2. Lennox
Chapter 2
Lennox
I pulled up outside the San Diego Youth Center and parked my Hummer . After cutting the engine, I pulled down the visor to check the damage to my hair.
The one thing I loved most about living in Southern California was the weather. I could ride with the windows down and feel the California breeze in my face as it fucked up my hair. Only a month out from the end of the season and it was already out of control.
Threading my fingers through the light brown locks, I finger-combed it as best as I could, then secured it with the elastic hairband I wore around my wrist.
Climbing out of the car, I put on my sunglasses and reached for the bags I’d brought with me. Storm Championship T-shirts in a variety of sizes and team colors were always a hit with fans.
After meeting up with my former coach after the Super Bowl, we’d gone to dinner to celebrate and talked for a while. I hadn’t seen him since I graduated from college, and it was good to catch up in person. That conversation was the reason I was here.
“What are your plans for the offseason? Hawaii again?” he’d asked.
I smiled as I sipped my cappuccino. “Maybe for a couple of weeks. But I’ve got some projects to do around my house. I’m going to rip out my kitchen and redo it. I’ve discovered I enjoy doing the DIY thing.”
Roger’s face lit with his smile. “I’m not surprised. I could have told you that years ago.”
I chuckled as fond memories filled my head. “I remember. We were a handful back then.”
Roger sat back and lifted his cappuccino to his lips, then took a sip.
“Yes, but those times are precious to me. You boys were always into something, and Elle loved to tell on her brothers. I wouldn’t take anything for those memories.”
Neither would I.
When my father decided parenthood wasn’t his thing, Roger Calloway stepped in to be that for me. He’d always treated me just like Dane and Elle, and changed my life when he’d taken me under his wing. He taught me everything I knew about football until I went to college.
Dane and I remained best friends even when I moved across town with my father and ended up in a different high school. We could no longer afford Country Day Prep after my parent’s divorce.
“You gave me exactly what I needed, and I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”
He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. “Seeing you successful is all the repayment I need. Watching you grow into the athlete you are were some of the best years of our lives.”
“I’d give anything to go back to those days when he was talking to me.”
He gently squeezed to make his point. “I know, Lennox. I don’t know what happened, and it’s easy for me to say, but maybe you can find a way to talk to him.”
I smiled, knowing that was impossible. There was a lingering ache from missing the only real family I ever had. So much so that I rubbed the heel of my right hand over a tender spot on my chest. I hadn’t realized how deeply I’d missed them all until that moment.
“Is he okay?”
His mouth twisted as if he were holding something back. “Yes. He’s fine.”
I tapped my finger on the table, wanting to ask so many more questions about Dane. But I knew I had no right to any information. It would just hurt to know he’d gone on without his best friend.
Looking up, I met his eyes. “I hope I can pay it forward someday. Maybe help some kids find a love for football.”
Roger put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t wait. There’s no time like the present, Lennox. Take all that passion and kindness you have, and pay it forward. I’m sure there are plenty of kids in your area who could use someone like you.”
That conversation was why I was there. I was going to do just that with some unsuspecting kid who might need someone to help him learn the game, or just someone to hang out with.
Walking to the door, the unmistakable roar of a fighter jet overhead caught my attention. We were close to Coronado, the Navy base where over five thousand military personnel were stationed. San Diego was a home port to both the Navy and Marines.
When Roger told me that Dane was back in Coronado, I wanted to go hunt him down and kick his ass for not coming to dinner. I’d hoped we could talk, and he’d let bygones be bygones. It had been over twelve years since we’d seen one another.
But not Dane.
He’d hold a grudge until he died because he was fucking stubborn. I was too, and it wasn’t lost on me. Evan had told me many times.
But no matter what I did or how I tried to put him out of my mind, I couldn’t do it. We had unfinished business, and I missed the asshole.
Shuffling the bags in one hand, I pulled open the door to the Youth Center. As I entered the door, the receptionist looked up and smiled.
“Good morning!” she beamed. “I’m Susan, the assistant coordinator.”
I returned her smile with the easy-going grin I was known for.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lennox Sanders.” I lifted the bags as if she couldn’t see them. “I brought a few t-shirts from our PR team.”
She hurried around the counter and motioned me to follow. “That’s great! We can put them in here. It’s generous of the Storm to share all this.”
We walked into a dark conference room where she flipped on the lights. I sat them on the table.
“Laura, our PR rep, said to tell you to call her if you need more. They have plenty in the storeroom and will be happy to send more over. I think she tucked her card in one of them.”
Her eyes lit up. “The kids are going to love these!”
“We hope so. There are a bunch of sizes in there.”
Susan grinned up at me. “Thank you, Mr. Sanders.”
I recognized her breathy tone. She was into me like most women I met. But it wasn’t the real me she saw. It was the professional athlete with millions of dollars in my bank account. But I grinned back.
“Call me Lennox. Mr. Sanders is too formal.”
She blushed. “Okay … Lennox.”
I needed to put an end to this, so I looked around the room and pointed to the doorway with my thumb. “So, is my new buddy here?”
“About that,” she replied quickly, snapping back into a professional tone. “We do things a little differently here. While we welcome building one-on-one relationships, we choose to focus on the group dynamic first. There are lots of kids here for the after-school program that could benefit from your talents.”
I furrowed my brow. “Okay. You have a lot of kids wanting to play sports?”
