Chapter 10
MILES
A fter Friday’s practice, we all shower and make our way to the big room that fits the entire team, per Coach’s instructions. It’s more like an auditorium, so everyone can see the whiteboard with the coaches’ notes.
“What could this be about?” Cooper asks. “I was gonna meet Elle for lunch and then help her pick out a new couch.”
“You gonna break in the new couch too?” Damon laughs at his own joke.
“Your dick is gonna get you in trouble. All you think about is sex.” Cooper points between Damon’s legs and opens the door.
Half the team hasn’t shown up yet, but it wouldn’t matter if the room was jam-packed, I’d still notice the woman standing up front talking to Coach Iverson and Ronnie Michaels—Bryce.
She’s dressed in lavender pants and a sleeveless cream-colored blouse.
Her heels make her appear taller than normal although she’s still petite.
“What is she doing here?” I ask Cooper.
“Who?” Cooper follows my line of vision. “B!”
She looks up, smiles and waves to Cooper. But when her gaze shifts in my direction, she turns away. It doesn’t make me feel any better about the ending of our last interaction. I could tell she didn’t want to grab something to eat with me. She was probably happy Ellery interrupted us.
I know she’s gone to visit Shelly, because when I went back the next day to make sure she’d gotten a hold of her boyfriend, Shelly mentioned that Bryce had brought over a huge basket of stuff for her and the baby from the group at Sportsverse .
Shelly named the baby Madden, which makes sense for a football fan, I guess.
Shelly said she didn’t know who would be taking over for her in the interim, but that her boss said he would inform them to follow her lead, and that she’ll be working with them to make sure the article we discussed still gets written about me.
I told her not to worry about it, although I’ve been fixated on it ever since she gave birth.
With Shelly on my side, I felt I didn’t have to worry about what might appear in the article, but now with Bryce here, my stomach churns. I hope she’s not Shelly’s replacement.
“Everyone, sit down,” Coach Iverson says once the players have all arrived. “Our GM Ronnie Michaels has an announcement to make, then I’m going to say a few words.”
He steps back, and Ronnie Michaels takes the microphone.
“Why didn’t she tell me?” Cooper mumbles, obviously assuming the same thing I am.
Ronnie says, “I just wanted to say we’re off to a great start this season, and I hope this change will make it even better.
Shelly Breckles from Sportsverse is our usual reporter for the team, and I know a lot of you formed relationships with her over the years since she’s been our point person, but congratulations to her, she had a baby.
And thanks to our own Miles Cavanaugh, she got to the hospital in time to give birth since she apparently didn’t even know she was pregnant. ”
Cooper elbows me and winks as our other teammates whisper.
Maybe they think I was kissing up to Shelly since I was with her at the time, or maybe they’re talking about the fact that she didn’t know she was pregnant.
Or worse, I heard she was a bit of a flirt, maybe they think I was hanging out with her because there’s something going on between us.
“Shelly’s on maternity leave for the foreseeable future, and they’ve sent us a replacement.
Let me introduce you to Bryce Burns, who is now the Sportsverse reporter for the Chicago Grizzlies.
She’ll be traveling with us to away games, and you’ll see her in the locker room, requesting interviews from certain players.
I don’t have to remind you to treat her with respect.
” He signals for Bryce to say something.
She clears her throat. “Shelly is an excellent reporter, and I can only hope to fill her shoes. I will warn you though, she might have been a tad nicer than me. I write the truth, and yes, some of it is only my opinion, but you should know that while it may be tough, I’m always fair.”
“Think you’d object to that comment, huh, Miles?” Damon whispers. But as usual, he’s not that quiet.
Bryce looks at us. “I love football. I’ve been going to games with my dad since I was little, so I’m happy to be back reporting on my favorite sport. Go Grizzlies.”
Everyone claps because she’s in charge of how we’re presented in the biggest magazine in the nation.
Coach Iverson takes the microphone from her. “Give Bryce a bigger welcome than that.”
Everyone claps louder.
“Okay, Cavanaugh, you’ve been selected to give Miss Burns the tour of our facility.” I must give him a look because Coach is quick to respond. “You two couldn’t play nice in San Francisco, but you will do so here. The rest of you are done for the day. Don’t be late for the plane tomorrow.”
