Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
~MAC~
It’s been nice getting to spend the nights and time I’m not at training with Danny. We’re getting to act and be like a real couple. I hadn’t realized how nice it would be to have someone there for me like this after my games and hard practices.
He just gets it too. He knows what demands are on an athlete. That doesn’t stop him from putting his own demands on me, but when he knows I’ve had enough, he takes care of me. Or he’ll do all the work when I need him to because I can’t possibly move a muscle to ride him.
Danny is the piece that has been missing for a long time.
The type of boyfriend I never managed to have in college or allowed myself to have.
I worry about him, though. He seems to be a little lost. There are times when he’s on the phone talking to someone about a job or talking to them about his next steps, but he never shares what that looks like.
I’ve asked him many times if he’ll be staying in Tampa.
He always replies, “Where would I go?” And I get that, but if the right opportunity came up out of the state of Florida, I wouldn’t want him to miss out just because of me.
I’m not sure what I would do if the same thing was happening to me. Soccer is my whole world. If I had to move to another state to keep on playing, I’m not sure I could turn that down. But I have two years before I have to worry about that.
Today, practice has been grueling, and I can’t even go home to Danny to ask him to massage me.
We have a team dinner. And as the captain, I have to go to it.
Thankfully, it’s just here at the training center in the team room.
Someone is bringing in a pasta dinner to help us carb load for our game against Gotham FC.
They’re pretty good, and they have a couple of players who have made the Women’s National Team.
It worries me a bit that we won’t be able to keep up.
I think that’s why Coach Watts is working so hard to make sure we’re ready.
The amount of running we have done today has my legs aching.
We have worked on so many drills and formations.
Currently, it’s corner kicks. We haven’t had a real successful season of those, so far.
We all know it’s one of our weaker game points.
I can take them, but Cassie is better at it than I am.
But still, Coach has me taking kick after kick.
“Another one,” he calls out.
I run back to my spot at the corner of the right-hand side of the field.
Time to spend another one and see what the girls can do with this one.
I think to myself. I look over at Cassie, who is standing there panting in the box, waiting for the next ball to be served her way.
Hendrix is in the goal working on defending corner kicks, while Amelia is standing at the top of the key waiting for the balls to come back out so that she can serve them back to us.
Everyone is beat, but Coach calls for another one, so that’s what I do. I serve another one into the team and run to see if I can help at all with getting that ball into the net. This one is successful. Kelsey manages to send it into the net, and we all pat her on the back for her efforts.
“Coach,” I call out to him. “I think we might need a water break.”
“Yeah, I think we’ll just call it a day,” he replies. “Let’s bring it in.”
We all jog over to Coach and wait for his words of wisdom.
“Of course, when she says it’s time to call, we get to call it. Fuck what the rest of us say,” a voice says.
I hear it, but I can’t place where it came from. I look around and realize I’m not paying attention to what Watts is saying, and Amelia notices, because she nudges me to look at Coach.
I do and hear him saying, “Please make sure you are hydrating. Gotham is going to run us pretty hard. We have to make sure we’re ready for that.
Get plenty of rest and make sure you’re keeping your nutrition in line.
We have a pasta dinner ready now to help for tomorrow’s game.
Everyone get cleaned up and then come eat with us. Captain, call us out.”
I lean in and do my Blaze on three cheer. Everyone shouts Blaze and we head into the locker room.
“Did you hear that?” I ask Cassie quietly as we make our way into the locker room.
She nods. “Yeah, I did.”
“Who said it?”
“I’m not sure,” she says with a shrug.
“What are you hearing?” I ask her. Girls talk and they don’t always tell the person they have a problem with what the problem is. I’m thinking this is one of those times.
“Don’t worry about it,” she says.
“No, tell me,” I plead with her.
“Let’s just get ready for the team dinner.”
We shower and get ourselves ready to eat with the team, but the whole time, all I can think about is what was said and who might have said it.
What could the issue be? Is it Danny? I wasn’t aware anyone had any problems with what I had done.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if some of them really realized what was happening or when we started.
But people talk, so it makes sense that it would have gotten out to the team.
At dinner, I find out just how bad it is.
Several tables are already full of girls. They’re talking, but when I enter, it stops. I look over at Cassie, who is already there. She just shrugs and motions for me to come over. I do and look at her.
“What’s going on?”
“Let’s just eat,” she says, redirecting me.
I hate hearing that answer. That’s exactly what she did to me on the field. I walk over to Coach Andie. She’ll tell me what’s happening.
