us a win.”

“I bring the wins,” I growled. Charlie might be good at her job, but she wasn’t the one the fans rooted for. They didn’t give a shit about a beautiful woman in a designer suit calling the shots on my personal life.

“It’s already working though. Had a call from McCade this morning. He liked the article on your donations to the children’s wing and was impressed with your visit to see the kids. He’s looking the other way right now and that’s what you want.”

“I’m only doing this because you threatened me with a league ban,” I snarled. “I didn’t get that girl pregnant. She played him for a complete fool and took him to the bank.”

As soon as I said it I thought about Alexa. I wondered what she would think if she knew there was some chick out there, claiming I was going to be a dad. And I couldn’t help but think about whether Alexa had gotten on a plane, carrying my child. That one moment of panic when I saw the broken condom had unfurled into dreams that I had planted my baby inside her. I didn’t know if it made me an asshole that it turned me on so much, or a real man who had found the right woman to give him a baby. I shook my head. It was too fucking confusing to sort out right now.

“I was trying to give you a compliment.” Coach pulled on his visor. “Let’s just forget it. I’ll let Charlie handle you where your image is concerned and you and I will focus on football.”

“I think we need to do that.”

We agreed on one thing. Only one fucking thing.

21

Alexa

My hands shook. My stomach flipped and tossed with nerves. I didn’t know how I was going to get through this. The doorbell rang and I jumped from the couch.

I rushed through the hallway, almost skating on the hardwoods to open the front door.

“Hey, girl.” Helena wrapped me in a hug. “Cute hair.”

“Thanks.” It was up in my standard ponytail.

I closed the door and set the alarm behind her. “Thank you for coming over. I didn’t think I could do this alone.”

“Sure thing. You know I’m a huge fan. It’s going to be fun.”

She followed me into my den. Her eyes widened when she saw the spread I had made.

“We’re going to eat all of this?”

“Ok, so I don’t know what people eat when they watch football. Did I overdo it?”

She plopped down on the couch. “Slightly overboard, but I don’t care. It looks amazing.” She scooped up some cheese dip on the end of a piece of toasted pita.