Chapter 50
PACE – LATE DECEMBER
It’s Only a Road Test
“Pace, where the hell is your head today?” Our offensive coordinator, Halliday, hollers at me after I run a route and fail to catch Lamar’s pass, again.
“Where’s his head been all week?” Omar calls, taking off his helmet and planting a gloved hand on his hip. We’re both wearing the alternate kit today – white jersey, blue pants, the reverse of our usual. “Hey, Halliday, did we tell you Pace hit a round of eighty-nine at Greenhills on Tuesday?”
“I haven’t seen him hit a round over eighty-two in all my time at the Bears,” Trent Daniels says, popping up from whatever defensive hole he just crawled out of to receive a glare from me in response.
“Don’t you have something to block?” I snap, realizing how wired I am. “And, Halliday, the bit they’re leaving out is that I still beat their asses on Tuesday playing some of my worst golf.”
Halliday takes off his cap and scratches his thick head of hair – man’s hanging on to it well. “Yeah, I saw that on socials. Congrats. Now if only you’d catch a fucking ball instead of sinking one.”
I shake my head through a chorus of heckles and howls. We’re all in good spirits because in an unlikely twist on this season, both the offense and defense are playing well.
The Bears are twelve and three, with two games left in the season.
Since the trade deadline passed, Lamar’s been making plays happen by himself to get downs and touchdowns as his eligible receivers are increasingly man-marked.
If there’s one player on the roster that I don’t mind chirping me, it’s our quarterback.
He’s finding his voice and coming into his own with a lot of support from his offense.
I don’t know what will come of the end of the season. Auston has seen Nelson once since his birthday party and so far as Annie and I are aware, he might still be looking for a trade to the Bears, or at least a Texas team, come off-season.
Right now, though, the Bears’ focus is on pushing for a spot in the playoffs.
Even the pundits who thought we were doomed in preseason are starting to believe this team could take a wild card spot.
I believe. There’s a buzz about the place that’s making me forget about how laggy I usually feel at this point in the season. A camaraderie and thrill that’s near impossible to beat. There are very few places I’d rather be than on a football field when the stars are aligning.
Which is why I really do need to focus ahead of our second game against Tampa Bay this weekend. Yet I’m looking back to the entrance of the training field again, searching the gathering of supporters who’ve come to watch the accessible part of training, looking for her, again.
“Pace, stop waiting for her.” It’s Colton whose words snap me out of my latest wandering. “It’s only a road test.”
“Come on, Quinn, it’s not just a road test. It’s Annie’s freedom, her independence, what she’s been working toward for months and I want it so bad for her.”
“You said she was calm this morning when you dropped her to college.”
“She was. Scarily calm for someone who’s failed three tests. She’s ready for her license.”
“So what are you so worried about?” He slaps me on the back. “Let’s get back to training.”
He’s right, on the face of it. I know she’s got this. She hasn’t run us off the road or run a red light in weeks – definitely a move in the right direction.
She told me last night that my belief in her made her want to believe in herself and now she does believe.
I’m desperate for her to have this. I’m dying to see her turn up to training in the Audi because then I’ll know she’s passed.
“Pace!” Halliday shouts.
“Yeah, yeah. I got you.” I pull on my helmet and get back to running drills but at every opportunity, I search the small crowd.
Until eventually, I see the top of a head of dark hair. The next ball Lamar throws, I knock it back as I stare, waiting for Annie to emerge from the crowd, and when she does, she’s dangling a set of car keys at me with the biggest grin on her face I’ve ever seen.
Every single modicum of apprehension leaves me as I toss off my helmet and run across the field.
She climbs the barriers and runs to a stop, waiting for me.
I don’t miss a beat as I reach her and wrap my arms around her waist, cheering almost unintelligible words about how fucking amazing she is as I spin her around and around, until she tells me to stop because she’s dizzy.
I set her down in front of me and take her face in my hands. “You passed!”
“I passed. Thanks to you, Tanner Pace.”
I shake my head. “No, baby, you did this all on your own. You just needed reminding how strong you are.”
She brings her hands on top of mine and for a moment it’s as if the world has stopped in its orbit because she is the sun and I am still, lost in her touch, in the depths of her eyes, in the way she’s looking at me and making me think fuck it to every reason not to—
“Congrats, little sis,” Colton says, coming between us to hug his sister. His sister who I am so goddamn in love with it hurts every part of my body more than fifteen games into my thirteenth season of pro ball.
He’s shaking his head as he rolls his eyes at me, saving Annie and me from another near miss.
We’ve agreed to keep our relationship out of the public eye for now.
We want to enjoy each other without any unnecessary pressure.
So, kissing her in the middle of the media session at the training ground is the wrong thing to do.
I pat Quinn on the back in thanks and as he walks away, I tell Annie, “Proud of you, baby.”
“Thanks for being a great teacher, stud.”
“I’ll see you at home.”
Her eyes narrow. “Where I’ll thank you properly.”
“You bet your fine cowgirl ass you will.”
I stride back to the team, high on my girl. Absolutely buzzing for her.