Page 92 of Who's Playing You
“Well, I’d say that that went well,” Nik said.
“A little too well… I think my mom just stole my girlfriend, and I didn’t even get a good luck kiss from her.”
“I’m sure your mom will still give you one.”
I just glared at him. “I meant fromScottie, you dipshit!”
41
SCOTTIE ANDERSON
“So this is the fourth quarter, the last one of the game. We have possession and so that means your feller will be going out there with the offense - trying to gain us some yards, move our boys up the field, and getting us a touchdown,” Atticus explained to me.
“Okay, I think I got it.”
He just chuckled good naturedly. I was seated in the very first row by the glass windows, sandwiched between Atticus and Mrs. Soba. It appeared that Atticus had been serious when he said I was his new best friend, because he’d basically ignored just about everyone during the game except for me, his wife, and the Sobas.
When he realized that I knew literally nothing about football, he didn’t cast judgement or look down on me. Quite the opposite. He’d moved us right up front to the glass and had explained just about every big play of the game.
And by the fourth quarter, that we were currently in, I think I got the gist of it.
Turns out, Atticus was quite the character. And I genuinely liked him. His wife, Trina, was also lovely and we’d hit it off sohard that she was coming to my studio tomorrow so she could see a few of the pieces that I had been working on.
Meanwhile, the Sobas had been nothing but amazing. Mrs. Soba just chuckled and said she was happy that her son finally grew a pair and asked me out, which had Mr. Soba laughing harder.
At halftime we had chatted a little, caught up on life, and that’s when she’d told me that she’d truly missed me these last few years. She shared that she saw the dramatic impact that my friendship had had on her daughter, and she quite literally thanked me for giving her her daughter back.
She said that she firmly believed that if it weren’t for me that Nat never would have begun to work on herself as well as her relationship with her mom, stepdad and siblings.
Turns out, a few years back, Nat told her mom that she started therapy while she was in college.
Mrs. Soba had hugged me and insisted I call her Natasha, but I was finding it hard to do so. She had then said, “So tell me all about you two crazy kids.” I’d given her the SparkNotes version of how we had met, how I had no idea who he was. I continued to tell her that we’d been spending a lot of time together, and then I told her how Nicholas had come to my rescue last week.
I was worried she might think I was taking advantage or that it was too much too soon, but she just patted my leg and had said, “Sounds like you two are off to a great start.”
I had wanted to ask her thoughts on what she thought Nat might say or do when she’d hear the news, but I chickened out. At the moment I was simply relieved that she and Nathan - another name I had to get used to using - didn’t judge me or hate me for dating their son, and living in his house.
“Run, boy, RUN!” Atticus yelled as he sprung to his feet.
With the commotion that startled me and Natasha, my head whipped to the field where I saw Nicholas dodging not one ortwo but about five huge players from the opposing team who were all trying to maim him. At least from my vantage point it looked like they were trying to maim him.
He pushed one down to the ground like a limp biscuit while Atticus kept yelling something about a stiff arm. Nicholas then ducked another while jumping over a third all while running yard after yard towards the end zone.
“TOUCHDOWN!” the announcers yelled over the speakers coming from the TVs while the crowd in the VIP suite did the same thing, and the crowd in the stadium below us went nuts. Natasha and I were hugging and jumping up and down in celebration, like we’d personally run the ball to the end zone ourselves. Atticus joined us when he infiltrated our huddle, throwing his big arms around both of us and beaming from ear to ear all while jumping up and down with us.
“I knew that boy of yers was different,” he yelled over the celebratory noise to Natasha, and she smiled at him in return. “And you!” he said while he looked at me, all jumping now forgotten. “I think yer the lucky charm. Natasha, you tell that boy of yers not to let this one here go. I canfeelit, this girl is going places right along with that son of yers. Together, hot-dawg! They’ll be unstoppable.”
“Don’t I know it,” Natasha responded.
“Now, go on y’all,” Atticus said as he waved a hand toward the door. “George over there will take y’all down to the field to celebrate with today’s MVP.”
With that, Natasha, Nathan and I made our way over to George who got us down to the field within minutes to join in the celebrations of the first game and win of the season.
I felt very overwhelmed with the amount of people on the field and in the stands, the amount of noise was almost deafening. Natasha grabbed my arm and interlocked it withhers, “Come on, Scottie, I got you,” she said like a seasoned pro who’d been to more games than she could probably count.
Nathan led the way and before long we found Nicholas where he was surrounded by not only his teammates but by reporters and fans alike. About four or five different cameras and mics were aimed directly at him and he spoke with such confidence and control.
I found it interesting to see this brand new side of him. While we stood off to the side and observed, I watched his body language and the words he was carefully selecting. He was so controlled and he carefully curated what he gave away. Meanwhile, I felt that with me he was… well, the exact opposite.
