Just Play

by Taylor Hart

  “What?”

  “I bought twenty percent of the franchise this last year.”

  For a second, Sam was blind-sided. Then it all made sense. “That’s why you wanted me out. You saw me as a liability.” It stung, but it was the truth.

  Tapping his fingers together, Roman stayed calm. “If you were me, would you have wanted you to stay?”

  Even though it was the truth, it still ticked Sam off. He ignored the question. “That’s why you retired so easily. You wanted a bigger piece of the pie.”

  “Right, do you remember that injury to my neck?” Roman bit the words off angrily.

  Sam shrugged, wishing he hadn’t been slightly happy about it at the time. It had been the injury that led to Sam leading the team. Though in the end, it had really led to Sam wrecking the team. He shook his head, letting go of his pettiness. “Look, you do deserve it.”

  Roman shrugged. “It’s something I, well, Katie and I wanted. I love the game, and I want to stay involved in the Destroyers as much as possible.”

  “And you couldn’t give me another year?” Yes, he was desperate enough to ask.

  Roman let out a breath. “Man, have you watched game tape?”

  “You know the answer to that.” Despite his natural defensiveness, he focused on remembering his initial reason for being here.

  Roman let out a breath and leaned back. “Dude, it’s like you’ve got all the mechanics, but your plays are hollow.”

  Sam’s face felt hot. “I had a few bad games,” he repeated what he’d been telling himself over and over.

  Slowly shaking his head, Roman let out a breath. “I remember when you first came on a few years ago, I was actually worried you’d take my spot.”

  “I did take your spot. For a while.” Pride filled him.

  Roman’s eyes flashed wider. “That’s right. There’s the fighter I knew.” His smile widened. “Where’s that guy been all year?”

  “Man, just shut up.”

  A light laugh came out of Roman. “I mean it. I haven’t seen a lick of fight in those eyes. They’ve been…” He trailed off and then leaned forward. “Do you want to know why the coaches chose me back then over you?”

  No, he didn’t want to know. He shrugged. “I suspect you’re going to tell me.”

  “Because they told me they trusted me.” Roman gave him a severe look. “And do I need to bring up that story that broke last week?”

  The prescription pain meds. The press had come out with a story about how he’d seen several doctors and filled a bunch of prescriptions.

  “Forget the press.” Sam heaved in a breath. “I was working through a strained ligament in my shoulder, but I’ve done PT, and I’m feeling fine now.” Sweat trickled down the middle of his back, and he clenched his fist. He knew Roman had a point. His playing had been scattered and unreliable the past year. If he were honest, he would admit that there’d been times he’d taken extra pain pills just to get through the game and he hadn’t even been in physical pain.

  “Roman!” A call came from the house. “Come quick!”

  Jumping to his feet, Roman ran for the front door, glancing back and pointing to Maddy. “Watch her, please.”

  Not ten seconds later, Roman ran out the front door with a big boy in his arms. Sam thought he remembered seeing the boy in wedding pictures on twitter last year. Blood covered the side of his head.

  Another boy trailed behind him. “Is Josh okay? His head cracked hard.”

  Roman’s face was wild and desperate. “I don’t know, Nate. Go on home.” He turned to Sam. “My wife is out of town. I need you to watch Maddy.”

  Adrenaline surged through him at the sight of so much blood and he tried to focus on what Roman was saying. “What?”

  Roman plunked the boy into the front seat of the truck and moved to the other side. “I’m running my son to the hospital in Ogden to check out his head. Take care of Maddy. There are diapers in the bathroom, and there’s food in the fridge. She can do some solids.”

  The little toddler girl reached her little arms up from the porch for Roman. “Da. Da.”

  Sam’s adrenaline turned to panic. “You’re serious?”

  Roman was already in the truck, backing out, his window rolled down. “If you came for redemption, it’s time to earn it.”

  A thread of terror shook inside of Sam as he looked back to the little girl.

  Roman tore off down the road and hollered out the window. “I’ll check in as soon as I can.”