“What is the drama, Andie?” I ask her when I reach her.
She sighs. “You.”
I nod and ask, “What’s happening? Is it in the media, or did the girls on the team find out about Danny?”
“Both,” she replies. “There was a small blog that reported seeing the two of you the other day leaving some diner, and they took a picture and put it out there. Because of whose son Danny is, a few other outlets have picked it up. It doesn’t help that when they called the paper where he worked, they said he no longer works there. ”
I sigh and shake my head. “And the team doesn’t agree with it? They think it was unethical?”
She nods. “Yes, they do.”
“What do I do?” I ask her.
“I think Cindy is going to come talk to you after the dinner, but as far as the team goes, you just have to weather the storm. There isn’t any more for you to do. No speech or anything is going to make this better.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “How did I get here?”
“You fell in love,” she replies. “Oh, come on, you didn’t think you were going to get away with all of this scot-free, while Danny gets fired and has to restart his life and career, did you?”
I look over at her and smile sheepishly. “Well, it was beginning to look that way.”
“You poor, na?ve girl,” she replies. “Now go eat. Coach’s orders.”
I nod and walk over to the table and start putting some pasta, Alfredo sauce, and chicken on my plate. I grab a piece before Marci, one of our midfielders, and it’s the last one.
“Figures you would take the last one,” she says, gritting her teeth.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask her.
“As if you haven’t taken enough,” she says snidely. “You’re the captain, and now you get articles written about you. You take all of the shots without passing to your wings, and then you get special treatment when you sleep with the man who is writing the article about you.”
“That’s not what happened. I was picked by Cromwell for the captain spot and for the article. I had nothing to do with that,” I defend myself to her, although I’m not sure that it’s going to do anything for me at this point.
“Oh, so Cromwell is the one you’re blowing. That makes so much more sense. So, is Danny Taylor just for fun? Or did you figure out that his dad is that NFL guy and there’s money there.”
I step back from the table, unsure what to say. I wasn’t aware the girls were feeling this way about the article or my captain spot.
“I thought we were a team,” I say. “I talked a lot about the team in the article, and he spoke to so many of you.” My voice trails off and I look over at my friends for help.
Cami comes over and takes my plate to the table, but she doesn’t say a word.
“I’m sorry,” I tell Marci. “I’m sorry if you think things have been unfair.
I don’t want them to be that way. I only agreed to the article because they said it would be a good thing for the team.
” I point to August and Coach Watts, who are standing at the edge of the team room.
“I didn’t mean for it to cause division.
I was only trying to help.” My eyes tear up, and I repeat, “I was only trying to help.”
“Well, it seems like you only helped yourself,” she says before walking away from me.
I turn and see the girls are all staring at me like they’re waiting for more.
“I didn’t mean to fall in love, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll give him up.
This team, this game, is more important than him.
” I say the words, but I hate myself for doing it.
I would give him up if I had to; I just don’t want to.
“No one expects that from you,” Hendrix says, speaking up.
“Let’s remember something here, ladies. Mac isn’t the enemy.
It’s our job to come together and support her.
She’s family. You may not always agree with family and what they do, but you have to stand beside them.
That’s our job. Nothing more, nothing less.
This judgment shit needs to end, got it?
Get your shit together and let it go.” She sits back down.
Tears prick my eyes as I grab a Gatorade and head to my table with my friends and teammates. Kelsey is sitting there with us. I’m not sure how she feels. Does she agree with Marci? I just give her a sheepish smile.
“They’ll all be fine,” she says to me, patting me on the back.
“I hope so. I didn’t mean…” I realize no one is really listening to me, so I just let my next words die on my tongue.
That’s the way the rest of the dinner goes. I stay quiet and just eat. The girls are talking about the game tomorrow and about some of the players we need to watch out for. I decide not to add anything. I figure I’ve done and said enough. I let Cassie and Henny take the lead.
When I finally go to leave, Andie grabs my arm. “Chin up, Mac.”
I just nod and leave the team room and stadium.
Cindy stops me on the way out. “Make sure that if anyone asks any questions about you and Danny, I’m there. We want to contain this, okay?” She pleads with me with her eyes.
“Yeah, okay. got it,” I reply and continue to walk.
I wait until I get home to cry. I guess I didn’t get out of this without any burns like I thought I did.
Here I thought Danny took the brunt of it.
He just took the blowback right away, while mine was waiting for me.
And who knows when it will get better. Looking at a few of the articles that were written about me and Danny online, I decide that it might be a little longer until things are back to whatever normal we can have. If it ever happens.