“Anyway,” Kendall said turning everyone’s attention back to me.
“I’m here for work,” I explained.
“Really? What do you do?” He continued.
“I work in football.”
As soon as I said it, everyone went silent. It was like I had just said that I was a cop here to raid the place.
Kendall looked at Cage and Cali. “What aspect of football?”
“I’m an assistant coach for the Cougars.” When no one spoke, I asked, “Do you guys follow football?”
That was when I turned hearing someone descending the stairs. Initially I didn’t recognize him, not having seen him without his shirt on. But it hit me pretty quickly. My mouth dropped open.
“What?” the guy asked the others in his, now famous, southern accent. “Who’s this?” He said referring to me.
“You’re Nero Roman,” I said unable to help myself.
“Yeah. Who are you?” He replied with full southern twang.
“I’m Merri Hail. I work for the Cougars. And I’m a big fan.”
“Who’s this?” Nero asked looking around for an explanation as he joined us.
“He’s staying at my place,” Cali explained. “He was looking for a way to take his mind off of a break up so I invited him here. I thought he would balance out the numbers.”
“I see,” Nero asked staring at me as he decided something. “Anyway, are we doing this? I feel a win streak coming on. You got my back, Kendall?”
“Oh, Kendall!” I said reflexively. “You’re Nero’s boyfriend who’s hoping to get your PhD in clinical psychology.”
“Seriously, who is this?” Nero asked Cage.
“You heard it. He’s Merri and he’s an assistant coach with the Cougars. Why did you say you were in town?”
“I’m doing some recruiting,” I said feeling my palms sweat.
Again, the room fell into silence.
With his eyes darting around the room, Cage asked, “And who are you here to recruit?”
“Oh wait! You’re Cage Rucker, Nero’s brother. You set a D1 record for most passes in a season.”
“Yeah,” Cage said modestly.
“So, who are you recruiting?” Nero asked.
I stumbled over my words. “Ah, Claude. Claude Harper. It’s a small town. Maybe you know him.”
The group once again looked at each other.
Nero clarified, “You said you’re from the Cougars?”
“Yes.”
“The NFL team?” Nero added.
“Yeah,” I said confused by everyone’s responses. “Do you all not know Claude?”