  2

  Sam didn’t consider himself a wimp. With the exception of the last season, he’d always been an achiever. He’d wanted to be everything his father had not been, and it had shown in every part of his life: football, college, and dating—well, except for Sheena. The thought of all the failures over the course of the past year flashed through his mind. The center of his chest pounded like he’d just been through an earthquake and survived. He stared at the chubby little girl, Maddy, with red hair that looked like fluff on her head and the same eyes as Roman. Okay, he admitted to himself that his confidence had been shaken this past year. It just had. Ever since he’d sold out his integrity, he’d felt…bad. He’d been overtaken by a numbness that constantly overshadowed everything else.

  That was the reason he’d come to Roman. He wanted to change. He wanted to be what he used to be. He wanted to be the kind of man he could face in the mirror everyday and not want to look away.

  “Da. Da.” The little girl sucked in fast breaths before bursting into tears.

  Feeling paralyzed, Sam finally stood and took one step toward her.

  Opening her eyes, she saw him coming and howled even louder.

  Before he even knew what he was doing, he swept her into his arms, holding her against him like he’d seen Roman do. But unlike the grin and happy giggle she’d been giving Roman, she howled loudly at him. Rushing into the house, he looked for something to calm her down. He spotted a bunch of toys on the floor. Squatting, with her now thrashing around along with the screaming, he picked up a small ball. He put it by her face and squeezed it. It made two loud sounds.

  This stopped her for a minute.

  It was a tentative standoff. She looked at the ball and then him. Sam winced when she burst into tears again.

  He cursed under his breath and felt sweat trickle down the center of his back as he rushed around picking up toys and trying to get her to stop crying.

  He searched the kitchen, which he noticed was a complete mess. Assorted crackers and snacks littered the counters. Baby formula sat out. Old spaghetti stuck to the stovetop. Seeing the mess disgusted him. Seriously, get a maid, Roman. If Roman could afford shares in the franchise, he could afford to hire some help. Sam had lived with Roman for a time when he’d first come to the Destroyers, and he’d been a slob then, too. Apparently some things don’t change with age or marriage.

  Sam flung open the fridge and saw some open baby food on the top shelf. Spying a half eaten baby jar labeled carrots, he picked it up and put it in front of her. This had a magical effect.

  “Num, num.”

  Her new noise, made at a tolerable volume, actually elicited a chuckle of relief from him. “Num. Num. That’s right, Maddy.” He moved to the drawers, jerking them all open until he found spoons. Little spoons to boot.

  Next, he searched for something to put her in while he fed her. He didn’t have to look long. A few feet away he found a high chair. This was no normal plastic baby chair. It was a high chair fit for a princess. It was completely covered by a sticker that transformed it into a castle turret, and it was fitted with a plastic princess sippy cup and a princess plate with old peas on it. After removing the dirty plate and cup, he put Maddy down on the floor. It wasn’t any cleaner, but he couldn’t risk her falling off the counter while he figured out how the chair worked. It’s not as if the counter was clean anyway.

  The difficult part was trying to figure out how to remove the top of the high chair. Yanking on it, even hard, di
dn’t work. He looked for a latch, but couldn’t find one.

  Maddy continued to howl at a louder and louder pitch. He’d thought she didn’t want him holding her, but it appeared that not holding her was worse. Her red, ruddy cheeks had big crocodile tears on them.

  Picking her back up, he turned the lid on the carrots and began feeding her while holding her. It was sloppy and messy and, he was sure, he had more of it on his shirt than in her mouth by the third spoonful, but she had quieted down substantially. She would suck in a bite, take a gulp or two, and look back at him. Then a low cry would start until he stuffed in another bite. He figured, at this pace, he would need more supplies if he wanted to keep the noise down. Not caring what he had to do, he was determined to keep her from wailing.

  Deliberately avoiding the fact he had no idea how long he would be on duty, he put the jar of food on the table. He needed a free hand to rummage in the fridge for the next food distraction while still keeping her mouth occupied with scoops of mushy carrots. He flung the fridge back open and found three more jars of baby food—vanilla pudding, green beans, and bananas.

