Chapter 35
thirty-five
. . .
Witt
Encrypted Voicemail Glitch
Wish I could tell you about the game I'm developing, but it would violate our agreement. You'd know exactly who I am.
Sometimes I wonder what knowing your name would be like. This game is becoming a reflection of our conversations.
If you ever play it...
I hope it makes you smile.
The office door swings open almost hard enough to shatter the glass.
"Witt!"
I glance up from my monitor. Maci stands in the doorway, slightly out of breath, her phone still clutched in one hand.
"I just got off the phone with Mary Beth."
I save the report I've been reviewing. "Good afternoon."
Her brain visibly blue screens.
"Oh. Right." She smiles. "Good afternoon."
She steps inside, already talking again.
"She called because she watched Chicago’s last match against Seattle."
I motion toward the chair across from my desk. She ignores the gesture.
"She said Chicago isn't going to defend us the way everyone else has."
I lean back. "Explain."
"I can't." One shoulder lifts in frustration. "Well... not very well."
She starts pacing.
"She kept talking about disguising coverages, forcing reads, rotating safeties after the snap..." She wrinkles her nose. "I understood about every fourth word."
I smile.
"I never played e-Football much." She shrugs. "I wasn't very good at it… I mostly watched. Whenever someone suggested we play, I usually found another game."
She shakes her head.
"But she sounded convinced they're going to attack us differently."
Now she has my full attention.
"What specifically concerned her?"
"She thinks Chicago wants to make our quarterback hesitate." She points toward my monitor.
"Not by blitzing."
"By making him think he's seeing one defense before the snap...and another after."
I nod slowly. "Interesting."
"Is it?"
"Very." She doesn’t know that it’s common, but not so much in e-football.
She exhales. "Good. Because I honestly wasn't sure if I was explaining it right."
"You explained what you understood."
She smiles. "That's all I could do."
Then she stops pacing and her eyes brighten.
"Oh."
I already know that look. She's solved something or thinks she has.
"What?"
"Maybe she should talk to Greyson."
"My brother?"
"Would he know if she's seeing something real?"
I laugh.
She folds her arms. "What?"
"Greyson won three league championships."
Her eyebrows climb.
"And two MVP awards."
Her head tilts and she chews on her bottom slip for a bit. “Oh… I forgot.”
"You forgot?
"Baseball and soccer, I know that. But I do remember my dad talking about it.”
“You walk by the life size photo of him hoisting the trophy every day.” My smile couldn’t get any wider. She just brings me to life.
She rubs her forehead. "Okay... but hear me out."
I wait.
"What about your dad?"
"My dad?"
"He speaks football and so does Mary Beth."
Another nod. "Correct."
"And..." she says carefully, "...didn't your sisters mention he still needs a date to Parker and Annika's wedding?"
I blink.
She smiles.
"If they're already talking football... maybe they're talking over coffee."
I study her for a long moment.
"What?"
"I enjoy watching your brain work." I can’t stop smiling, a relatively new facial expression for me.
She thinks about it for a few beats then points at me. "That's your version of calling me adorable."
"It is."
"I'll take it."
I call Dad instead of texting. He answers on the second ring.
"Everything okay?"
"Yes, Maci spoke with Mary Beth. You met her at the launch. She’s one of our players."
Silence.
"She needs strategy help. Our match with Chicago is this weekend."
"I have film."
"So does she."
Another pause.
"I have a rivalry game Saturday."
"I know."
"I don't have time."
"Give her thirty minutes."
He blows out a heavy breath that rustles through the phone. "Thirty becomes sixty."
"Thirty or I’ll remove her from the team."
"When?"
I glance at Maci.
She mouths, Ask him.
"Your schedule."
"I can do Friday. Walk through day." He pauses. “Tell her eight to nine, but after that I have to focus on Southern."
"I'll let her know."
"Witt."
"Yes?"
"This is football."
"I assumed."
The line goes dead. I look at Maci.
"He said yes."
She pumps both fists. "I knew it!"
Not sixty seconds later my phone buzzes.
O'Ryan Family Chat
Greyson: Dad just asked if I could cover something Friday morning.
Greyson: Who's he meeting?
Birdie:
Noelle: Please tell me it's a woman.
Dad: Football.
Birdie: That's not what I asked.
Parker: Who?
Before Dad can answer, I type.
Me: Mary Beth.
Three dots appear.
Then...
Greyson: Wait...
Greyson: Why Mary Beth, the e-player?
Me: Maci suggested it.
Almost immediately—
Greyson: Why?
I glance at Maci.
She's suddenly very interested in the plant beside my window.
I smile.
Me: She wasn't sure you knew enough football strategy
I laugh to myself, knowing it will start something.
The group is silent for exactly sixty seconds.
Greyson: I don’t know enough??? WTF?
Birdie: SHE SAID WHAT??
Noelle: Maci... honey...
Parker: Greyson only won three championships.
J.D.: And two MVPs.
Greyson: I feel attacked.
Maci covers her face with both hands.
"I forgot." She groans.
"I noticed."
She peeks through her fingers. "I'm never living this down."
"No. Hop on and defend yourself.”
Maci: I thought you just threw the ball.
Matt: He did. The receivers made him look good.
Greyson: WTF?
Birdie: We officially love her.
Annika: To be fair to Maci, all of you have said your Dad taught you everything he knows.
Sutton: Friends for life!
I lock my phone.
Maci is still standing there in an oversized charcoal Synatrix hoodie.
We’re remodeling the office so it’s casual for the next few weeks.
Her sleeves cover half her hands, pink hair escapes her double braids looking absolutely horrified that she'd accidentally questioned an O'Ryan's football knowledge.
She catches me smiling. "What?"
"Nothing."
"That's not true."
"It isn't."
She walks around the desk. "So?"
I stand and straighten one of the hoodie strings that somehow ended up tucked beneath her hair.
"I was just thinking..."
"We can’t do that desk thing we did at home." I wink and even I can’t believe it.
She smiles.
"You solve problems nobody else even notices. And sometimes…" I brush a loose strand of pink hair behind her ear. "...you accidentally create new ones."
She laughs, leaning into me for just a second.
"I guess you'll have to help me solve those too."
"I was planning on it."