He laces his fingers through mine and leads me through the house until we come to one of the dens where Leslie, Ben, Ansel, and the blonde stand. I eye the woman but try not to be obvious about it. And where I hear her laugh at something Leslie murmurs, I realize I know the laugh. It’s very loud, a little obnoxious, feminine, and dainty.
“Girl, what is Mr. Football Star up to?” Leslie asks. “The anticipation is killing me. Me and Ophelia been standing here for a minute waiting on your slow ass.”
Ophelia. That’s Leslie’s friend’s name. I haven’t seen her in a while.
“Hey Ophelia,” I greet.
“Hey, girl. Looking beautiful as ever.”
“Ditto.” I grin at the woman.
I can’t believe I almost ran away because Leslie brought a friend to Bryant’s.
Bryant releases my hand and rubs his together. “Are you ready to see Punter’s new toy?”
“This is about the cat?” Leslie asks, brow raised.
“He’s not just a cat. He’s family,” Bryant corrects him, and then he leads us into another den.
“What the fuck did you do to my masterpiece?!!” Leslie shouts, hands on his hips and shock on his face.
“Whoa,” Ansel says of the “toy”.
In the corner of the room is a large tree. I’m not sure what it’s crafted of, but it’s as high as the high ceiling.
“That’s not a toy, bro,” Ben says. “That’s a treehouse inside a house.”
“The little guy needs a dose of the outdoors. Cats like to climb trees, but I can’t let him outside unless he’s in his stroller.”
“You bought a motherfucking stroller for a cat?” Leslie asks. “Something is seriously wrong with you, Mr. Football Star. You’re taking shit too far.”
“He’s never had a pet,” I defend him.
As if on cue, Punter saunters lazily into the room and rubs himself against Bryant’s legs. Bryant scoops the kitten into his arms and scratches his head. “That’s a good boy.” Then he puts him down and Punter races to the tree, climbs all the way to the top, and sticks his cute little head out of the top of the tree.
“See how happy it makes him?” Bryant asks with pride.
He’d be a wonderful father. And I love that he’s quite taken with the kitten. It just shows how big of a heart he has, and it’s one of the many reasons I fell in love with him.
We watch the kitten climb all over the tree for a few more minutes before Bryant announces he’s bought steaks for everyone. And then we spend the rest of the night playing card games and eating a great meal.
When it’s time for me to go home for the night, I find I don’t want to leave Bryant. We’ve had a wonderful day, and I realized I can trust him. It feels like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders.
— 36 —
Now
THE FIRST GAME OF the season is always full of hope, and every team dreams of a win for the opening matchup. A victory is always a hopeful indicator of the season to come. It’s also Bryant’s regular season debut as the Voodoo quarterback, and the football-crazy city’s energy has been on high all week in anticipation of their hometown hero taking the field in the black and gold.
I haven’t been bothering Bryant before games because he has a lot on his plate, but when he messages a few hours before the game, I meet him in an empty conference room in the stadium. I’m surprised to find him already waiting there for me.
He smiles, appearing a bit anxious. “Hey, thanks for coming.”
“Yeah, no problem. Are you okay?”
He blows out a big sigh and laughs nervously. “I’ve won two Super Bowls, but I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous. Playing at home in this crowd is just madness.”
Our stadium is known around the country as being the loudest. Our fans are known as being some of the craziest.
