Zander
Fever
“You’d be perfect for it. Just let us interview you on the podcast, and it will sort of serve as a test job interview.” Eccles was trying to sell me hard on a new job. But I didn’t feel like this was the time to add another hard decision to my plate.
I needed to figure out where I was going to live first. I wanted Izzy to have my house for her and the boys. Ideally, I wanted to be there with them, but I didn’t want to put too much on this relationship.
“What podcast?” Izzy asked from my left. She’d just got back from grabbing some more food.
Eccles leaned forward, turning his body so he could talk to both of us. “My friend and I, now retired from football, started this podcast out of pure boredom. It started out by just talking about our experiences in the NFL, and then we would talk about the games that were happening. We just got an offer from ESPN to do halftime segments for Monday night games, and we’re looking to add more people to the table. ’s name was thrown around, and I tried to convince him to join us. At least try it out. I mean, you’re moving soon, right?”
I avoided looking over at Izzy. I didn’t want to see the look on her face and know that I needed to make a choice even more than I already knew. I wanted to just live in the in-between for a bit longer. “You should totally do it,” Izzy said from beside me, and I had to look over at her.
She popped an entire sushi roll in her mouth and smiled at me. “See, she knows that this is a cool opportunity, too. Just say you’ll do one show with us?”
I leaned back in my chair and shrugged. “Fine, one show.”
Eccles settled back down beside me and let out a big breath. “Now I can enjoy the game. You won’t regret it, dude. I promise.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I didn’t know if I would.
My phone buzzed in my pocket once and then again. I pulled it out and saw Luke’s name. I flashed it to Izzy, whose eyes narrowed in on it. “Hey, buddy.”
“I’m so sorry to call and I’m calling you because I feel like you’ll freak out less, but Christian is really sick. He woke up with a fever, and I’ve had him resting but now his fever is really high. I don’t know what to do. I gave him some medicine, but he isn’t eating anything.” All of Luke’s words came out in a rush, and the panic was obvious.
I leaned forward and tried to keep my voice calm. “It’s okay. Just hold on, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said on the other end of the line, and I heard Kingston’s little voice say something, but I couldn’t make it out.
I held the phone to my chest. Izzy had already moved her plate to the table next to her. “What’s wrong?”
“He says Christian is sick. Has a fever and he’s clearly nervous about doing something wrong.” She nodded and took the phone from me. I could still remember the horrible anxiety I had the first time Dee got sick. It happened during my first off-season after my brother died. She came into my room in the middle of the night and threw up all over the floor before saying a word. I was a mess trying to make sure she was taken care of.
“Hey Luke, it’s me.” She waited, probably listening to the exact same thing he told me. “He gets like this every time he’s sick. Super high fever and doesn’t do anything but lie down. It’s okay. If it gets higher than it is now, let me know. Thanks for taking care of him. Is Kingston okay?”
Eccles wasn’t paying attention to us anymore, which made me feel more relaxed. He’d moved over to the other side of the box and was sitting next to Barker. Natalie sat one row behind them, and her eyes were on me. I nodded with a grim smile and then turned back around. “Okay, it’s alright. We will head back. I don’t know when we’ll be there but let me talk to . Okay, bye.”
I could tell she was upset, maybe a mixture of worry and embarrassment which didn’t make sense. She handed me my phone and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can take the train back or something if you want to stay.”
“Iz,” I started to say, “I am definitely not staying here without you. Let’s go. We can take the first flight back down, and then I’ll drive really, really fast to get you back to the boys.” She let out a big breath, and I pushed her hair back behind her ear. “You ready?”
Izzy nodded, and we stood, grabbing onto each other’s hands. Eccles turned around and leaned back in his chair. “You guys heading out?”
The three of them had their eyes on us now, and I avoided looking at Natalie. “Izzy’s boys are sick, so we need to head back to Portland.”
Eccles stood and opened his arms. “It’s good to see you. I’m going to call you tomorrow and set up the interview, okay?” We hugged, and then he stepped around to hug Izzy. “You make sure he answers my call, okay?”
She smiled and huffed a laugh. “Will do.” Izzy waved at Barker and Natalie. “It was nice to meet you guys.”
Barker waved, and Natalie nodded slightly before we snuck out. I slid my fingers in between hers as we walked out into the hallway. I grabbed my phone with my other hand and started to find us a way home .
Us.
Back to the boys that were only hers but were starting to feel a little bit like mine, too.