“You might not play?” Margaret asked.
“I’ll get checked out tomorrow, and it will be a game-time decision.”
I’d hoped that the news of my injury might derail her from asking about the brewing rivalry.
“Percy Wilkes said some things on local TV that I see you picked up on. Do you think Lincoln really is irrelevant?”
Talk about a loaded question.
“That’s why we play these games. I’m sure we’ll find out tomorrow. What I do know is that we’ve worked hard to get to where we are, and we will give it our all. Percy may be right. From looking at their game film, they are everything he has said they are. Texas high school ball is serious business. We would be crazy to discount that.
“I’m just hoping our fans come out in force to support us tomorrow night. We’ll need them to even have a chance. I also hope that people in the St. Louis area will come to the game and support an underdog. Heck, even Navy beats Notre Dame every once in a while. If they’re lucky, they’ll see us do the same.”
“Cut,” the director said.
“I can’t wait to see you stagger onto the field and take them apart,” Margaret said.
“That’s the plan.”
◊◊◊
My parents had arrived, so we all loaded up to go to the TSA office to get our PreCheck passes taken care of. When we got into the limo, Fritz turned to me.
“We can’t have you wading into a crowd like you did earlier.”
I was instantly mad. My dad was right when he said you praised in public and chastised in private. Fritz had just called me out in front of my whole security team, parents, and girlfriend.
“Okay,” was my one-word answer.
“We have no idea what the risk could have been …” he began but stopped when I held up my hand.
“I said, okay.”
I think he could feel the white-hot rage building inside of me. My mom looked at me curiously. Even she could tell I wasn’t happy.
“In the future, come to me if you have an issue,” Dad said to Fritz to put everything back on a business level.
Fritz and I had become friends, and I think he realized his misstep. I really didn’t want to be a jerk, but I didn’t need him to challenge me like that. It would have been fine if it had just been him or maybe one or two other people.
“So, how are the kittens?” Brook asked.
My brain had to reset. I turned to her and smiled. I expect I caught everyone by surprise when I kissed her. She’d just saved me from myself. I guess that’s what girlfriends are for.
◊◊◊
Everyone was now signed up for the PreCheck line through TSA at the airport. When we got back to the hotel, the street party had broken up. It looked like people needed to get home on a Wednesday evening.
“Hey, Cassidy,” I called, “do you have the phone numbers all those girls gave you today?”
“She gave them to me,” Brook said as she patted my hand.
“Good. I was afraid we would lose them.”
“Tell me what happened this afternoon,” Mom ordered, now that I wasn’t ready to kill anyone.
As we walked into the lobby, I shared all that had happened. I even admitted it was probably not a good idea to jump a police barrier to go talk to my fans. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Fritz relax. I didn’t want this to be an issue between us because I hadn’t handled it well and hoped my admission would get us past it.
Dad received a text and looked at us.
“Coach Hope says you’re going to dinner in an hour. I want to go take a shower and change.”
That sounded like a plan. I lured my girlfriend back to my room, intending to reward her for her save earlier. I didn’t even think to knock when we used the keycard to enter the room.
“Oh, shit!” Phil exclaimed when we caught him and Jill making out.
I suspect if we had come in ten minutes later, they might have been getting busy. Ignoring the evil eye my brother gave me, I went to the dresser to see if Jill had signed the notice about being video-recorded. Nope.
“You need to read this and sign it,” I said as I pushed the clipboard towards her.
She read the big letters—‘I Agree To Be Videoed’—stopped, and gave my brother a death stare.
“Was it your plan to make a sex tape and tell me about it ten years from now?” she asked with a little heat in her voice.
“I … uh … I … uh …”
“That was what I thought,” she said as she got off his bed.
“Can you two clear out? Brook and I want to make our own video,” I said.
My brother and Jill both gave me a stupid look. Come on, it wasn’t rocket science. Then I remembered the form.
“I really need you to sign this,” I told Jill.
Fritz had been clear that we couldn’t let anyone in the room without a signature. I couldn’t believe they hadn’t noticed the sign as they walked in.
“Oh, for later,” Jill said and quickly signed it.
Now it was Brook and Phil’s turn to give Jill a confused look. I swear that only children—i.e., ones without siblings—are clueless sometimes. Jill was jerking his chain, or so I chose to believe.
“Oh, hell, no,” Phil said.
Jill burst out laughing.
“Come on. Let’s leave the old folks alone.”
Good plan. After they left, Brook gave me a sweet kiss.
“You do realize that she’ll be all over you if she gets a chance,” Brook warned.
