Page 32 of Tight End

13

Brody

The first real game of the season was on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders. The cheerleaders didn’t travel with us for away games, but Isabella insisted that I buy her a flight to Las Vegas so she could be with me.

“It’s only nine-thirty,” she complained while looking out the window of my hotel room, which had a perfect view of the Vegas strip. “I want to go out.”

“We have a game tomorrow,” I replied. “I need to rest tonight.”

“We’re in Sin City, and you want to sleep, play your game, and then fly home tomorrow? How is that any fun for me?”

“You didn’t need to come,” I replied.

It was the wrong thing to say, and I knew it immediately.

Isabella rounded on me and planted her hands on her hips. “Ex-cuse-me?”

“I’m just saying that I need to rest before the game,” I replied. “If you want to go to Vegas, we can come back in the off-season.”

“So I’m a burden to you, now?” she shot back.

“Bella…”

“No,” she waved a finger. “I see how it is. You don’t want to go out. You don’t want me to go out. What do you want to do?”

“You can go out if you want. I don’t care.”

This was also the wrong thing to say to her.

“Oh, I’m going out,” she replied, grabbing her purse. “See if I can find a man who appreciates me.”

“Bella, come on now…”

The door slammed so loud that my teeth chattered.

Isabella wanted me to go after her in a big show of apology. She had done this before. But that would just lead me to going out with her, which was not what I wanted.

My phone buzzed with a text. It was Dallas, who was staying in the room next to mine.

Dallas: Damn, dude.

Brody: Tell me about it.

Dallas: I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life. But maybe rethink the whole dating-people-during-the-season thing.

Brody: I’m just trying to find a woman that makes me feel the way Kimmy makes you feel.

Dallas: Give me an honest answer: do you really think Isabella is that woman?

I ignored the text and turned out the lights. But Isabella had gotten her hooks into my brain, and I tossed and turned in bed, wondering what my girlfriend was doing. And if she was finding a way to make me jealous.

It was a relief when she came back to the hotel room at two in the morning. She was drunk and reeked of cigarettes, but she apologized and told me that she missed me and never wanted to be with anyone else, and when she started kissing me I couldn’t bring myself to stop her.

The chaotic night affected me during the game. I was tired, and my throat was scratchy from breathing in Isabella’s cigarette scent all night.

The Vegas crowd was deafening for the first game of the season, which made it tough to hear Dallas call out the plays. On the second snap of the game, I jumped forward a split second too early, resulting in a false-start penalty.

On the next play, I was running a slant across the middle of the field. The false-start penalty was still in my head, so I jumped a full second after the ball was hiked. That meant I was late on my route, and when Dallas snapped the ball across the field, it hissed through the open air where I should have been.

---