As I began to do so, I noticed a piece of paper in his hands. Normally I wouldn’t pry, but given my father’s inebriated state, I was quite curious to see what was on the paper. As I read through the document, I was horrified. It appeared that I wasn’t the only one having a rough night.
I couldn’t believe that they would do such a thing! My dad was one of the most hard-working men that I knew! How could they fire him?! I dropped the notice on the table and headed upstairs. I then got into bed and proceeded to cry. Why was all of this happening to me? Why did they fire my dad? Why did Mark have to tell me that he loved me? I clutched my pillow and cried profusely. I wanted all of this to just be a dream. I just wanted to wake up the next day and not have to deal with all of this. My life has never had so much drama before and now it seemed to be filled with it. I tugged at my shirt and could smell Nick.
I wished Nick was here to comfort me. It felt like my entire life was falling apart. I just wanted to be wrapped in his arms so that I could just get lost in him. As I lay there looking up at the ceiling, I hoped that things would get better somehow and we would quickly get through this rough time. I tried to convince myself that it would but that was very difficult when I was right into the thick of it all. Finally, as I was beginning to fall asleep, I had thoughts of Nick to soothe me into a restful, dreamy state.
6
Nick
Ah! It was good to be back at the stadium! This field was like my second home and it always felt good to be here. I felt like I belonged. I walked in with a smile on my face and determined mindset that I was going to have a good practice today. That was normally the mindset that I had, and it always worked for me. I always seemed to have a laser-like focus on the field and whenever we played games. I was running some strategies that the coach discussed with us in my mind and preparing myself for the game.
Suddenly, April popped into my head. I wondered how she was doing. It had been a while since I heard from her. I remembered our little moment in my room and began to grin like an idiot. It was so intimate and romantic. We weren't able to get very far and still it was almost perfect. That is, until we were rudely interrupted by the clash between Mark and Brad. I wanted to punch both of them in the face for ruining it. I can’t believe that Mark didn’t know how to handle his liquor! I mean, what guy in college didn’t know his limits?! Gosh! I can’t believe she called him her best friend! Maybe he was just her friend because he really liked her. I don’t know. And Brad's jealousy over Mandy of all people really got on my nerves!
Anyway, I was tired of thinking about them. My thoughts immediately went back to April. Oh! How I missed that beautiful angelic face of hers and those lips! It felt like it had been ages since we kissed. I wanted to do it again. I wanted to take her into my arms and kiss her and hold her and bite her and….
I had to get a hold of myself. If the guys saw the hard-on that thinking about April was giving me, there would be no end to their teasing. I pulled myself together and decided to pay April a visit at work. I saw her from where I stood across from her stand. She looked so beautiful. I wondered if she knew how lovely she looked when she was waiting on customers. Who was I kidding? She always looked lovely in general.
I watched as she pulled out her textbook and started reading. Her business law class, I bet. I grinned mischievously thinking, maybe I should get into some legal trouble and let her bail me out.
That would be an interesting form of role play. I stared at her for a moment. I had to admit that I loved her work ethic. She would be an excellent study partner and gauging from that night at my party, an excellent partner in other matters.
I wished I had brought her flowers or something to show how special I thought she was. It annoyed me at how new I was to all of this. I wasn't used to making girls feel so special. I felt like a wuss, but I knew she deserved it. I wanted to go out of my way to make her feel special. I was so nervous. She made me nervous. As I walked up to her, I wondered what I should say to her. If we had sealed the deal, I wouldn’t feel so nervous. It was easier to interact with girls that I had slept with. I am not sure why, but it’s easier when you have seen each other naked, I guess. There is nothing left to hide. I guess I did live up to my reputation. I only seemed to interact with girls who I enjoyed having sex with. I never really focused on making anything meaningful after that. It just didn’t make sense to me. I already had sex with a girl and after that, she didn’t seem to have much to offer. So this relationship with April, or whatever it was, was unique. It was a challenge for me not to slip into bad habits, but keeping her around was a big priority and I was willing to put the extra effort in making this work for her because she was worth it.
I finally walked up to the stand. April saw me and smiled at me. God, do I love that smile. I just wanted that smile to be mine and mine only. I felt like the luckiest man in the world. She was everything I could ever want in a woman and ever since her, I haven’t thought about anyone else.
She looked a little down. I could see it in her eyes. I wasn’t really one to pry into the personal affairs of others. I also wasn’t one to focus on the negativity and sadness. Also I didn’t want her to cry right now. She was at her job and looked really pretty. I just didn’t want to ruin it.
“So is everything okay? Is your friend okay?”
“Yeah, I am okay. He’s fine now. Just had to sleep it off. Thanks a lot for everything.”
I could even hear it in her voice. She wasn’t her normal self. Whatever it was, it must have been really bad. I hated to see like this.
“Yeah, I figured. Well that’s good.”
“Yeah.”
I couldn’t help it. I just wanted to make her feel better.
“How about we go on a date?” I suggested.
She perked up a bit.
