Page 10 of Offside

“How’s it going so far?”

She looked at the clipboard, then at the corridor branching in three directions behind me, then back at me with an expression of cheerful defeat. “I’ve been lost twice and I haven’t found the good coffee yet.”

“Third floor, past the film room. Dom guards it but he’ll let you in if you look like you belong. Actually you’re pretty, so I think you’ll get it right away.”

Her face relaxed. The relief of finding someone in a new place who wasn’t performing. “Thank you. It’s a lot. A new city. A new job.”

“Welcome to Phoenix.” I meant it. “It gets less confusing. Mostly.”

She laughed and headed in the direction I’d pointed and I watched her go. Good, I thought. The building needed more women in it who knew what they were doing, and more women in sports was never a bad thing.

CHAPTER 3

RYAN

Griffin texted how he always did, like our conversation was already in progress and I was catching up.

Griffin: Sunday dinner. 5pm. My parents’ place. Don’t bring anything, my mom will be offended

Griffin: Also… Maren will be there. You remember my sister?

I read his second message for a moment longer than it required. Oh I remembered her all right.

Ryan: Yeah? How’s she settling in?

Griffin: Ask her yourself. She talks about work constantly. You probably have more context than I do at this point since you’re at all the same meetings

Griffin: Thank God I can’t be captain even if I wanted to. Too many meetings. And too much sister time.

That was probably true. In the weeks since Maren had joined the organization, I’d seen her at the arena every day. In the training room, in the corridor, at the Tuesday morning staff meetings Calloway ran. She was good at her job. She knew injury prevention better than any trainer I’d worked with professionally, and for someone so young, it was impressive. The protocols she’d implemented in the first week, the way the younger players sought her out without being told to, the authority she carried through a building full of men twice her size were all a testament to her skill. I had been paying attention because I was the captain and knowing the support staff was part of the job.

That was the entire reason.

Ryan: Tell your parents thank you. I’ll be there

I put my phone down and went back to the film I’d been watching, which held my attention for about two more minutes.

Linda had insisted I not bring anything the last time I came over, so I brought wine anyway, because I was from Minnesota and Swedish, and had a mother who’d trained me, and showing up empty-handed to someone’s home wasn’t something she had raised me to do. I arrived five minutes early. From the driveway I could smell the meat cooking in the smoker and hear the baseball game through the window, two things I had started to recognize as a regular Sunday.

I knocked. I never walked into someone’s house without knocking. Never would.

Linda opened the door and glanced at the wine, then at me.

“You didn’t have to⁠—”

“I know,” I said.

She took it with an expression that was equal parts exasperated and pleased and pulled me into a brief but genuine hug that made me think of my own mother back in Eden Prairie. Linda was a full foot shorter than me and hugged like she meant it, both arms, no hesitation.

Tom was in his spot in front of the game and gesturing at me to sit before I’d fully made it through the doorway. “Good timing. I need a second opinion on this bullpen and Griffin’s useless.”

“He needs someone to agree with him,” Griffin said, appearing from the back of the house smelling like woodsmoke. “You made it.”

“You texted me four days ago and every day since to remind me.” I looked around for Maren, but she was nowhere to be found. A streak of disappointment hit me and I turned my attention back to Griffin to avoid acknowledging what I already knew.

“Just making sure.” Griffin dropped onto the couch. “Brisket’s almost ready. Dad’s been up since six.”

“It’s gonna be some of my best,” Tom said, without turning from the game.