Page 86 of Scored

“What do you think?”

He lowered his voice. “Part of me thinks it’s bullshit. We’ve won. Why change what works?”

I nodded. “I get that. Meeting the same team for the third time changes things.” When Troy didn’t respond, I went on. “Before you were off the IR, Marcel Pickett was on the practice squad and one day in particular he kicked my ass. The bruising on my body wasn’t the worst of it. While he was offering me a hand, he said he knew my tells. I was like, what tells? I don’t fucking have tells.”

“Did he explain?”

“I asked him. I also told him the truth. No one, not a coach or anyone in thirteen years of professional, five years of college, or before that ever said I had tells. Marcel played it off, saying he was running defense against me four days a week.”

Troy nodded. “Repetition.”

“Yeah. He was watching and the most shocking part was that he was right.” I shrugged. “It’s kind of like that with the Texans. It’s not every day for a month, but it is our third meeting. During films, Coach Brown dissected Sam Anthony, Houston’s QB, for our defense. The fucking Texans’ defensive coordinator has been doing the same thing, tearing apart your game and my game. They can’t anticipate plays we’ve never run.”

He sat taller, squaring his shoulders. “Thanks, man. I’ve been ruminating on this all week long.” He shook his head. “I should have talked to you sooner.”

“You’re going to kick ass on Sunday. You’ll also be running some of our regular plays. The trick is to read the defense and exploit their mistakes.”

“We made it this far last year to the championship round. It was the first time in a long time the Coopers were on the map. I fucking want to go farther this year. And then I thought I fucked up our chances when the damn injury sidelined me on game one.” His signature smile was back. “I hated not playing, but you kept us in contention.” He stood. “You know, sometimes you admire someone from afar and then you meet them, get to know them, and they’re assholes and you think of all the years you spent watching them and wanting to be them was wasted?”

I nodded.

“Those years I spent watching you on Green Bay” —he shook his head— “not wasted, man. Not wasted.”

Swallowing the newly formed lump in my throat, I smiled. “And now I get to watch you take our team to the Super Bowl.”

“Fuck no.”

“We’re going to the Super Bowl.”

Troy laughed. “Not saying we’re not. I’m saying you’re going to watch the Coopers win the Super Bowl.”

“Hell yes.”

Back at home, before I warmed up leftovers from the other night’s dinner, I slipped my left arm into the sling. Without Vee here, I didn’t need two hands or two arms. And if I was honest, after today’s practice, my left shoulder was sore.

There were clips showing on a local channel about tonight’s fan event. Vee’s beautiful face filled the screen as they showed her speaking to the people in attendance. Watching her, I decided there was absolutely nothing that she couldn’t do. At every turn, she made me proud. While I didn’t know him, I would bet if Reid Hubbard was watching, he too was proud.

It was only a little after eight when the door down the hall opened.

I stood and began walking that direction. Vee wasn’t supposed to be home until after ten. As soon as I saw her, my pulse tripled in speed as I hurried toward her. “What the fuck happened.”

She leaned into me.

CHAPTER 35

Vee

About two hours earlier

The inside of Crystal Light was magically transformed into a county fair, if the Coopers were the county. As I walked around the floor with Fran, my director of guest services and fan experience, I was in awe at what she created. “It feels like we’re outside on a sunny summer day.”

Fran smiled. “That was the vibe we were going for.”

“Trees.” I pointed at the tree over twenty feet tall. “They look real.”

“Some are. That one isn’t. I stayed at a hotel in Texas where the entire courtyard was a mini-city. There were trees and restaurants and a running river with bridges. I used that experience to create this.”

The seating was hidden by large drapes. Around the trees were Coopers banners. Overhead were Coopers signs and banners. The color amber was present in abundance. Concessions were placed in food trucks and carnival tents. Along with the usual assortment of choices were cotton candy and elephant ears. At one end of the space were games the fans could play. There were games for all ages, such as the football throw, axe throwing, and roll the whiskey barrel. For the children we had floating ducks. Choose the duck with the Coopers’ C and win a prize, as well as a ring toss and spin the wheel.