Page 80 of When to Call a Blitz

It’s terrifying, but I need to see if it’ll work. It’s clear that she thinks I’m going to constantly turn her down over and over, and I hate that that’s the expectation.

“I think that you need a little bit of a more direct approach,” Leo tells me cooly. He’s been stressed about tomorrow and a little annoyed that we had to come in today.

I should be in the other room going over a few more defensive plays for this weekend, but I had to talk to Leo first, or I wouldn’t be able to focus. But Leo is clearly far more concerned about how he’s going to pull off his multiple turkeys tomorrow.

Instead of doing some kind of crazy recipe, Briar finally forgave him and helped come up with a new rub. Apparently each turkey has a couple pounds of butter under the skin, whichI can’t help but think is probably awful for us going into the weekend, but we also don’t have to eat a ton of it.

“I feel like I have been direct.”

He shakes his head while he scrolls on his phone. “You haven’t. None of this has been direct.” He looks up at me from where he’s sitting, annoyance clear in his eyes. “You need to grow a pair and just tell her that you want to try. Otherwise she’s not going to know. You literally turned her down at a Halloween party, man. You have to do a little groveling.”

He has a point.

In the past, I would buy flowers if I fucked up, or write a couple of love sincere love letters. I’m not sure Heidi would like those.

“How many people are coming to your party tomorrow?” I ask finally.

Leo’s foot starts tapping, and I know this has to be my last question. The man is on edge. “As many as usual. I have to get home soon and start prep.”

In the past I’ve made the mistake of asking him if it would be easier to hire out. It would not be, according to him, and any time anyone asks he gets weirdly pissed. He loves his Thanksgiving. It’s one of the few days that he can truly express how much he loves the team and everyone who allows everything to come together. It’s a constant revolving door of people who make the franchise tick and their families.

It's a big responsibility, and although he has Isla and Owen making the pies and Briar helping prep now too, it’s still a lot to take on.

“Just know I’m here for you, man.”

He nods silently, not looking up. It’s clear that I’ve overstayed my welcome, so I head down the hall.

“You gotta blitz her, man,” a familiar voice says behind me. I turn, watching as Cooper pushes off the wall.

“Were you listening to our conversation?” I point back toward the room.

He rolls his eyes. “Of course I was.”

I groan, turning back around and heading toward the meeting room.

“Girls can be really hard to read, Emmett. Just make it so undeniably clear that you want her and nothing could go wrong.”

“How do you know that?” I don’t look behind me.

“Because I’m never wrong.”

He’s almost always wrong.

Talking about the Heidi situation with Cooper is one of the absolute last things I want to do, so I decide to change the subject. “Did you decide to do that show? Get more information about it?”

He falls into step next to me, but I happen to know heshouldbe headed the other direction. “Yeah. I think I’m going to do it. It sounds like it would be a great opportunity you know?”

It’s hard for some young, middle of the pack tight ends to really get noticed by brands. You have your superstars, and I guess they’re not as neglected as running backs seem to be, but tight ends can sometimes fall behind the long list of great offensive players. Especially if you’re not one of the top couple players in the position.

Although Cooper is good and gets better every year, even he’ll admit that he needs to improve. This year hasn’t been great for him, and I know without a doubt that he wants to start off next year better than this one.

Although I don’t necessarily see anything wrong with going on some kind of reality dating show, you don’t really get a choice on how they portray you, and thatdoesworry me.

“Are you sure it’s worth it? What if you look like a complete dick?”

He shrugs. “It is what it is, man. I’ll be on my best behavior.”

I let it drop, turning into my room. A couple guys on the defense are already there going over notes.

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