Mia offers me a smile before she walks out, and I grab my boots from near the front door and head out the back.
“Hey, pops.” My dad reaches his arm out for a hug as I approach him. He’s bundled up from head to toe in a sweater, boots, long pants and a baseball hat, even though it’s really not that cold out this morning. He’s always hated the cold, but any time I’ve mentioned moving somewhere else now that all of us kids are done with school, he always shoots me down. “Your mother loves it here,” is his response every time.
“Think we’ll catch any walleye?” I ask, casting a line.
“Prime time for em’ right now. So, we’ll see.” My dad opens a small cooler he brought, grabbing a bag of sliced apples and a water bottle. How times have changed since he and I used to go fishing when I was a kid.
“Apples and water huh? Where’s the beer and beef jerky?”
“Your mom packed me this.” He gives me a look and takes a bite of an apple slice.
“When do you think you’ll be back on the field?”
We’re both sitting back, relaxed on the boat while our lines bob in the water waiting for a bite.
“I don’t know. I would like to say in time for the Chicago game, but I can’t be sure. Once I’m back, it’s up to Coach Aarons when he wants to play me.”
“Can I ask what happened? Or what’s been going on? Your mom and I have been wanting to give you space, of course, but we also would like to understand.” I’ve never had to question my family's love and support. I know I’m lucky. I’m reminded of it any time I see Mia interact with her family. You’d think based onher circumstances she’d be jaded. That she wouldn’t be the light that she is, but she’s actual sunshine.
“My mind hasn’t been right in months. Something’s just been wrong, been off. I thought I could play through it, hide it, but things have only gotten worse. It’s like a monster that just keeps building and building. The pressure felt like it was slowly killing me from the inside out. All the voices—internally and out in the public—just telling me I’m not good enough, I’m losing it, it all just feeds into the anxieties. I can’t help but feel like I’m letting the team down by taking a leave of absence, but you saw that play. I can’t be out on the field and risk that happening again.”
“It takes a man to admit his demons, Nate. I’m proud of you. I won’t pretend to understand what you’re facing. I’ve always thought that the spotlight and pressure of the game was a lot, but I know my son. And the people who know you, love you. We’re rooting for you, we’re here for whatever you need. Take it one day at a time.”
“Thanks, dad.”
“We’re happy you’ve come for longer than just the party. I know your mother is happy to have you home.”
I’m actually happy to have had this extra time home too.
“Yeah, it was Mia’s idea, actually. But I’m glad I took her up on it.”
He laughs a little and looks over at me, smiling and shaking his head.
“What?”
“That girl. She’s going to be the one to settle you down, you watch.”
“I don’t know, pops. We’ll see if she’ll have me.”
My line starts to pull just a little as we sit there in conversation. I glance over at it, just watching, waiting for the right moment to get up and start reeling it in.
“Might take her a minute to realize it, but souls that are meant to be together will always find their way to one another.”
I glance back at him as I’m reeling in my line. Whatever yanked on it a minute ago is long gone, because I pulled it up to half-eaten bait and nothing hooked.
“Life of a fisherman,” my dad jokes as I cast it back out again.
“Almost ready?” I call out to Mia from the living room. Tonight’s party for my parents isn’t anything fancy, thankfully.
“Yes,” she replies. “I’m ready.”
Mia steps through the door frame into the living room and it’s the moment you hear about in songs and movies. The moment where angels sing and there’s a halo floating above her head. She’s wearing a long blue skirt with some flower pattern on it, but there’s a slit that goes all the way up to her thigh. The white sweater she has on hangs off one shoulder and her long brown hair is curled and flowing down one side of her body. Her dark eyelashes flutter as she smiles walking towards me. She’s not even showing that much skin, and I’m about to lose my mind.
I want to stay stuck in this moment for a little longer just to stare at her. In a split second, I see everything I want in life. A future, a house, a family. And I see it all with Mia the moment she stepped out of that bedroom to come to this party with me. I force myself not to say anything. Nothing I even say will come close to how stunning she looks. There aren’t enough words in the English language to explain how Mia just made me feel when I saw her.
She adjusts the collar of her sweater just near her collarbone and walks up to me, grabbing my forearm and pulling at my sleeves.
“They aren’t even,” she says softly, taking her fingers and gently unrolling the sleeves, only to pull at my shirt and roll them up again. Is this actually making me hard? Sleeve action? Jesus.
