Page 103 of First Down

I sigh. Why did Bex have to go upstairs? “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s cool,” he says. “I know that Dad likes having you around to make sure I don’t embarrass the family.”

He stands, taking his bowl with him.

“Coop.”

He shakes his head. “Why don’t you go find your girlfriend?”

He goes upstairs too, leaving me alone at the kitchen table. I’m glad Sebastian’s not here, because I’m sure he’d find some reason to get mad at me and leave as well. Izzy, on the other hand? When she’s mad, she never backs down from the fight, so she’d still be here, telling me all the reasons why I’m being an idiot.

Maybe that’s what makes me call her. I can’t decide whether it would be smart to go find Bex and finish the conversation or if I should give her space. Talking to Izzy might not lead to good advice, necessarily, but it’s not like I have any ideas myself.

Izzy picks up on the first ring. “Who died?”

“What? No one.”

“Then why are you calling?”

“I don’t know, maybe I wanted to hear my little sister’s voice?”

“Aw,” she says. “James, that’s so weird.”

“Weird?”

“You could have just texted.” There’s some background noise, like she’s sitting, or more likely, flopping herself onto her bed. I think of that pink monstrosity and shudder. I’m surprised that her stuffed animal collection hasn’t suffocated her yet. “Mom and Dad are excited that you signed your contract.”

“I need to call them too.”

“Or you could text like a normal person. We have a family group chat for a reason.”

I blurt what I’m thinking before she can draw me into a conversation about our parents. “Bex is mad at me.”

“Oh. What did you do?”

“Nothing,” I say. “Nothing bad, anyway.”

“Did you propose?”

“What? No. Why would she be mad about that?”

“Because she doesn’t like surprises, and a proposal is like, the biggest surprise.” She gasps. “If you proposed and didn’t give her time to get her nails done first, I will drive to your house and murder you myself.”

“Jesus, Iz.”

“How else can you expect her to get good ring hand pictures? The proposal game has changed. It’s not enough to just ask anymore, you need to go all out or it’s like, did you even propose?”

“I don’t—”

“And before you blow me off, may I remind you how many Instagram followers you have? You have to give your future fans what they want, James. Patrick Mahomes proposed to his wife at the Chiefs’ stadium.”

Frankly, I hate my Instagram account. The woman in charge of publicity for the Eagles is thrilled that I’m already growing such a following—and have a cute girlfriend to show off—but whenever I post about Bex, both of us get way more DMs from horny dudes asking about her tits than either of us are comfortable with. Despite what my family might think, proposing isn’t the first thing on my mind, but the reminder that it’s going to be a whole production is annoying. If I had my way, I’d just ask her in bed one morning and be done with it, and I know Bex would like something understated as well, but Izzy’s right. We’ll need someone on hand to take pictures, the whole nine yards.

“It was a surprise,” I admit. “But not that.”

“James!” she says. “Did you learn nothing after the diner?”

“She didn’t react like that when I got her a camera last fall.”

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