Page 13 of When to Call a Blitz

I make a mental note to check around the side of the house later, because I’m not quite sure I remember putting up bird feeders. But Juniper is heading inside, and I want to make sure she’s ready for school.

“You got your homework done?”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, Dad.”

I nod. “Anything you need from me?”

She shakes her head. “Nope,” she replies simply.

I watch as she grabs her cereal from the bottom cabinet before opening the fridge, stretching to grab the milk on her tip toes.

And it really sets in that my daughter is growing up.

Sure, I’ve had these moments before. What father hasn’t? But they come more and more often.

The thing that hits me the most is how grown up she is at such a young age still and knowing it’s because it’s just us, and I’m not around as much as I want to be.

“You know I love you, right, Kiddo?”

Juni looks over her shoulder with another dramatic eyeroll. “You’ve said that just about a million times, Dad.”

“And I’ll tell you a million more.”

Practice was a bitch today, the humidity making me almost feel physically ill.

I’m sweaty, I feel like I’m sticking to literally everything I touch, and I’m starting to go insane. If I don’t get these clothes off of me soon and my sore body into a goddamn shower I think I’m going to lose it.

“Bye loser,” I wave as Leo drives past me, the windows of his frankly insanely expensive car rolled down and the most random 2000s boy band pop song blasting. He flips me off as he turns out of the parking lot.

Climbing into my car, I guzzle what feels like a whole gallon of water in an attempt to keep myself from cramping too hard the second I stop moving.

“Alright, let’s get home,” I mutter to myself as I blast the AC and crank up the latest country song.

Pulling out of the lot I find myself narrowly missing being hit by one of our rookies, and when I’m finally safe and on the road, I let myself actually relax.

This season is looking fairly promising. We didn’t get far last year after Leo’s injury, but this year we have a solid defense, a great offense, and we just acquired one of the best wide receivers in the league. Meanwhile other teams in our division seem to be struggling to put a great team together.

We’ll have a couple of hard games, and I hate to be so positive, but I have a good feeling, which is something I don’t generally lean into.

Sometimes you just have to find the little things to hold onto.

The rain pitters on my windshield as I head down the highway, already envisioning myself under the steady stream of my shower.

And I’m almost there.Almost.But I’m a mile from home when I see her.

The god damn redhead.

Pulled over to the side of the road, a popped tire on her old beat up car.

Heidi stands in front of the car, her hands on her hips as she chews on her cheek.

I won’t lie, I’m thinking of driving right on past before deciding against it in a split second.

It’s not that I don’t want to help her. It’s that I want to. So badly. She’s not someone I can get to know too much without things ending painfully, and it’s just better to leave it.

But I’m also not a total monster, and someone I know is currently stranded on the side of the road in the rain.

Pulling over in front of her, I hop out of my car, my already extremely damp clothes feeling painfully cold as the warm rain hits me.

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