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He shakes his head, not knowing where I’m going with this.
“I think you should come by and check out the home game on Thursday. How does that sound?”
His eyes beam with excitement. He turns and immediately looks at Izzie, giving her thepleaseeee?eyes.
Izzie looks at the both of us as if she’s in the middle of a melodramatic telenovela and has to choose a suitor.
“Well, I’m not sure,” she starts. “Liam has homework—”
“I did some extra homework earlier this week,” Liam interrupts. “So my Thursday should be all free.”
I slap my hands on the table in victory. “See?” I motion at Liam. “You’ve already planned ahead. That’s my man!”
I give him a high five as Izzie looks on, confused.
“So it’s all set then,” I announce as Izzie glares at me. “On Thursday, you’re gonna come watch the game, and we’re all gonna have an awesome time.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Izzie interjects. “All of this is a little too short notice. Liam and I are on a schedule ,and we weren’t planning on attending any games this week.”
I shrug off Izzie’s comment because she’s clearly not making any sense.
“Hey, Liam, I got a present for you...for the game.” I reach into the shopping bag I have stashed under the table and pull out a jersey.
Liam blinks at it for a second, unsure who it’s for.
“Dude, it’s for you!” I playfully throw the jersey over his head. “Put it on, you nerd.”
He giggles as he puts the jersey on over his clothes. It’s a little too big, but he can grow into it.
“This is so awesome!” Liam runs over and actually hugs me, which is kind of sweet. I look over at Izzie who I notice also looks touched by the whole thing.
“Okay, boys,” Izzie throws her napkin on the table, “you win. Liam, you can go to the game this week. However, we’re usingmytickets. No more freebies, okay? The jersey was enough. You’re going to spoil him.”
I laugh as I spoon my last gulp of soup in my mouth. It’s so funny when I get under her skin. She likes to wrinkle her nose and burrow her brows like a frustrated chipmunk.
I mean, it’s nice that she wants to look out for her nephew, and she cares about how well he does in school. But it’s justonegame. How much harm can it do?
Plus, if Liam has an interest in football, it’s important to start showing him the ropes early. That’s how I got my start.
I have so many fond memories of going to football games as a kid. I would watch and obsessively study what all the players did and nitpick on what they didn’t do. If Liam wants to go pro one day, he can’t just sit at home doing his homework and playingMadden.
After I finish my bowl, I stand up and start clearing the table.
“Fine,” I tell Izzie. “You can use your own tickets. As long as he gets to come and wear his new jersey, I’m cool with everything.”
Liam jumps up from the table. “I’m so excited! This is going to be so awesome. Thanks again for the jersey, Brady.”
“No problem,” I shrug.
As I head to the kitchen, I turn around and shoot a quick look at Izzie who, shockingly, is smiling at me. It’s a reluctant smile, but still a smile. Our eyes meet, and she quickly looks away and starts busying herself with clearing her dish.
Maybe the way to Izzie’s heart is through Liam. It seems to be working.
Liam’s a good kid, so I don’t mind helping anyway. But if doing something for Liam can allow Izzie to see me as someone other than some meathead who sleeps around a lot, then, hey, that’s a win in my book.
Izzie
Bliss. Total, complete, amazing bliss.
