AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“From what I’ve seen, you’ve still got the goods.”
“Then I think you should be setting the depth chart.”
“So, that’s it? You’re just going to give up and accept sitting on the bench?”
“What else am I going to do?”
“Fight,” she says simply. “Fight for your spot.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing?”
“Aside from wallowing in self-pity?” she asks with a sly grin.
“And what would you have me do, Cami?”
“I would have you force Coach B to sit up and take notice. I’d have you show him you still have some good football left in you—because you do, Carter. I would have you show him you are the better choice atop the depth chart and show him that starting Ryder would be a mistake. He has talent, I can’t say otherwise. But he doesn’t have the maturity to lead this team anywhere. Starting him now would be a mistake that could set the franchise back years. He would benefit from sitting on the bench for a season or two and learning from you.”
“That is a fantastic speech and I agree with the sentiment wholeheartedly. Unfortunately for us, neither one of us is setting the depth chart.”
“Wow. I never once thought of you as somebody who’d quit when things got tough. Color me more than a little disappointed.”
A wry grin crosses my lips. “Yeah, well, I guess I seem to be making a habit of disappointing people these days.”
“I’m shocked, Carter. I thought you were a competitor and somebody who never quit. Your relentlessness was always something I admired.”
“Maybe I’m just tired of having to fight so hard to prove myself.”
“I seem to recall you saying once that being a pro football player, you’ve got to prove yourself every single day, on and off the field,” she says. “You also said you would never back down from that challenge, and you’d keep playing with that chip on your shoulder to the bitter end of your career and that you’d always go down fighting.”
I laugh softly. “That was from an interview a long time ago. Your memory is kind of scary.”
She looks down for a minute and shakes her head. I can see the disappointment etched into her face and feel a stab of guilt pierce my heart. Weirdly enough, knowing she’s disappointed in me cuts me deeply. For some reason, even though we barely know one another, Cami’s opinion of me matters.
We seem to have really connected, and perhaps because of that, I find myself caring about what she thinks of me. The fact that she recalls something I said years ago at this point tells me she feels that connection too… had probably felt it even before I did.
As I look at her, I feel a fire ignite in my belly. The warmth from those flames spread outward, flowing through my veins and running through my entire body. That fire fills me with a heat that’s been missing from my life for a long time. It’s been missing for so long that I’m only just now feeling its absence.
In that moment, I realize that I’ve simply been going through the motions and playing out the string on my career. I know now that I’ve just been marking time and waiting for the end of my career to come.
The disappointment on her face is cutting. But the desire to keep from seeing that look feels like it’s breathing new life into the fires inside of me—fires that had burned so low so long ago, they’ve been all but dormant. The desire that’s been missing suddenly springs to life and has me refocusing on the game that I’ve loved for so long. That connection I feel for Cami has me wanting to leave the game with my head up, in a way that will make her proud of me—and make me proud of myself.
“Listen, I should go,” I tell her. “I need to get deeper into the playbook. I need to know all the calls and all my reads before practice.”
She looks up at me. “I thought you were content just playing babysitter?”
“Maybe I’m changing my mind.”
Her smile nearly stops my heart. “Good boy. Go. Study.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I get to my feet and throw enough money onto the table to cover both of our checks. She gives me a thankful smile then pulls out her phone and starts to tap away at the screen.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Calling for an Uber.”
“No, you’re not. Come on. Let me give you a lift.”
