Peter dips his head as he clicks his fingers. He truly believes he’s just come up with the world’s most fantastic idea. “Yes, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll say this was planned. We can tell the rest of the team we were in on this. We can win the Super Bowl if we—”
“I quit.”
All three heads turn to me, eyes bugging.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Kevin Slater seethes, face so red it looks like he’s morphing into a life-size tomato.
“Your hearing aid not working, old man?” I ask him, pointing to my own ear mockingly. “I said I quit.”
Taking a few steps back, I shrug as they gawk at me. Have I grown a second head or something?
I quit.
I quit.
I quit.
Two small words that hold so much power.
They’ve replayed over and over again in my head for years. And yet, I never had the ability to say them aloud. There were too many reasons not to, but since meeting Mae, those reasons have quickly dissipated.
“Nathan, think about this logically,” Peter attempts to reason with me, desperation slipping into his usual monotone voice. “We’re so close. This could be our year!”
“Youryear.” I nod towards him. “The team will be just fine without me. I’ve failed to follow the terms of the contract, so if you won’t fire me, then I quit.”
Darrell dips his chin in understanding. There’s a sliver of disappointment lingering in his eyes, but he doesn’t try to talk me out of it. He wants the best for me, and he knows that football has been an ever-growing burden for years now.
When I first joined the team, I could hide it. Tell myself it wasn’t that heavy. But as time has passed, it’s started to cling to me like a baby monkey to its mother.
Cracks have been forming for as long as I can remember, and it’s finally all come crumbling down.
And I’m not the least bit disappointed about it either.
“All this… for a girl?” my father spits in disbelief. “What about when it doesn’t work out? This would have all been for nothing, Nathan.”
I eye him up, my chest tight with loathing for the man who wrecked my childhood. “Itwillwork out, but my relationship is not your concern.”
“So that’s what you're calling it? A relationship?” He scoffs, and I’m shocked when Darrell turns to my father blankly.
“Nathan’s a smart man. He can make his own decision. I, for one, am happy for you.” He smiles at me before addressing my father again. “I don’t believe you have the correct pass to be in this restricted area, anyway. It’s in your best interest to leave before I get security down here.” Darrell edges closer to me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Do what you need to do.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
He grins. “That’s ex-coach to you.”
And with that, I spin on my heel and turn my back on them.
Turn my back on football.
And it feels fucking euphoric.
Because my future isn’t this sport anymore.
It’s the beautiful woman who I can now publicly call mine.
34: Nathan
“Okay, you’ve been staring off into space for the past ten minutes, and it’s creeping me out,” Mae says to me as she kneels on my couch beside me. “What are you thinking about?”
