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“He got heart, I give him that,” I admitted. “But his accuracy is lackin’ big time.”
“Which should never happen with an easy target like Hunter.”
Like he’d heard us say his name, Hunter seemingly popped up out of nowhere and asked, “What y’all niggas over here talkin’ about?”
“Just tryna figure out how your big ass head fits in that little ass helmet,” Big Gerald joked, making us all laugh as Hunter plopped down on the bench next to him and cursed, “Fuck you.”
Since Hunter’s success was more directly tied to that of the quarterback’s, I decided to ask him, “Aye, what you think of QB2?”
“That nigga lowkey nice,” Hunter responded with a look that told me he was legitimately impressed. “Shit, he’s making them second-team receivers look good as hell out there while I’m stuck with a mothafucka who’s acting like he’s seeing ghosts.”
The reference made Gerald crack up laughing as I commented, “From what I’ve seen tonight, I think he should be starting.”
“Man, you know how this shit go,” Hunter sighed, shaking his head as he added, “It’s all politics.”
“You ain’t said nothin’ to coach?”
Sucking his teeth, Hunter answered, “You know I have. But they paying him decent money now, so you know they gon’ do whatever they can to prove themselves right.”
Since I already knew how accurate that was, I only responded with a nod as Gerald frowned and asked, “Man, how all y’all niggas gettin’ paid except for me?”
“You got next, Big G,” Hunter insisted with a pat to his shoulder pads. “I mean, shit. After what they paid ol’ boy out in L.A., they gotta take care of you.”
“Damn straight,” Gerald agreed with a nod. “Either that, or I’ma be out in L.A. too. Fuck y’all.”
“Aye man,” I laughed as we settled in to watch the rest of the game, feeling good that our squad was able to pull out a victory even though it didn’t really mean anything as far as the season was concerned. Then it was back to the locker room for a quick team meeting, some impromptu introductions, and a much-needed shower, my pregame outfit turning into a postgame outfit once I got dressed and bumped right into Hunter and Gerald on my way out.
I honestly wasn’t paying the scene that much attention until Hunter asked, “Yo, Hawk. Ain’t that the girl you’ve been training with?”
“Yeah, that’s her fine ass,” Gerald responded before approaching Racquel with a yelled, “Heyyy, Ms. Rocki!”
“Hey Gerald,” Racquel replied with a genuine smile, pulling him in for a quick hug before she commented, “You looked good out there today. But we both know you would’ve looked better had you come back to the gym after I kicked your ass that Saturday you dropped by during the Summer.”
“Shit, why you think I ain’t been back?” he asked teasingly, making her giggle before he excused himself to join Hunter who’d stayed back talking to another one of our teammates. And now that it was just us two, I couldn’t help but smirk when I teasingly asked, “What happened to your friend from high school?”
“He got bored and left at halftime,” Racquel responded with a shrug that had my eyebrows bunched confusedly until she said, “I’m kidding. I actually brought my dad who insisted on going to the different concession stands to gather up the leftover hot dogs the stadium wasn’t able to sell.”
My nose immediately wrinkled in response as I told her, “I’m tryna decide if that’s genius or disgusting.”
“A little of both,” she giggled. “You looked great out there today though. Couldn’t even tell you were up half the night with me.”
“That’s a good thing?” I teased, earning myself a little jab to the arm as I told her, “I appreciate you coming out, even though we gotta do somethin’ about this weak ass Hunter jersey you got on.”
Truthfully, I was sure it was the easiest one to find on such short notice. Though Racquel apparently had her own reasons for the selection when she challenged, “Was I supposed to make it obvious who I was really here to see?”
She had a point since it wasn’t like I was trying to fuel any unnecessary chatter surrounding our involvement beyond trainer and client. And a jersey with my last name on it definitely would’ve stood out a hell of a lot more than one with Hunter’s since his shit was not only the most popular from our team, but also one of the highest sellers in the league overall.
Simply put, she’d done the right thing. And according to the borderline arrogant smirk on her face, she knew it too as she said, “Lemme go find my father before I’m stuck carrying armfuls of old mystery meat.” Then she took a step closer to ask, “I’ll Facetime you later?”
After a slow once-over, I decided, “Yeah, we can probably make that happen,” my response making her grin harder as she pressed a quick kiss to my cheek before she left to go find her dad. And it wasn’t until she disappeared completely that I went to join my boys, pure amusement written all over Gerald’s face as he commented, “Looks like some of those training sessions must’ve run a little long.”
“Come on, man,” I groaned, shaking my head as Gerald insisted, “I ain’t even mad at it. Hell, I’d probably be on the same shit if I wasn’t already married.”
The mention made it easy for me to argue, “And you got a good one, so shut up talkin’.”
“I’ma shut up,” he agreed with a nod, only to go back on his word once he added, “Right after I point out the fact that your girl showed up to your game withthisnigga’s jersey on.”
Of course, Hunter was quick to say, “Don’t bring me into that shit,” while I once again found myself on the defense.
