Page 89 of A Play For The Heart
I walk onto the plane, sans crutches. The moment the doctor told me I could walk on the boot without the crutches, I threw those things back at the athletic trainer who gave them to me and said good riddance. They made my life infinitely more difficult. The only upside was that Sawyer would wait on me a little more, and I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the attention.
Nothing like your girl taking care of you.
Declan, Jack, and Deon follow behind me on the plane and we all settle into our seats. As I predicted, Jack and Deon weren’t entirely thrilled that I invited Declan to join our little group, but after I explained how he apologized to both Sawyer and me, they relented. It helped that I’ve been able to see an actual change in him compared to the person we’ve played with the last six months.
“I’m sleeping the entire flight,” Deon says, whipping an eye mask out of his bag and putting it over his eyes. He stuffs his ears with earplugs and throws his hood over his head. He is in hibernation mode.
I look over to Jack, who pulls out a book, puts his headphones in, and silences the rest of the plane. I squint at the cover trying to decipher the large words on the front. All I recognize is the general shape of fish.
I turn and look at Declan. “Guess it’s just me and you.”
“Nope. Just you,” Declan responds, putting in his headphones and starting a movie on the back of the seat in front of us.
Alright then. Party of one.
I dig my phone out from the bag between my feet and begin rapidly downloading games. I had banked on at least one person wanting to talk. Now, I’m racing against the clock for a game to download so I’m not just staring at the wall for the next two hours.
As I wait for Candy Crush to download, my phone buzzes, and a notification pops onto the top of the screen. Noting who sent it, I tap on it, putting up the entire thread.
Mom:We’ll be in Dallas.
I'm so proud of you.
Kissie face. No. The emoji.
Damnit.
The message immediately makes me laugh. When she finally upgraded to a smartphone, she declared that the talk-to-text feature was revolutionary. ‘The days of using thumbs are gone’ she stated. Now, a heavy majority of her texts make no logical sense or are just a string of words she’s trying to turn into emojis.
I type out a response.
Me:Great.
Love you.
Kissie face.
Since the hospital, she’s made an effort to text me, telling me she’s proud of me. I know she feels guilty about how my dad behaved and not recognizing how it impacted me. When they got home, she ripped him a new one and he slept on the couch for a week. He hasn’t messaged or called me yet, but she keeps telling me to give him time. It’s not easy for someone to realize that they did damage to someone else when they were trying to help. I understand that concept better than she realizes. It’s what I did to Sawyer. A mistake I have to live with.
Now I can see it for what it was. His attempt to help me. Did he go about it terribly? Yes. But I recognize the intent, even if the execution was horrible and caused a number of issues. When I thought about what I wanted, I spent a chunk of time debating on what to do with my relationship with him. I didn’t want to cut him off. Outside of football, he was a good dad. Is a good dad. We just need boundaries. When he’s ready to reach out, I’ll be here.
The craziest part of that realization is that it never would have happened if I hadn’t gotten injured or pushed Sawyer away. While those were the worst weeks of my life and I have no plan for that to ever happen again, it changed the dynamic between my dad and me. Something I’m grateful for.
I look down at my phone and shout a thanks into the universe. The games downloaded in time, meaning I won’t die of boredom by the end of the flight.
“There they are,” Jack says, pointing towards the forty-yard-line. I scan the seats, looking for Sawyer and her friends. I make it halfway down the row when I spot her. Honestly, she’s hard to miss. She, Maren, and Nathalie are jumping up and down, arms flailing to get our attention. Their signature greeting. Her hair bounces around as she attracts attention.
A smile splits across my face at Sawyer in my jersey. My mind immediately thinks of Sawyer wearing nothing but the jersey. The thought causes blood to flow straight to my dick, getting a semi from the idea of that happening again. Thank God I'm in sweats, otherwise I would be giving a stadium full of a hundred thousand fans a free show.
Jack squints, looking at the girls as they continue to jump around. I wave at them, so they stop drawing attention from half the stadium.
“Uh, guys…Is Maren wearing my jersey?”
Deon and I lean in, squinting to look at what jersey Maren has on. Sure enough, it's Jack’s. I immediately break out in laughter, remembering what Sawyer told me before the last game they attended.
Both Jack and Deon look at me like I’ve grown ten heads. I can’t blame them; I’m laughing so hard I’m nearly wheezing.
“Why are you laughing so hard?” Declan asks, walking up and standing next to Jack. He shoots a wave at Sawyer who waves back before turning to me for a response.