All the players file out and I walk down the stairs, taking my time.
“And here’s your personal escort,” Ronnie says. “Our very own Miles Cavanaugh.”
“Hey,” I say .
“Hi,” she says.
“Okay, you two, let’s not act like you’re in high school. You’re grown adults,” Coach says.
“Come on.” I open the side door and let Bryce file through first.
We say goodbye to Ronnie and Coach, and once we’re on the other side of the door, she turns to me. “You don’t have to show me around. I’ll manage.”
“Well, as you know, I follow the rules, so let’s go.”
I start walking, and she falls in line next to me.
Her perfume wafts to my nostrils, and my dick twitches.
If she’s going to be around all the time now, I have to get myself under control and remember that she doesn’t want anything to do with me.
If she did, she wouldn’t have walked out on me that morning, wouldn’t look for an argument every chance she gets, and might have seemed receptive to my dinner invitation the other night.
I hate having her so close. It causes all the memories to resurface.
“So, this is the interview room.” I step on the stage where the players sit. “We sit here, and you sit there.” I point at the chairs on the other side of the table.
“Thanks. I’ve been in one before.” She doesn’t go to her chair.
“Should we practice you interrogating me?”
“That’s not my job now. I get to observe and have full access to you and then write shitty things now.” She raises her eyebrows.
I know she’s trying to get a rise out of me, but all I can do is admire her shade of lipstick and think about how it draws my attention to her plump lips.
Her dark hair is pinned up, showcasing her neck.
I’d do just about anything right now to kiss her there, smell where her perfume has soaked into her skin.
“Great. I can’t wait to be raked over the coals again. You really do have a magic touch at making me look like the worst player in the league.” I jump down from the stage and open the door for her to go first.
“If you continue playing how you have been, then I won’t write anything bad.” She slides her hands in the pockets of her slacks.
We walk down the hallway, and I open the locker room doors. The cleaning staff is picking up all our shit to be washed.
“Hey, Jack,” I say to the guy in charge of making sure we have everything in our lockers for our games.
“Miles.” He nods. “Did you try that chicken place I told you about?”
I laugh. “Not yet, but it’s on my list.”
“Best in Chicago,” he adds.
“I see a lot of ‘Best in Chicago.’ The question remains: what’s the best pizza place in this town?”
He wheels a bin of dirty towels forward, and another man takes it from him. “That depends on who you ask. You need to try every one and report back. Then I’ll tell you my favorite.”
“Deal.” I wink. I don’t tell him that it could take me six months to work my way through them all since I rarely cheat on my clean eating, especially during the season.
“I want in on this action,” Bryce says, sticking her hand out to Jack. “I’m Bryce Burns with Sportsverse Magazine . I’m covering for Shelly Breckles while she’s on maternity leave.”
“Bryce, you’re the mascot girl, no?” Jack asks, lowering his glasses as though he has to get a better look.
“I am. Sorry. That’s just something my friend and I have done to Cooper since college. Obviously, that won’t happen again.” She gives him an innocent smile as if she’s as sugary sweet as a sundae with three cherries on top.
I almost laugh out loud at the thought. She’s about as sour as a lemon .
“I found it rather funny, but Coach didn’t.”
“I heard.” She cringes then looks at me. “Cooper said he almost got benched.”
“Coach wasn’t pleased, but I don’t think it would have come to that,” I say.
“Nice to meet you, Bryce,” Jack says. “Let me know if any of these guys get out of hand.” He looks at me, and I hold up my hands.
“Believe me, you’re more likely to have to protect me from her,” I say.
He looks between us, the glasses still resting on the tip of his nose. “Huh. Better get to work. Big day tomorrow. Let me know on the pizza. There’s one just down the street if you want to get started.”
“I already had lunch.” Bryce is quick to take that option off the table.
Jack nods. “I was just sayin’, that’s all.”
He disappears out the door, and I point toward all the lockers. “Here’s the locker room. You’ve met Jack, our equipment guy. Do you want to see the showers?”
“And envision all of you guys naked and comparing dick sizes?” She arches an eyebrow.