Susan smiled softly. “We do, but those programs typically take place in the summer. We also have an academic component that helps kids with reading and math.”
She had my attention now. “I like both of those,” I chuckled. “Might have been a math geek back in the day. Even considered education as a backup to football.”
Memories of how Dane and I competed for grades made me smile. We always tried to one-up each other, but the healthy competition made each of us better.
“That’s great! Sometimes we have difficulty finding math tutors.”
I grinned and held out my arms. “Then I’m the man for the job.”
Susan’s smile stretched across her face. “Then let’s go meet the kids. Maybe you can change some minds about math.”
“Lead the way, Miss Susan.”
She clapped like a kid at Christmas, then motioned for me to follow her.
“We have fifteen kids here this afternoon. Let’s get you set up to meet them and just talk to them today. They range from eight to fourteen years old.”
With a new sense of excitement, I followed her down the hall.
We rounded the corner and entered a big room filled with tables. Kids were sprinkled around the room, some probably doing homework, while others played board games or were reading a book. Then my eyes landed on one kid with a ruler and a protractor.
“Hey everyone,” Susan said, calling my attention to her. “I have someone to introduce to you.”
My pulse picked up a beat as fifteen sets of eyes focused on me. Meeting fans didn’t bother me in the least, but there was no way to know if they were fans. And by the way, some of them looked at me, they had no idea who I was. But the older ones began to catch on quickly.
“This is Lennox. He’s here to volunteer today.”
I smiled and raised my hand to wave, but was cut off by a tall, lanky teenager who recognized me.
“Holy crap! You’re Lennox Sanders. The quarterback for the Storm.”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “Yep, that’s me. What’s your name?”
He ran toward me before sliding to a stop a few feet away.
“This is Trevor,” Susan said. “He’s a budding track star.”
I smiled. “You like to run?”
His head bobbed. “Yes, sir. I want to play football one day.”
“Cool. If you’ve got speed, then you should focus on being a receiver or a safety. Those guys need to be fast.”
The other kids approached as I pulled out a chair and took a seat.
“Lennox is going to volunteer here during the offseason. Let’s go around and introduce ourselves to him.”
“I’m Robert,” one of the kids said, popping up off the floor.
I held my hand out to shake his. “It’s nice to meet you, Robert. What do you like to do?”
“Play soccer. What do you like to do?”
I grinned at the kid, who had to be no more than ten. “Besides football, I like to build things, and I like to cook.”
His eyes widened. “Do you mean like K-Nex or Lego’s?”
“I used to like those,” I chuckled, “but I like to build things with wood. I’m getting ready to start building a new kitchen at my house.”
Robert’s eyes widened. “It doesn’t have one?”
I threw my head back and laughed. “It does, but I’m going to take it out and put in a new one.”
“Oh,” he replied, dragging out the o.
“Let’s keep going,” Susan suggested, then pointed to the next kid.
We went around and each one introduced themselves to me. Kelly liked to build model cars, Haden collected Pokemon cards, and Maria liked to make doll clothes out of scraps of fabric.
I glanced over at the kid who’d caught my attention a few moments ago. His light brown hair was cut short, and he had a familiar face, making me think I must have met him at a community event the team sponsored.
“And this is Daniel,” Susan said, introducing him.
The boy lifted his face and melted me with one gaze.
“Hey, Daniel. It’s nice to meet you.”
He smiled but didn’t respond. So I carried the conversation. “What are you working on?”
The little boy looked down at his paper, then back up at me. “Drawing circles.”
I smiled and got up to look at his paper. He was drawing them with a compass, pressing the sharp pointed end into the paper while he rotated the pencil. The paper was filled with all different sizes. He was practicing changing the angles.
“You’re doing a good job. Those things aren’t easy to use.”
He looked down at his paper before looking back up at me. “My mom gave it to me. She says circles are important. And doing math.“
I smiled. “Why is that?”
“She flies airplanes.”
Raising my brows, I was impressed. “That’s really cool. Math is definitely important if you fly airplanes. It was my favorite subject in school.”
He looked up at me with wide eyes. “Really? You like math?”
I grinned and sat down across from him. “I love it. And I use it every time I take my teammates down the field.”
His eyes got wider as his face began to light up. “How?”
“Let me show you,” I said. “Can I write on your paper?”
He nodded quickly and handed me his pencil. Daniel got on his knees in the chair and leaned over to look at what I was doing.
I looked around as the other kids had circled us. Smiling, I flipped over his paper and drew.
For the rest of the afternoon, we nerded out about how all athletes use math and science to do their jobs. Susan took out a bunch of balls for us to play with. I showed how much force I have to put behind the ball when I need to hit a target downfield. And when they started trying it out themselves, I realized how much fun all of this was. It reminded me of all the shit Dane and I used to do as kids. It was a wonder we didn’t break more bones.
When it was time to leave, I said goodbye to the kids and Susan walked me to the door.
“I’ve never seen my Daniel get so excited. You made an impression on him. All of them, really.”
I laughed. “I can relate to him. There’s something about the little guy that reminds me of growing up.”
“You should think about teaching when you’re done with football,” she commented. “You’d make a good one.”
“I’ll think about that,” I said, wanting to do it all over again tomorrow.
Over the next couple of weeks, I went and hung out with the kids whenever I could. Susan even arranged for us to make cookies from scratch one afternoon. We had shit everywhere, but it was fun.
And that was all that mattered during the offseason.