Page 42 of The Cadence
“She’s been seeing the new center, Langston Diouf,” he mentioned. “The only reason I know is that he already got in some trouble with the Woodsmen PR people about the shit he’s posting. They want us to keep up a clean, wholesome image, like we’re all a big family, and those videos weren’t it.”
“What was he…Holy Moses.” I had been scrolling as we spoke, and I had found what Will was talking about. The posts had been removed but, of course, other people had helped to spread them around. They showed Kirsten and the Woodsmen center locked together in ways that were…wow.
“Wow,” I said out loud. “This is why Cully said that he recognized her.” I turned my phone sideways to try to understand how they were holding one of the positions. “I don’t think of myself as conservative about the human body, but this is more than I need to see of people.”
“That’s what the PR department told Langston,” he agreed. “And the guy has been getting shit from all of us. He did from the West Virginia fans, too, and he was embarrassed.”
“Did you talk to him?”
Will’s eyebrows raised. “Me, personally?”
“Yeah, you,” I said. “You would be able to give him really good advice.”
“Because I’ve never posted naked videos of myself?”
“Because you think about things before you act on them, and you make good decisions. Like, for example, arranging everything so that I could come to Michigan. I’m very glad about that.”
“Are you? Are you really? You were lonely before,” he said.
“I was, so it was a good idea for me to get another job and it was a good idea to get more into painting the furniture so that I’m busier. I also know that you’ve been making an effort to spend time with me, which I like a lot because you’re so nice to talk to.”
“You say the sweetest things,” he told me. “You always have. You acted so appreciative that I was at your house making you learn math and work on writing sentences.”
“I was extremely appreciative, and so was my grandma. That was another reason why she always made you cookies, to show you how grateful we were.”
“I think I acted like a jackass back then.”
“No,” I said immediately, “you didn’t. You were honest with me and that was the best thing you could have done. I appreciate that a lot about you, too.”
“My honesty,” he echoed. He sat forward, leaning his elbows on his thighs and resting his forehead on his palm for a moment. “I’m really tired.”
“Go to bed!” I told him again. “I have fabric samples to show you in the morning.”
He nodded, and I watched him put his plate in the sink and then walk toward his room. I locked the door carefully and checked it again to make sure it was ok before I went to the guest cottage. Then I lay in my own bed and wondered why his light was still on, and why he wasn’t sleeping.
Chapter 9
Iwaved, happy to see them all. Will had coordinated with some of the other players, so now I was sitting in a group of the women that I had met before, instead of with strangers. That hadn’t bothered me but I knew that he would feel better if I were surrounded by familiar faces in this big stadium.
“I’m looking forward to the bye week,” Kasia said as she plopped down in the orange seat next to mine. She did seem tired. “I’ve been taking care of my nephew while my best friend, his mom, is on her honeymoon and it’s…” She shook her head.
“Kids are a lot,” Calandra agreed, and several of the other people around me also had things to say on the topic. One of them, a woman named Symone, put her hand on her stomach every time someone mentioned a baby, and I got the idea that she might have one on the way. My grandma would have immediately gone into her yarn stash to find something soft to make a blanket, which I bet they would need up here. These womenhad been warning me about how cold it got, so a baby could use several blankets and Grandma had always knitted the cutest…
“Are you crying?” Kasia asked me. “Are you all right?”
“It’s from the wind,” I said. It had been a bad idea to think about my grandma. Time seemed to be helping, as everyone had said it would, but it still didn’t take much to make the tears come.
She seemed a little puzzled, since the temperature had dropped since the first time I’d been at Woodsmen Stadium, but it was still a nice day and not very windy. Luckily for me, the game started shortly and a hundred percent of everyone’s attention was devoted to the field, but not just to the players. They also paid a lot of attention to the beautiful dancers and to the coaches. The head coach’s daughter was actually sitting next to me, and she explained the coin toss. It finally made sense.
Most of the women in the orange seats near me were involved with guys on the offense, and I found it funny how they sat back a little when the defense, the important side, went out to play. Were they really not aware of how vital it was that the other team didn’t score?
They were fun anyway, and this was a more relaxing game because the offense did step up and got more points. The defense, as usual, played great. They may have let one or two touchdowns go past them but that wasn’t on Will’s side of the field, and his ankle looked steady. He didn’t limp at all.
I was still feeling excited when he came out of the locker room and into the lounge, and I had to hold my hands together withmy fingers interlaced so that I didn’t start clapping when he joined me.
“Hello, Calla.”
“Hi, Will! That was wonderful. Really, really good.” I did clap, but just quietly.
