Nothing Special (Nothing Special 1)

“Yo, someone’s about to get arrested,” one of the players yelled, making the players start ribbing and horse playing.

God saw when Gen turned and noticed them. His eyes went wide and a huge smile appeared on his face. God swore he’d never get tired of that for the rest of his life. Gen took off his helmet and started to jog over to them.

When Genesis was in earshot he called out to them. “What are you guys doing here?” He gave God a one-armed hug and did the same to Day before stepping back.

“Came to see your practice and see if you wanted to grab a bite with us tonight,” Day said.

“Cool. Heck yeah. Practice is only another hour. I’ll meet you guys out front after I shower.” Genesis beamed.

“Hey, Gen, you cool man?”

The three of them turned around at the deep voice. A tall kid a couple inches shorter than Genesis was standing a few feet away with more than a little concern on his face. He had his dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, and despite the sweat and grime on his ivory face, anyone could see the guy was beautiful in an almost androgynous way.

“Yeah, Terry. It’s my big brother, man,” Genesis yelled back to him.

The kid’s brow creased but he nodded and ran back to the huddle.

When Genesis turned back, the almost sweet smile he wore said it all.

“Is that him?” God asked the question anyway.

“Yeah, that’s him,” he said shyly.

Day shrugged and shook his head. “Not bad, Gen. He’s hot in a twink kind of way.”

God and Gen both groaned.

“Jeez. You really have no filter do you, Leo?” Genesis asked around a grin.

“No,” God and Day responded in unison.

“Whittmen, get your ass back over here. I didn’t say this was stop and chat time,” one of the assistant coaches yelled.

God slapped Genesis's shoulder pads and nudged him. “You better go before you’re running laps the rest of the practice."

“Can’t you guys just wave your guns around or something to scare them?” Genesis joked.

God laughed and shoved him harder. “Get your ass back over there. Let me see what you got.”

“You got it.” Genesis snapped his helmet back on and jogged to join his teammates.

Day and God went up a few rows on the cold metal bleachers and watched the rest of the practice. He already knew Genesis was phenomenal but seeing him up close like this was unbelievable. God and Day didn’t embarrass him by cheering him on, but they were barely able to contain their shouts every time Genesis completed a pass. His brother’s tight end crush was a beast too. He and Genesis were almost in sync as he blocked for him on certain plays to get Genesis into the end zone.

At the end of the practice Genesis waved to them as he followed the other players into the locker room. Day and God were almost to the bottom of the bleachers when a man carrying a clipboard, wearing a white polo shirt and khakis approached them.

“Excuse me, detectives.”

God and Day both turned and the older gentleman stuck his hand out to them. They both shook his hand and God saw the black-and-red “G” emblem on his shirt.

“My name is Joseph Myers and I’m the assistant coach for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Are you family of Genesis Whittmen?”

“I’m his brother Cashel Godfrey and this is my partner Leonidis Day.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. If you’re waiting for Genesis, maybe I can have a couple minutes to talk with you men about Genesis’s future.”

While they sat in Henry’s eating wings and drinking sodas, Genesis explained to him that there were always scouts in the stands watching him.

“If you guys come to the homecoming game next week, you’ll see a ton of them.”

“And they're only there to see you?” Day asked.

“Me, Terry, and one of our full backs are the ones they keep approaching. Terry already decided that he’s going to his dad’s alma mater, which is Virginia Tech, but Gibbs and I are still undecided. Coach shields me pretty good, ever since a scout from Florida tried to get me to take some money in exchange for signing a contract.” Genesis wiped sauce from his hands and mouth. “I just want to get into a good school that has a great engineering program, football would be second. Besides, I need to stay close to mom; I’m all she’s got.” Genesis froze when he realized what he’d said, looking apologetically at him.

God was so proud of him he could’ve burst. God smiled to let Genesis know that he understood… things were different now, and it was going to take some getting used to.

“Aren’t you a junior?” Day asked.

“No, he’s a senior. He graduates in June. He took summer school classes for three years so he could graduate early,” God answered first.