She wanted clarification, “You mean like an actual date?”
“Is there any other kind?”
She seemed really surprised.
“Yeah, of course I would love that.”
I smiled at her. I was so glad to put a smile on that face.
She was grinning like an idiot. I felt so proud of myself. I felt like I had accomplished something.
“Good. Great!”
“So…. Where would we go?”
I…hadn’t thought that far ahead. I froze trying to figure out where to take her. I could take her to a restaurant. I wasn’t even sure what kind of food she liked. Maybe she liked Italian. I know a lot of people do.
I gathered myself and answered the question.
“So there is this Italian restaurant we can go to. I normally would go there sometimes just to have pizza, but I heard they have other dishes as well,” I suggested.
“Sure, I’d love to go there,” she agreed eagerly.
“Great, well maybe when we have some time we can go out. I’m really busy with practice right now. Another big game is coming up and we have to be prepared.”
“Yeah, I have finals coming up,” she said as she raised her book.
“So, we can talk about this some more and then go on our date….”
“…. And see where the night takes us?”
“Good! Smart as always.”
I leaned in and gave her a kiss. I stroked her face. I wanted to do so much more than just kissing. I wanted to go back to that moment in my bedroom and do it all over again. I wanted to do so much more than just kiss her and touch her. I wanted to taste every inch of her and make her say my name. I stared at those beautiful eyes and we were deep into conversation, yet I knew there was still something on her mind. I loved talking to her so much that I forgot the time. Coach, who saw me talking to her from a distance told me that they were about to begin practice and that I needed to get ready. I asked him to give me a minute.
I turned to look at April and I just hated saying goodbye to that pretty face.
“I have to go to practice now. But I will see you soon?”
She smiled, “Yeah, you will.”
I kissed h
er goodbye and headed to the locker room to change. I was mentally getting ready for another training session. I knew I was going to crush it. Ryan came up to me and looked sorrowful. I was really in a good mood and didn’t want to hear it. I told Ryan about Jennifer and as much as I initially felt sorry for him, he walked right into it. He knew how manipulative she was. I knew things were tough for him, but was he really that desperate?
Ryan said, “Look, bro I am sorry about your party the other night. She really wanted to go and she promised to help me go pro after school.”
“Oh, okay.”
So I was right. It was only a mutually beneficial relationship. Ryan could have gotten anyone else to help him. He wasn’t a bad player and he was one the hardest working and dedicated players on the team. Had I known he was so desperate to go pro, I would have been willing to help. I would have put him in touch with people who can help him. The coach, the school, even my father would have helped. He didn’t have to go through this, especially with Jennifer who, at the end of the day, would only focus on and act out based on her own self-interest.
“I didn’t even want her help, but she said she knew someone who owns the Broncos and I really want to join the team,” he added.
I began to walk away. I didn’t want to deal with this. I was going on a date with my dream girl and wanted to only focus on practice. I didn’t have time for this.
“Hey! Look I’m sorry.”
I kept walking. He then grabbed my shoulder and I pushed off his hand.
“Did it even occur to you that she is only using you to make me jealous?” I asked sharply.
This touched a nerve. Ryan was immediately upset.
“What? Why would she do that?” he asked.
“Because that’s who she is. She just uses people for her own agenda and then just dumps them like trash.”
Ryan was surprised, “Wow, I didn’t even know.”
“Of course you knew! Who do you think I was talking about all this time?!”
“Oh…I just thought it was some other girl who you used to date before her.”
“I hardly dated anyone before her! She was my longest relationship,” I stated.
“Oh, well I don’t think she’s that bad. I actually spoke to the guy on the team.”
“How do you know it was actually him?”
He paused. He didn’t. Wow, I hate to think that some of us seemed to live up to the stereotype of a meathead. But Ryan was proving me wrong.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Exactly! Ryan, can’t you see someone like that is very dangerous? She makes promises which seem great, but sometimes doesn’t back them up.”
“Huh,”
Finally, I could see the gears in the meathead’s mind turn. It took him long enough. I really just wanted to focus on practice right now. I didn’t want to be bothered with this. Wow, even when we break up, she still causes drama. It was ridiculous. I put my practice clothes and gear on and then proceeded to put my helmet on. I looked over at Brad who seemed quite sad. I was concerned that he just sat there when practice is going to start in five minutes.
“Brad, what’s the matter?”
“I caught her.”
I obviously knew what he caught her doing, but I wanted to be sure.
“What did you catch her doing?” I asked.
“I caught her in bed with someone else,” he replied.
I could tell that he wanted to cry, but this was not the place for it.
“You guys did break up. She has the right to sleep with whoever she wants to.”
“But I still love her….” He then looked at his feet. I wish there was something I could do to help, but I thought Brad was better off not being with her. She was quite toxic and brought drama with her wherever she went. It was irritating to watch a guy like Brad be manipulated by her.
