Page 22 of Lavender and Linebackers

My smile grows even wider.

“Really?” Danica asks, loving this. “Alice, who did you pick?”

I flip my board, and it says me.

Danica claps her hands together in delight.

“In all fairness,” I tell her, “he’s faster out of the gate than I am, but I can run fast longer. It doesn’t matter if it’s uphill, downhill, or on a flat surface. If distance is involved, I’ll win,” I tell her confidently.

He holds up both of his hands as he concedes to my explanation.

“She’s always had great endurance. She ran cross country and thinks half marathons are fun.”

I gasp dramatically for the camera. “They are fun! The Gasparilla Half Marathon is a great time. Up early with friends, you get to watch the sunrise, then run down Bayshore Boulevard. What’s not fun about that?”

“Um, blisters, knee pain, chaffing . . .”

“Amateur.” I scoff.

“Insane,” he banters back, and my heart thumps in my chest.

“Have the two of you ever run this stadium?” she asks.

It was the summer going into senior year, and we were in the stadium as volunteers for the half-day summer football camps. These are weeklong camps where kids come to learn new skills, plays, and make new friends. I don’t remember why we decided to challenge each other to a race to the top, but we did. Loser bought lunch. It wasn’t even close, and I think my massive win surprised us both.

“We have. She was at the top before I had even made it halfway up. I might be competitive in most things, but I have no shame in giving her this win.”

“You didn’t give me that win. I won it fair and square, and as I recall, you had to foot the bill for lunch that day.”

“I did,” he says, almost begrudgingly.

Danica laughs. I’m pleased that she’s happy with how this required marketing event is going. I did worry that it would be awkward, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m going to need some time to decompress after it. My heart feels heavy. Too heavy.

“Speaking of a winner, we’re still tied at four to four, and we’ve reached our last question. It’s a tough one, so think long and hard . . . who do you think is going to win the Super Bowl this year?”

I grin with apparent glee, and Ryder chuckles.

No hesitation. We both write our answers and then flip the boards around at the same time. In all caps, we’ve written Tarpons.

“I love the optimism! The Tarpons are definitely going to bring home the trophy this year, and it seems we have a tie. Five to five and that only means one thing.” She hesitates. “You both win a set of Tarpons tickets to give away for our first home game.”

My face lights up. “That’s great! Thank you!”

“Thank you for joining me in the hot seat today. One last question . . . Ryder, who is she giving her tickets to?”

He smirks again. “Her parents.”

He’s not wrong.

Chapter 8

Ryder

Tonight is team dinner night.

Well, not the whole team, just the defense. Occasionally, we have a few from other areas of the team show up, like Bryan, our quarterback, but mostly it’s just us and whoever can make it. Team dinners occur during home week games only, unless there’s really something important we need to talk about during away game weeks. A lot of players have families, and captains are sensitive to time away from them.

The purpose of these dinners is to strengthen the relationships between all of us, but to talk shop. We go over opposing offenses to discuss film, patterns, and plays they tend to lean toward. We talk about the responsibilities of different players for the defensive scheme and how we can improve communication on the field. There are shout-outs for great plays made and then razzing of others, and there’s talk about life. It’s around this table over the past couple of months that I’ve learned a lot about my teammates, their families, and their goals.