Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Once we were settled around the long picnic-style table at Billy’s Burgers, Dwayne nudged me, his shoulder pushing into my tricep. “Let it go for now,” he urged.
Twisting my head, focusing my gaze on him, I noticed his dark eyes, usually lit with animation, were somber as if he were a high school counselor. It made me think about the time we were playing for different teams, me the Seattle Seahawks and Dwayne the New York Jets, but we still managed to meet up in Vegas and Austin before he moved there; we’d drink way too much, and if we ended the night without women, we’d talk about the what ifs . One time, I’d asked him, “If you could do something besides football, what would it be?” I’ll never forget his answer, not because it was so unusual but because he didn’t have to think about it. He knew; it must have been something he’d already thought about a lot, just like I’d thought about being a high school history teacher. Apparently, Dwayne thought about being a high school counselor. That answer flew from his mouth, along with, “I’d love to help the kids who get overlooked, the kids teachers write off, saying they’re lazy or stupid.” When I brought that up to him a couple years ago, he got pissed, said I was breaking the “bro code,” which he explained was anything deep another dude shares with you drunk gets buried, never to see the light of day.
“Jake, you can’t do anything about this, her, the audition, so if you trust her, you gotta let it go,” he pressed.
“Got it…I need a beer,” I mumbled, pressing my lips together, shutting my eyes, and acknowledging his words. Putting my hand in the air, I signaled to our waitress, a young girl in her twenties with flaming pink hair, a nose ring, and tats covering her sculpted arms. I did my best to seem engaged with the chatter that zig-zagged up and down the long plank table. I was grateful for the distraction, a room full of people blustering with laughter, escalating voices, and the smell of grilled meat permeating the 9walls. The owners had two other successful burger joints in the area, so they’d opened another smaller one downtown, one known for the great burgers but also good brews, and even on a Tuesday night, the place was packed. People gathered around the bar because all the seats were taken, drinking micro-brewed beer while they waited for their tables. I lost half the conversations jutting between the ten of us at the long table. Another person's point would be sucked up by all the ambient noise. I usually talked a lot, but tonight I just settled back and took in the cacophony of voices, pushing a smile to my face to appease Dwayne and fight off any, “Is everything okay Jake?” inquiries. Seriously, I hated that question. What’s a person supposed to say?
“You’re ordering fries? Get the Chilitos instead,” I said, cutting into Dwayne’s complicated burger order.
“Dude, what are Chilitos?” he retorted.
“It’s tater tots smothered in chili and cheese…this place is known for them. So if I were you, I’d trade the fries in for those ‘cause I’m not sharing.”
“They’re yummy,” the girl with the pink halo chimed in. “You should try them.” Her eyes smoldered on Dwayne, and she added, “A lot of calories, but from the looks of it, you work out.”
“Yes, thanks for noticing,” Dwayne said puffing his chest as if he may just be circling back to give her his number. This guy!
I jumped in, “His mouth, he works out his mouth…”
That got a half cackle-giggle from our waitress.
“I swear, you two.” Coach Easton broke off his conversation with Coach Mark to bark at Dwayne and me across the table. “It’s two weeks before you two appear on The Tonight Show for an interview, so no fighting. I don’t want other teams thinking they have an advantage because my two lovebirds are always quarreling.”
Dwayne’s eyes flushed with humor as he rubbed my shoulder. “Coach is right, Jake; they like hearing about how much we love each other.”
I shook my head, trying like hell to be present, blocking out Rakell’s gushing text because Bernardo had deigned her with a quick compliment: impressive. I finally chimed in, “Yeah, great! If I have to tell our ‘meet-cute’ story one more time, I’m going to get sick…and every time Dwayne tells it, the drama ratchets up.” I placed his hand over his heart, playing into his imitation of us as lovers. “I just knew, down to my toes, that Jake Skyler was the quarterback for me. I saw my destiny in his knowing blue eyes, and that arm, so precise and muscular, I knew he would take me places, and he has. He’s my dream…”
Dwayne’s smack on my arm ended my dramatic imitation.
A collective roar erupted around the table.
“Seriously, maybe you two should try dating,” one of the recruiters who had been in the meetings with us squeezed out the edge of his mouth, twisting it into a smirk, his eyebrows arching. “That would be an even better story.”
Coach Easton jumped in, “Hell no, I couldn’t handle the breakups. Jake wants the forever girl, and Dwayne’s looking for the next girl. He says he’s never settling down, so their future goals don’t line up. Let’s keep them in sync on the field…that’s a match made in heaven.”
Dwayne stole my last tater tot, smugly laughing as I finished off my burger. An hour ago, I would have said there was no way I could eat, but after picking at lunch and what seemed like a gallon of coffee, my gut begged for food.
The rampant buzzing of my phone in my pocket yanked at me as I fought to appear engaged in the conversation in front of me. Damn, the urge to just peek at it had my hand twitching for just one look , but I knew that Coach would fume. He hated it when players were on their phones at the table. “I'm sorry, Coach. I have to make sure it’s not family,” I murmured sheepishly, under the guise that it might be family when I knew damn well I didn’t want to miss any communication from her. Per Dwayne’s instruction, I gave her message about Bernardo a thumbs up and texted back, asking her to call me later.
“Just get it,” Coach grumbled, casting his eyes toward me.
