Page 102 of Dirty Player
I’d seen my face on the Jumbotron while sitting next to Sean and Grace after Oliver had made a great play, and twice when he’d dropped a pass.
It was halftime and we were only up by one field goal against the Denver Cavalry, a team we’d been projected to beat by double digits.
The Cavalry was doing an excellent job at shutting down the passing game, effectively leaving Kolby scoreless for the entire first half, which was keeping our scoring down.
“They’ll come back in the second half,” I said and stood up. I wanted another drink and some snacks. I needed something to help settle my stomach. I gestured toward Melissa. “Want another glass of wine?”
“You betcha,” she replied and raised her glass without taking her eyes off the field.
One of the things I loved most about Melissa was her love of sports like mine. I didn’t know if she’d learned it from me or had always been a football fan, but when we’d met in college, she started watching every game with me, often coming back to my high school to watch Beaux play. She’d been just as much of a big sister to him as I had since we’d met ten years before.
I walked into the box suite and headed straight for the bottles of wine that had been staffed for us. Oliver had gone all out for our spread for the day. There were selections of all types of alcohol and a buffet that could feed thirty. There’d be way too many leftovers thrown away, but I appreciated he thought of everything we could possibly desire.
“You guys doing okay?” I asked Sean and Grace as I refilled our glasses.
“Fine, darlin’,” Sean said, scooping a corn chip filled with chili dip into his mouth.
We’d spent most of the first half of the game talking and cheering. I could tell he appreciated my knowledge of the game, and they’d both made it easy to talk to them. They were just as sweet and simple as Oliver had promised they’d be, and just like over breakfast, our conversations were easy.
I took a sip of wine.
Sean pressed his hand to his chest, grimacing. “You okay, Sean?”
“Fine, fine.” He cringed again but waved me off. “Chili’s spicy a bit, that’s all.”
Grace dug into her purse and muttered, “How many times do I need to remind you to take your medicine, Sean?” She looked at me and grinned before pulling heartburn medication out of her purse. “I tell ya, this man is as stubborn as his son. Every day he gets the burn, and every day he refuses to take the pill until he’s unbearable. Train my boy better than I trained my man to follow common sense, would you?”
I grinned into my glass of wine. “I’ll do my best.”
A cheer erupted on the field and I looked out to see the teams running back onto the field.
“I should get these drinks to Melissa. You two coming out?”
“Soon, darlin’.” Sean coughed into his hand and flinched. “We’ll be there soon. As soon as this pill kicks in you won’t be able to stop me.”
“All right.” I patted him on the shoulder and went back to the game.
Soon, Sean and Grace joined us and the four of us nearly lost our voices while the game continued to be close.
It was the third quarter, five minutes to go, and we were finally up by ten points, having scored another touchdown. Cavalry could pull off a win—or at least a tie—and they had the ball, moving it slowly but steadily down the field.
It was the third down, eight yards to go for them, and they were nearing field goal range when they threw the long pass they had to get.
The play unfolded perfectly. Cavalry’s quarterback dropped back to pass the ball, and as it flung into the air I was on my feet, holding my breath while it sailed through the air, thirty yards down the field.
Right as their wide receiver jumped to catch the ball, too far behind him even though he tried to double back, our safety appeared out of nowhere and snagged the ball into his hands.
“Hell yes!” Melissa shouted next to me.
Smith, the safety, bobbled the ball once then twice before he got a firm grip on it and started running down the field.
We all jumped to our feet and shouted, cheering as Smith ran for fifteen yards, almost ending up at half field before he was tackled by Cavalry’s offense.
“Yes! We did it!” I shouted, turning to give Sean a high-five as I did. But he wasn’t there.
He was in his chair, his hand fisting his shirt, his lips twisted in pain.
“Sean?” I asked, dropping to my knees in the small space.
