as an excuse. Scott’s a grown man, and Shaun isn’t far behind. What they don’t like is when I chew their asses out, especially if they behave like damn idiots, which they’ve done more than enough of in the last few years.”
“They’re just kids-”
“You know who’s a kid? My six year old daughter. Shaun just got kicked off the team at Big Nu and all he’s thinking about is me pulling some strings to get him into Notre Dame. He’s not interested in changing his behavior. He just wants to change schools.”
“But why can’t you help him?”
“Because he’ll never learn, Willa. He already thinks he can walk onto any field, drop my name and he doesn’t have to do anything else, like listen to the coaching staff or bother to be a team player. He was good in high school, but that was only because he was coddled. College isn’t like that, and neither is the NFL, though I doubt he’ll get the chance with that kind of attitude.”
“Like you weren’t cocky?” Willa shot back. “You’ve made mistakes too.”
“That’s right, I have. And I’ve got you and Shaun and Scott around to constantly remind me of them. But since I’m paying for everyone’s lifestyle, it sure would help if people remember that.”
If Shaun had kept his cool, in a few years he could’ve been the starting quarterback at Big Nu. The word going around the NFL was that Big Nu’s gunslinger Webb Chenault had decided not to return next year. Webb wasn’t going to another college. He wanted to play in the NFL, and the Renegades were interested in him.
Webb Chenault may have been the wonder boy at Big Nu, but this was the NFL, a whole different beast. Besides that, Webb had one of the best receivers in college ball to throw to in Dante Ahmed. It was as if Webb and that kid had some mental telepathy going on. But take away Webb’s superstar receiver, and what was left? A rookie trying to learn the playbook and trying to do just what his brother Shaun had done. Rattle the starter. Breathe down Kyle’s neck until he felt the pressure. That kind of pressure could either make Kyle diamond hard, or wimpy as fuck, and there was no way he’d let it make him soft. No, he’d fight for his job, and make any and all challengers back the hell off.
*****
Harlow kept checking her phone, but no matter how often she stared at the screen there was no message from Kyle. Okay, don’t freak out, she told herself. The man has a life of his own too, you know. And nobody said they had to be joined at the hip. And hell, she could always call him. It was just that she’d come to expect hearing from him every day. And maybe that was the problem. She’d grown accustomed to all the attention he’d been giving her, like some teen who was giddy at having her first real boyfriend. Thirty five was too old to be acting like some love starved fool. Still, she could ring him up just to say hi.
“Hey, can I call you back? I’m in the middle of something right now,” he said, sounding odd.
“Sure. I only called to say hi anyway. Take your time, there’s no rush.”
“Thanks for understanding. Bye.”
CLICK
“Thanks for understanding, Bye? Now she wondered if there was someone in the room with him. Maybe he was in the middle of a team meeting. At least that’s what she hoped. It was business, not pleasure. But what if he was with his ex? What if they were reconciling?
OMG. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks getting dropped on her head. She was head over heels in love with Kyle McClure.
9
Kyle was in no mood for bullshit at practice, but it seemed like the whole team was amped up. Sure, they still were letting games get away from them, but with a number of other teams losing they still had a chance. But turnovers were killing them, both forced and unforced. Receivers were dropping easy balls, there were a number of pass deflections, the defense jumping offside, fumbles at the line of scrimmage and penalty calls of
“They’re just kids-”
“You know who’s a kid? My six year old daughter. Shaun just got kicked off the team at Big Nu and all he’s thinking about is me pulling some strings to get him into Notre Dame. He’s not interested in changing his behavior. He just wants to change schools.”
“But why can’t you help him?”
“Because he’ll never learn, Willa. He already thinks he can walk onto any field, drop my name and he doesn’t have to do anything else, like listen to the coaching staff or bother to be a team player. He was good in high school, but that was only because he was coddled. College isn’t like that, and neither is the NFL, though I doubt he’ll get the chance with that kind of attitude.”
“Like you weren’t cocky?” Willa shot back. “You’ve made mistakes too.”
“That’s right, I have. And I’ve got you and Shaun and Scott around to constantly remind me of them. But since I’m paying for everyone’s lifestyle, it sure would help if people remember that.”
If Shaun had kept his cool, in a few years he could’ve been the starting quarterback at Big Nu. The word going around the NFL was that Big Nu’s gunslinger Webb Chenault had decided not to return next year. Webb wasn’t going to another college. He wanted to play in the NFL, and the Renegades were interested in him.
Webb Chenault may have been the wonder boy at Big Nu, but this was the NFL, a whole different beast. Besides that, Webb had one of the best receivers in college ball to throw to in Dante Ahmed. It was as if Webb and that kid had some mental telepathy going on. But take away Webb’s superstar receiver, and what was left? A rookie trying to learn the playbook and trying to do just what his brother Shaun had done. Rattle the starter. Breathe down Kyle’s neck until he felt the pressure. That kind of pressure could either make Kyle diamond hard, or wimpy as fuck, and there was no way he’d let it make him soft. No, he’d fight for his job, and make any and all challengers back the hell off.
*****
Harlow kept checking her phone, but no matter how often she stared at the screen there was no message from Kyle. Okay, don’t freak out, she told herself. The man has a life of his own too, you know. And nobody said they had to be joined at the hip. And hell, she could always call him. It was just that she’d come to expect hearing from him every day. And maybe that was the problem. She’d grown accustomed to all the attention he’d been giving her, like some teen who was giddy at having her first real boyfriend. Thirty five was too old to be acting like some love starved fool. Still, she could ring him up just to say hi.
“Hey, can I call you back? I’m in the middle of something right now,” he said, sounding odd.
“Sure. I only called to say hi anyway. Take your time, there’s no rush.”
“Thanks for understanding. Bye.”
CLICK
“Thanks for understanding, Bye? Now she wondered if there was someone in the room with him. Maybe he was in the middle of a team meeting. At least that’s what she hoped. It was business, not pleasure. But what if he was with his ex? What if they were reconciling?
OMG. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks getting dropped on her head. She was head over heels in love with Kyle McClure.
9
Kyle was in no mood for bullshit at practice, but it seemed like the whole team was amped up. Sure, they still were letting games get away from them, but with a number of other teams losing they still had a chance. But turnovers were killing them, both forced and unforced. Receivers were dropping easy balls, there were a number of pass deflections, the defense jumping offside, fumbles at the line of scrimmage and penalty calls of
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