“As you’re aware, I’m the winner in that department.”
She scoffs and shakes her head.
I’m not usually a guy who’d make a comment like that. It’s more of a Damon thing to say, but I want to push her off her axis. Why? I don’t know.
“I’m not sure I remember that.”
“Figures.” I walk ahead of her, but her heels click until she’s right next to me.
“I was joking, okay? Want me to say you have the biggest dick I’ve ever seen?” She whispers the last part presumably so no one will accidentally hear her.
We walk to some of the breakout rooms, then we’re on the elevator so I can take her up to the front office .
“I don’t need you to boost my ego. I’m confident about my dick size. I grew up in locker rooms. I know my worth in that department.”
She blushes.
“Hard to forget, right?” I wink, and the elevator doors open.
“I forgot it the minute I walked out of your apartment.”
She steps out of the elevator first, walking toward the front office where Ronnie’s office is, along with media relations, human resources, and accounting.
“Keep telling yourself that.” We pass a big cut-out of Cooper holding a razor. I gesture around. “This is the front office.”
“It’s nice.” She stops and stares out the window. “It’s so beautiful.”
“What is?” I look at the sky. It’s blue with a sparse number of clouds. There are birds flying around the empty stands in the stadium, looking for any scraps that the clean-up crew missed. One flies away with a popcorn kernel.
“The field. How green it is, the white lines marked perfectly, and the yellow goalposts. It just… brings up memories for me every time.”
“Come on.” I nod to keep going, and she takes one last look before she follows me.
“Where else is there to show me?” she asks.
“One more spot.” We ride the elevator down to ground level and walk down the tunnel until we’re at the edge of the field. “Have you ever been out there?”
She doesn’t answer but steps onto the field, staring up at all the seats. “Never when it’s been empty.” She circles around. “It looks so much bigger.”
I follow her, remaining quiet. She must really love football because she looks as in awe as I was the first time I stood on the fifty-yard line with no fans in attendance.
“I was thinking about what you said to me the other day at the hospital… about everyone watching your every move, ready to comment on it. How do you do it? How do you play with so many eyes on you?”
She slips off her heels and walks onto the grass. Her toes are painted a cloudy blue color that gives away the fact that Bryce isn’t always as serious as she might first appear. There’s a fun side to her, just not a lot of people who get to see it.
“You get used to it.”
She looks at me over her shoulder. “Do you?”
I shove my hands in my pockets. “I guess you get used to having to push it aside. Not have it be front and center in your mind the entire time you’re out there.”
“I can’t imagine that’s easy with everyone yelling and screaming.” She stands at the fifty-yard line right where the coin toss takes place. “I might have a newfound respect for you.”
I chuckle. “It took you being on an empty field?”
“It’s the sheer massiveness of it. That on any game day, there’s someone in all those seats, here to watch you. I can’t fathom what that feels like.”
“Is Bryce Burns being empathetic?” I ask, earning a glare then a laugh.
“Don’t tell anyone.” She circles around. “I wish we had a ball.”
“Maybe one day,” I say, sounding more wistful than I want to.
She shrugs and inhales. “I want to remember this forever.”
“I’m sure Cooper can get you on the field any time you want.”
She doesn’t say anything and turns toward me, her face softer, kinder. “Do you want to try the pizza place Jack suggested?”
My eyebrow arches. “I thought you already had lunch?”
“I lied. I need to write a story for this week’s column. Want to be my subject? ”
“I’m not sure.”
“It’s my treat. Or Sportsverse’s actually.”
“Well in that case, I can’t turn it down.”
Without warning, she runs down the field, squealing in delight before she stops, spinning around with her arms out. It’s a side of Bryce I’ve never really seen, and it doesn’t take a genius to know that probably very few people have.
I like it. I like this less inhibited, softer side of this woman.
I meet her over by her shoes, and she’s catching her breath when she approaches. “Sorry, I had to get it out of my system.”
“It was the best show this field’s ever seen.”
Our gazes collide, and she opens her mouth to say something but seems to think better of it. “Let’s go.”
She offered me a peek through the window into who she is, but as usual, she slammed the shutters closed before I could get a good look.