Resigned disappointment pulled my mouth into a frown. “Sorry, be right back, guys,” I said, ignoring Dwayne’s huff. I pushed my chair back and stepped away from the table before tucking into the hallway leading to the bathrooms. Snagging my phone from my pocket, I gripped it like the answer to my future would appear on the screen, my stomach gurgling. How much more could I swallow? My arm rigid with apprehension, I brought the phone closer to my face in the muted light.
Silvia : You promised me!! You went Insta official and didn’t say anything to me? ... Send
Silvia : When do I get an interview? ... Send
Jenae : So, you guys just did a “hard launch,” as Winnie calls it … Send
Jenae : Congratulations. Don’t fuck this up … Send
Rodger : Congratulations, Jake. Need to hang on to this one! See you on Zoom tomorrow ... Send
Jordan : Looks like that Skyler charm finally won out. Delilah showed me the big announcement … Send
Melissa : The women of Austin are heartbroken. I love her, so you have my blessing! ... Send
Miranda : STUD!!!! I knew it!! Take care of her … Send
Matt-Jonathon : Nice couple. We’re here to support … Send
Jonathon-Matt : Nice couple??? Just the hottest couple out there!! She gushed about you ?? … Send
Matt-Jonathon : Yeah…I’ve never heard her talk that way… Send
Jonathon-Matt : I guess I’m a good influence! You can thank me with a bottle of Pantalones tequila… ?? … Send
Matt-Jonathan : Never mind him…enjoy each other!... Send
My heart sped up as I read Matt’s last text again. I had his approval, but something about that made me squeeze my eyes shut. Why the rampage of texts?
Dwayne : Get your ass back to the table. Coach E. is paying. Everybody’s leaving … Send
I walked back to the table, my head swimming with questions, the text messages blinking in my brain. Instagram official, what the hell?
After a quick round of, “We got some great picks” and “See you tomorrow,” we shook hands or tapped each other’s arms and parted; Coach Easton turned a few steps away from the table, pointing at me, and said, “Get whatever’s going on sorted out. Tomorrow, we’re doing a Zoom with Rodger and Tracey, so your head needs to be clear.”
An automatic, “Got it” jumped out of my mouth.
I twisted my neck toward Dwayne. “I need to check Insta. Something is…”
Dwayne winked. “Yeah, you do. Your dream girl finally went public,” he said, pushing his phone toward me.
The intense anxiety that had formed a ball in my gut since that initial phone call from Ana started to crumble as I stared at the screen; a grin that I knew looked ridiculous broke on my face.
Rakell McCarthy
Model/Actress
Austin, Texas
Attached to a cute quarterback.
Her page only had six pictures on it, and from what I could tell, the page had been posted less than an hour ago.
Her Sports Illuminated cover. Caption: Break out photo! So grateful to @sportsilluminated @meshphotography for this stunning photo.
Rakell on the beach during the shoot, talking to another model. Caption: Thank you to the beautiful @camillekostek for your support!
Rakell with Lana and Levi. Caption: My forever friends. @levistormaustintv I'm so grateful my bestie found you and moved to Austin! @lanataylor We get to learn about Austin from the best!
A picture of her sandwiched between Jonathon and Matt wearing a flowy, flowered sundress, Matt’s eyes cast on her while Jonathon smiled broadly at the camera. Caption: The best friends a girl could ever have. One is for fashion, art, and fun @Jonathonartfinds, and the other is to give me financial advice. He doesn’t have Instagram, so I can’t tag him ?? .
“Bah, I’m sure Matt loved being painted as the bore,” I said in a low whisper. Then in my head, “She’s so bad.”
Then, our photo, the one that was causing a stir.
She and I. The close-up we had taken that night, the night before we’d drawn our feelings on the mirror, Rakell kissing the apple of my cheek, her eyes beaming at the camera, and me, grinning like a boy who’d just hit the winning home run. The picture I’d promised I wouldn’t share on social media. That fucking picture , I thought, a chuckle escaping my mouth as I stared at it. The caption read: Hi everyone, meet my boyfriend! I’ve known for a long time you were the one…@Jakeskyler…thank you for waiting me out. Beginning a new chapter with you by my side is a dream. (kissing face) @stickyfingersbradshaw Thanks for sharing your bestie.
My lips stretched into that same “boy hits home run” grin as I re-read it, my brain not believing that she’d posted this for the world to see…and tagged so many people. A jolt ran through me as I thought about everyone seeing this, especially Bernardo.
“Holy, yes!!” I almost bounced up on my toes as I shoved the phone back toward Dwayne. “She told the world…hell yeah, buddy. We may need a celebratory drink! Actually, no, I need to go, I need to call her. I want her to know that…”
Dwayne’s eyebrows drew down on his eyes, grimacing. “Now you get why I never, ever want to be in love. You sound like you didn’t complete third grade, dude. Did her life-affirming words melt your fucking brain? Go call her. I’m out of here.”
I brought up my Instagram and immediately shared her post to my stories: THE ONE!! Then I used three of the pictures from that night, us face to face, and created my own reel. The caption read: The secret that’s been burning in my chest. This girl right here is mine! Yes, the Jumbotron cheerleader is my girl, and I can’t wait to do more of life with her. I tagged her and Jonathon. I was semi-suspicious that he may have had a hand in her new account…but I’d take it and make sure I bought Jonathan a drink in the future.