  Sam gingerly sat the food, himself, and the baby on the floor. The extremely messy floor, Sam noted, again, in righteous judgment. Seriously, Roman should have the health department on his back over these conditions. He looked around and couldn’t see any paper towels. All the wash clothes were scrunched up and dirty looking—definitely not fit for a baby’s mouth.

  Sam made a command decision to take his shirt off and use it to wipe Maddy’s face.

  At this point, she was still eating at only a marginally less frantic rate. It made Sam wonder if Roman purposely starved the kid. Should she be this hungry?

  Maddy was steady enough in a sitting position that he felt comfortable reaching for the princess sippy cup.

  She took it with both hands and took a loud sucking gulp. Afterwards, she astonished him by flashing a beautiful, wide carrot-covered smile.

  His whole heart filled with joy. “Yeah.” He let out a light laugh. “That’s it, Maddy. You were just hungry and thirsty. See, that’s good. Uncle Sam’s got this under control.” Instantly, his mind zipped to the old ‘Uncle Sam Wants You’ posters, and he chugged out a laugh. He’d never though of himself as ‘Uncle Sam.’ He relaxed against the side of cabinet and held out another bite of food to her.

  Then just as quickly as she’d smiled, her face turned red as she scrunched it up and let out a yell worthy of a mini banshee.

  Rushing to his feet, Sam picked her up only to stop short in shock. She gave him her own brand of a right hook, smacking him in the same place on his eye that Roman had previously hit.

  He cursed and then closed his eyes and held her at bay.

  Instantly, the baby stilled.

  Guilt surged into him for losing control of his tongue in front of a child. He ducked his head and squeezed his eyes shut as Maddy began to cry again.

  Without warning, she was abruptly pulled out of his hands.

  3

  “What do you think you’re doing?” the woman said, pulling Maddy and her roaring cries into her shoulder.

  She was medium height, about 5’ 7 or 5’ 8 he quickly judged, with startlingly blue eyes. A light vanilla smell assaulted him, and her blonde ponytail smacked his face as she turned away from him.

  “I—” He tried to find words, but his mind felt scattered like Yahtzee dice.

  “Don’t,” she cut him off, turning back and glaring. Swishing past him, the look of scorn changed instantly to happy glee as she grinned at Maddy. “Maadeeee,” she let the last vowel go long. “What is going on with my baby girl?” She stopped at the sink and turned the water on. She took the cup away and began cleaning Maddy’s face, hands, and clothes. “What is that man doing to you?” Her voice oozed happy for the baby.

  Sam noticed her bright blue headband that held back the blonde curls falling out of her ponytail down her back. She wore purple spandex pants, athletic shoes, and a bright pink t-shirt. It looked like she’d been on a run.

  Maddy smiled and cooed at the woman.

  “What the—?”

  “Language!” The woman flipped her head to him, giving him a sharp glare before turning back to Maddy. “She may be a baby, but they understand a lot more than you think. Don’t you, Maddy?” Her voice held a singsong quality, and she methodically stripped the baby of her clothes and checked the back of her diaper.

  “I wasn’t going to…” He trailed off. “I was just going to ask what you think you’re doing,” he said stubbornly.

  With a fiercely protective glance at him, the woman picked up Maddy and began moving across the kitchen toward the hallway. “Yeah, guys like you never mean to do anything. I know exactly who you are, Sam Dumont. You’re a cheating jerk.” She gestured for the door. “I got this handled.”

  He watched her hurry down the hall. Then he heard a bath being run and the same singsong voice talking to Maddy.

  The strange thing was that a couple of weeks ago he would have high-tailed it out the door. Being faced with a situation like this was so uncomfortable for him that he would have taken this opportunity to relinquish all responsibility. But he was committed to not being that person anymore, and shirking responsibility was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

  He listened to the woman and Maddy. Honestly, it sounded like Maddy was talking with her.

  “That’s right.” The woman said in a high voice. “I’ll take care of my girl, won’t I?”

