Anthony #2
“Bring your nervous ass on so that you don’t hold up the broadcast. This is your launch to the nation, make it count.” She snapped her fingers at me to snap me out of my nervousness but I could tell she was trying to get me to calm down.
I nodded and jogged back toward the field where the sideline reporter was waiting with a smile on her face, with my brother standing beside her.
“And here he is, the other half of the Phillips family dynamic duo. Anthony your brother was just telling the world how proud he is of you, how do you feel about that?”
The sideline reporter was a slightly older Black woman, and I was glad it was her talking to us and not the other chick that worked with her. She was messy and hadn’t been given much access to the team because of how she’d come at Lyric and Grant a few years ago.
I glanced at ‘Twan who wore that same wide grin on his face and I could only chuckle because he looked at me the way he did when Nia did something: like seeing her win was all the joy he needed in his life.
He was always the jokester even when he was going through his own shit, but this smile was genuine.
“You over here playin’ proud parent, ‘Twan?” I playfully hit him in the chest with the back of my hand and he only grinned broader. The diamonds in his ears were flashing almost as brightly as his smile underneath the stadium lights.
“Damn right. You took them boys to school today in that back field, Ant.” He dapped me up and we did our handshake oblivious to the people who were around.
“How did it feel to get your first NFL interception?”
Lia, the woman we were supposed to be giving our attention interrupted what we were doing and I turned back to her. Antwan swung his arm across my shoulder and I swore he looked like he was gonna burst from joy.
“It felt amazing. A lot of hard work went into my being here and I’m grateful for the opportunity that the Desperados have given me.
I always said if I got the chance to come back and play the game I love that I wouldn’t take it for granted.
Hopefully, this is just the start of something amazing.
” I could see Antwan nodding from the corner of my eye and just beyond him Stephanie was as well.
Lia was smiling and I was sure she could tell I was nervous. That smile was one of reassuring me I was saying the right thing.
“It sure looks that way. Anything else you want to say?”
“Yeah. Thanks to Desperados nation for the energy they provided us today and always. Y’all showed up in all phases of the game and y’all really keep us motivated.
My big brother who has always had my back and believed in me even when I lost faith in myself, thank you, man.
God did his big one when he made Antwan my keeper.
And AP, I love you, baby. Thanks for the pep talk. Guess we both got wins in New York. ”
I winked at the camera, blew a kiss to it and turned around just as Antwan jumped around me playfully before hooking his arm around my neck.
I handed my helmet off to Todd, one of the equipment managers, who was in charge of our gear before we trotted off toward the tunnel with one of the team film crew walking a few steps away from us.
“I told you, you had this shit. You put in that fucking work and look! First NFL INT goes for a fucking pick six! I’m so fucking proud of you, man. So fucking proud.”
He kept squeezing me closer and closer to him emphasizing how proud he was but I swore he was about to break my damn neck. His voice was warbling and his emotion was going to trigger mine.
“Bruh, I need my damn head to play.” I was laughing but when he eased up I gave him a hug as best I could over our pads. I leaned back knowing that there were probably cameras on us but not giving a damn because if it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be here having this moment.
“Thanks for always believing in me, ‘Twan. Even when I ain’t deserve that shit.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you do in this world, you gone always have me in your corner, bruh. Unless you were fucking with kids or beating women or sum. Then I’d haul your Black ass down to the bayou to play with Silas’ gators my damn self.” He hit me on the shoulder with a grin on his face.
I shook my head at his words but I knew he was serious.
“You crazy as hell.”
Antwan looked behind me and grinned before he pointed over my shoulder. “Aye look, your girl might’ve missed your message, guess you gotta replay that shit for her so she knows it’s real.”
I turned to where he was pointing and I saw Rye and AP standing together in the tunnel.
They were far enough back so that the cameras and the crowd wouldn’t see them, but because of our angle they were visible to us.
AP was about three inches taller than Rye so even standing behind her she was seen.
The thing I noticed was that she wasn’t trying to hide herself from the camera or from view.
No ball cap pulled low, no sunglasses, just her and that wide grin that made my damn heart skip.
I rushed through tossing out what I could and signing papers and balls for the fans that had stayed and lined the stands by the tunnel and then I ran in to greet the woman that was there waiting for me.
I assumed my niece was still up in the suite playing with the Grayson kids and Rye didn’t want to bring her down here.
“Good game, baby bro.” She gave me a quick hug but stepped out the way to get to Antwan. She ain’t even get to speak to him before he had her little ass picked up in one arm and his tongue down her throat.
When I turned around, Aphrodite was grinning from ear to ear so I held out my arms and she jumped into them.
Her legs went around my waist like she was trying to start something and I had to remind myself where we were.
The jersey dress she’d gotten made was fire up close and I kept my hand over her ass so it wasn’t falling out the bottom.
She was squeezing me like her life depended on it and saying something into the side of my neck I couldn’t hear.
“You gone give me a kiss, AP?”
She leaned up and I saw she was crying. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you really just tell the TV audience that you loved me?” Her voice was all muffled with emotion and I had to wonder why she looked distraught over what I’d said.
“Yeah, something wrong with that?” She punched me in the arm playfully but it still hurt since I’d been playing all day. “Damn you heavy handed. Maybe we should ease up on them chest workouts.”
Aphrodite pouted her lip making me want to bite that shit but I waited for her to say what she needed to get off her chest. “You didn’t think you should tell me first?”
“I mean, the shit just came from the heart. I’ll do better the next time I fall in love.”
She went to punch me again and I kissed her instead to calm her ass down. Even with all the equipment I had on I wasn’t going to let go of her. Her hands were on my face caressing it as we kissed. This is what life was about. This woman just got me, completed me.
We parted and she pulled back to look at me. “There won’t be a next time.”
“You damn right. I ain’t have nothing to hide so I just said what I was feeling. It was that simple to me. My bad for not doing it in private.”
“I love you too.”
I grinned like the fool in love I was and just nodded at her. “I been knowing.”
Her eyes rolled but she was still grinning as I kissed her again. “Arrogant ass.”
“Nah, just feeling you the way you were feeling me. You can’t be laid up with somebody for months unless you feel something deep. And my shit is about as deep as my brother’s tongue down his wife’s throat.”
She threw her head back and laughed seemingly unbothered by the position we were in. “I want to take you to celebrate. Where should we go?”
“Lil baybeeh, why you playin’? You know we got a date at Leo’s. That chopped sandwich callin’ me. Besides, it’s your birthday soon. You not about to spend a dime on me. We gone celebrate all weekend long.”