Page 16 of Off Sides

I must be totally insane. Maybe I got knocked in the head at practice or something. This is not a good idea. But I don’t know . . . maybe I’m just tired. Too tired to fight today. Too tired to be alone.

I used to have friends—or people I thought were my friends. I’d go over to their houses, and they’d go to mine. But that changed when I messed it all up by going after what I wanted. By letting the veil slip.

So what am I doing? Parking in front of Coach’s house and watching as Jonah climbs out of his truck and grabs both of his bags. I need to drive away, but for some reason, I find myself grabbing my backpack and climbing out of my truck.

Jonah walks over to me, a confident smile on his face as if to say he knew I would follow him. How he knew when I wasn’t even sure, I don’t know. “I can’t stay long,” I blurt out, but he only smiles at me.

“Come on. You can meet the gremlins.”

I assume he means Micah’s kids—who I have met, sort of. They come to practice sometimes, and they are at every single game, but I’ve never talked to them.

I follow Jonah through the front door of the modest, yet nice home after he punches in the key code. It’s instant chaos, and I guess he wasn’t kidding about his house being loud as two blonde-headed little girls screech and run to him, wrapping their arms around his waist. “Uncle Jonah! You’re home!” the older of the two says excitedly.

“I am.” He hugs them back and looks down at them with a bright smile on his face. Then he turns to me, gently placing his hand on the top of the taller one’s head. “This is my niece Ruby,” And then he puts his other hand on top of the shorter girl’s head. “And my niece Hannah.”

“Hi!” Hannah says, her eyes bright and wide as she looks up at me. “You’re big.”

This catches me off guard for some reason, and a surprised laugh pops out of my mouth before I can say anything. “Uh . . .”

Jonah chuckles and gently ruffles his niece’s hair. “He is. That’s why he’s so good at protecting me out on the field.”

He winks at me, and my brain scrambles, leaving me totally helpless and silent, just staring at him like an idiot.

The older one, Ruby, lights up though. “You protect Uncle Jonah?”

“I, um . . .” I stutter, still messed up from that sexy wink Jonah threw my way—and did I just think that was sexy?

I should go.

“Girls, give Uncle Jonah and his friend a second to actually come into the house. Geez.” Coach’s wife walks over to us with a big bright smile, her girls clearly getting it from her and her blonde hair. “Hello,” she says to me.

“Hi.” Good job, Calvin. At least I formed an actual word.

“You’re on the football team.” She says it like a fact, and I nod anyway.

“I am. Um . . . left tackle.” Yeah. Because she totally cares what position you play, dumbass. I should go back to the silent thing.

But her smile only widens as she looks at Jonah. “Ah, so your job is to protect this guy then.” She pokes Jonah’s bicep, and he laughs.

“He’s pretty good at it too.” Please don’t let him wink at me again. I can’t look at him, just in case he does, so I focus on Coach’s wife. “This is Calvin Duke, by the way.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve heard about you from Micah.” That does not make me feel good at all. In fact, it makes me a little ill, thinking about what he could have told her about me. But I try not to show it, and honestly, her kind smile gives nothing away. I don’t see pity in it or any concern. “I’m Jenna. Micah’s wife. What are you two up to on this Friday evening?”

“Oh, you know, thought we’d go to a club, dance all night, maybe wake up in another state with no memory of how we got there,” Jonah jokes, but I look over at him, horrified.

Coach’s wife just laughs. “Ha ha. What are you really up to? Something that won’t give your poor sister-in-law a heart attack, I hope.”

Jonah just chuckles but takes pity on her—and well, me too. “Just some homework.”

She looks suspicious but doesn’t call him on it, and she shouldn’t. I mean, that is why I’m here. To study. On a Friday night. With my teammate.

That’s it.

“Well, when you two get tired of studying, I’m making spaghetti for dinner.” She smiles sweetly my way. “You’re welcome to join us.”

Before I can tell her that isn’t happening, Jonah grabs my hand and starts to pull me down the hall. “Great! Thanks, Jenna! Come on, Calvin.”

I follow him and hear Jenna telling the girls they can play with Uncle Jonah later just before he pulls me through the door at the end of the hall which must be his room.