Page 32 of When to Call a Blitz

“You look good, Emmett. You ready?”

We start down the road at a brisk jog, and it’s only a couple minutes in before I realize that Heidi is nearly out of breath.

“Breathe through your nose, Heidi,” I say, nearly out of breath myself. Sure, my position is demanding, but I’m not a damn running back.

I may not be a lineman, but I’m still a big guy whose position requires a certain amount of mass. A kind of mass that makes it a little hard to maintain a run for long distances.

“I—” she struggles to get the words out. “I am—bre—breathing through m—my nose,” she tells me.

“You aren’t.” I come to a stop, watching as she barrels past me before slowing. Turning, she gulps air as she walks toward me, coming to a stop. Hands on her knees, Heidi heaves. “What did you do the other day when you went for a run?”

“I walked,” she croaks.

“Hey,” I stand in front of her, resting my hands on her shoulders as I lean down. “Take a deep breath and then breathe through your nose.”

Heidi’s head tips up toward mine, her eyes wild.

“You’re okay,” I assure her. “Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.”

Her breathing starts to slow little by little, and her eyes close as she inhales through her nose, exhaling through her mouth slowly.

“You’re okay,” I say again, squatting lower in front of her. “Hands on my shoulders, Heid.” She does as she’s told. “Breath with me,” I tell her, my fingers tipping her chin so she’s looking right down at me.

I take a dramatic breath in through my nose, out through my mouth, and she follows suit.

“There you go, keep going,” I praise.

Her face is red, her hand shaking slightly, but when she stabilizes, she sits there for a beat longer before nodding and standing up straight.

“I’m sorry,” she says, turning. “That was embarrassing.”

I shake my head, standing as I follow her down the road further from my house. “We don’t have to keep going,” I assure her.

“No, clearly I need to keep going. Even if we just walk a little while.”

I nod, falling into step beside her.

“It also wasn’t as hot yesterday,” she tells me, and she’s right. Today is a scorcher, and I can just image how dead we’re all going to be later during practice.

“The conditions were a lot better yesterday,” I mention, and she glances at me from the side, a small smile on her lips.

“Thank you for making me feel better.”

“You shouldn’t be feeling bad about it. You’re just starting to run again. It’s totally fine.”

A comfortable silence settles over us, and after about ten more minutes of walking, we both decide to turn around just as the sky lights up in the most brilliant sunrise.

“Well,” Heidi’s lips curve into a sly smile, “We had our sunset. Looks like we have our first sunrise.”

“Will there be more?” I ask before I can stop myself.

“You want more?”

“Yes.”You’re supposed to be saying no,I remind myself.

But it’s no use. Whatever spell this woman put on me has altered my brain chemistry, making me want more and more of her time.

Making me want to be herfriend.

---