  Steaming, he took off toward the bathroom. Who did she think she was? Roman had asked him to help, and if he had to take care of Maddy to make everything up to Roman, then that’s exactly what he would do.

  This stranger didn’t get to take redemption away from him.

  Stalking toward the bathroom, he wasn’t sure what he would do, but he knew standing there in the middle of the dirty living room wasn’t doing him any good at all. The scene he found next would be burned into his mind forever.

  The woman had taken off her shoes, and she was sitting on the side of the tub, her feet submerged, and her pants rolled up to her knees. The smile on Maddy’s face right now was the biggest he’d seen so far. Pure joy was the only way to describe it.

  At that moment, Sam had what he could only call some type of deja vu. For a few seconds all he could do was.... stare at them.

  He didn’t know how. He didn’t know why. All he knew was that this woman, with wet feet and a ridiculous expression on her face, had put him under some kind of spell.

  She flung her head to him, her face going from surprised to annoyed. “What?” She cocked an eyebrow, keeping her hands under Maddy’s shoulders. “Haven’t you ever seen a woman in a bathtub before?”

  “I…” His voice faltered and he searched for some witty words but couldn’t find any. “Look, first of all, I came to apologize and, second of all, Roman asked me to take care of her.” He pointed at Maddy.

  At this, she let out a light laugh. “Right, whatever. First of all, I don’t care about your personal crap. And second, he called me right after he left and asked me to come. I told him I would handle it, because you obviously…can’t.”

  It was as if this woman had looked into his soul and seen all the insecurity he’d felt the past year. Clenching his hands into fists of frustration, he let out a breath. He wouldn’t go. “Roman asked you to come, but I was here first.” He said like a six year old claiming a prize under the legalities of ‘firsties.’

  Unexpectedly, her eyes went to his chest. She reared back, as if she’d only just noticed he didn’t have a shirt on. “What? No.” She shook her head like she was trying to clear it. “And why don’t you have your shirt on?”

  He snorted, gesturing back to her. “Why don’t you have your shoes on?” He knew it was an absurd response, but he couldn’t stop himself.

  She glared at him. “Not the same thing.”

  “We both have parts of our bodies exposed. It’s the exact same thing,” he insisted, ha
lf-amused she’d reacted to his shirtless chest in such an accusatory way.

  Hesitating for a second, she turned back to Maddy, picking up a cup and pouring the water gently over Maddy’s head. “Just go away,” she said in the singsong voice. “We don’t need you here.”

  Maddy seemed to hold her breath for a minute and then burst into a smile at the water being dumped on her head.

  Unexpectedly, her reaction made Sam smile.

  But the woman turned back to him, determination in her eyes. “Listen, Sam Dumont,” she said, looking like his last name left a bad taste in her mouth, “I get that you came to atone for your sins or something like that, but you’re going to have to do your thing another time. Cheaters aren’t wanted,” she pronounced the last word sharply.

  If she thought flinging that accusation at him would make him leave, she was wrong. He’d heard a lot worse in the press and from himself over the course of the past year. He watched as she rubbed soap on Maddy’s head and then rinsed it off, gently cleaning her whole body. Losing all patience, he took the pink towel off a matching pink hook and quickly plucked Maddy out of the water. He tucked her into the crook of his arm like a game changing ball and rushed out of the bathroom. “I got this.”

  Maddy started hysterically shrieking again.

  He slipped on the water dripping off the baby and stumbled, but didn’t fall, down the hallway looking for her room.

  “Are you kidding me?” the woman yelled behind him. “Give me the baby!”

  “No.” This whole thing was unreasonable. He knew that. He just couldn’t seem to stop himself. He found a pink princess room and assumed it was hers. Gently, he laid her on the bed.

  Maddy saw the woman walk in and stopped crying. “Gaa.” She reached for her.

  The woman rushed past him, going to a dresser and pulling out pajamas.

  He stayed next to Maddy, propping her up into a sitting position.

  Maddy looked at his face and burst into tears.