I, on the other hand, was relieved that April wasn’t like those girls. I am so glad I met her. She wasn’t one for a lot of drama and I was grateful for that. I was done with that chapter of my life. I was glad to no longer be with Jennifer and I would never have anything to do with Mandy again. I knew the woman who I wanted to be with for a very long time.
Brad managed to get himself together and put on his gear and uniform. He then headed outside with the rest of the team. I ran up to the team and coach was already speaking to the team and getting us revved up for another training session. We warmed up by running around the field and we did several laps. We did push-ups, sit-ups and jumping jacks and several other exercises. When coach believed we were fully warmed up, we then practiced our tackles. We identified weak spots in our defense. We ran through various tactics for the next few games and finally after two hours, training was over.
I was really tired and just wanted to sleep. As I was about to leave the field, a middle- aged man with a long white beard was watching from a distance. It was a little disturbing. The dude was creepy. He then walked up to the coach who then pointed me out to the man. Way to go, coach. Let the creepy guy know who I am. I was on the defensive. I knew I could tackle him if he tried anything funny with me. He then walked up to me, stuck out his hand and said:
“Hi, I’m Chad Johnson. I work with the recruitment team for the New York Giants,” he introduced himself.
I couldn’t believe this guy! Are you kidding me? He couldn’t really be from the New York Giants. He then showed me a business card indicating that he was. I was stunned. I had always wanted to join the Giants since I was younger. This was a dream come true! I can’t believe that I might actually get to play with my dream team!
“I have seen you play, kid. You have talent. Your coach told me to come out and look at his boys play and you seem to be the best so far. I have never seen someone so focused on the game. Especially at your age. Kids nowadays seem to have too many distractions, but you seem to have some laser-like focus that I haven’t even seen in my own players.”
“Well, thank you.”
“I’d like to make you an offer. I want to see you play, but I am a very busy man. So I will call you, but when I call, you have to show up at the stadium so that I can see you. An opportunity like this only comes once in a while. So, if you don’t show up to the meeting when I call, that’s it. So just listen out for my call. I will be in touch.”
“Thanks again, Mr. Johnson.”
As he walked off, I thought to myself that this was the best news I had EVER gotten. I can’t believe that I might have the opportunity to play with my favorite team. I wanted to break into a happy dance. I looked around and made sure that no one could see. I then began to dance and shout. I made my way out of the stadium and saw April from afar. She was busy with a customer. I decided that it was probably best that I didn’t disturb her. I smiled and thought to myself that maybe she was my good luck charm. All of the other guys on the team had their various good luck charms: pin-up posters, four-leaf clovers and even underwear. But I think I had the best one on the team now. As I hopped into my car and drove off, I couldn’t stop thinking about my lucky charm. I was getting impatient and I wanted to show her just how much she meant to me. Maybe we would see where the night takes us after our date…
7
April
I was relieved to finally be home after a long day of work. I was grateful that I got some studying done, but I still had a lot left to do. Tort law was not an easy subject to grasp and neither was patent law. I was feeling pretty burnt out. Suddenly, thoughts of Nick flooded my mind and I didn’t feel so bad. I looked in the window and saw my father on the couch watching television. My happy moment was finally over. He looked so despondent and I wished I could do something to cheer him up. I unlocked the door and walked over to sit next to him.
“Hi, honey. How was work?”
“Fine,” I answered.
I then turned to him and asked him why he wasn’t at work. He then looked down at his feet and sighed.
“Well, sweetheart I don’t know how to tell you this, but I got fired from
work,” he said reluctantly.
I knew this already but I didn’t want him to know that. I pretended to be distraught. Dad was also helping me pay for school and without his job I had no idea how he was going to continue doing so.
I sat there, worried that I may never achieve my dream of being a lawyer. Dad began to comfort me.
“Dad, how could you let this happen?!” I asked him.
He sighed, “There was a co-worker and we weren’t getting along. He reported me to the boss and he fired me.”
I could tell that something was missing from the story, but I was too worried about the both of us to even pry. I sat there, worrying about finances now more than ever. My father tried to reassure me.
“Look, don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I will find another job soon. I have some contacts and I have work experience. I also put out some resumes and contacted some other companies. So don’t worry, I should be getting another job soon.”
“I hope so,” I said.
He then leaned in and hugged me. I could tell that he was quite broken. I kissed him on the cheek and headed upstairs. I tried to study but was too concerned about my dad. I knew he wasn’t telling me the full story. Was he somewhat responsible for losing his own job? What was it? I tried to turn the pages of the book and hoped that studying could offer some sort of distraction, but I was beginning to question if it even made sense to study, since I may not even be able to afford school, if Dad didn’t get another job.
I tried to remain focused on the work at hand. In addition to exams, I had some papers that I had to finish. I was proactive enough to have started early, but work was so tiring that I couldn’t finish. I stared at the papers and prayed some inspiration would come so that I could finish the work on time. Finally, I was getting somewhere. I began to write and eventually I had finished the paper. I still had two more to go and I was extremely tired. I decided to take a break and get a cup of coffee.
Between The Tackles: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Pass To Win Book 3) Page 5
