Chapter 1
RORY
My phone rang as I stared into my closet, trying to decide what to wear.
Glancing down at the screen, I saw my eldest brother’s name.
I had to be at the stadium in less than an hour, so I was tempted not to answer, but I knew how relentless Russell could be.
He’d just keep calling until I finally answered.
“Hey, biggest bro. What’s up?” I asked, switching to speaker mode and setting my phone on the dresser to my right.
“Just wanted to wish you luck on the first game of your internship even though you’ll be working for the Nighthawks instead of a real team like the Nitros.”
Russell was into baseball, so he’d been giving me a hard time about not working for the local pro team ever since I landed my internship.
“Or the Navigators,” Ridley chimed in. “Since hockey is the superior sport.”
I was surprised to hear my other brother’s voice. “You’re on the call too, big bro?”
“Yeah, Russell conferenced me in ’cause he knew that I wanted to talk to you,” Ridley explained. “Even though you’ll be crunching numbers for a football team, it’s still a pretty big deal.”
I was used to them teasing me about pretty much everything, so I didn’t take any of it personally. And I loved it when I had the perfect comeback. “And it comes with awesome perks, like being able to beta the new Beaumont Football game before it officially launches.”
“Yeah, I can’t argue with you there,” Russell muttered. “Being in the beta for a new game is damn cool.”
Although I hadn’t officially started until the beginning of the preseason, I’d landed the internship with the New York Nighthawks before the end of last semester.
When my boss reached out to ask if I’d be interested in being part of the closed beta for a new football game their owner was launching soon, I thanked my lucky stars that I’d mentioned to him that I was a gamer during my interview.
I was usually more into doing RPG and sim stuff, but I figured playing Beaumont Football would help me become more familiar with football as a sport, which would come in handy when I helped analyze their statistics.
I’d been right about that…but I’d never expected to meet a guy who’d captured my interest in a way no other man had done.
One who I had no idea what he looked like.
Or even what his real name was since we’d only been allowed to go by our gamer tags while playing.
“It almost makes me wish I was as good at math as you, little sis.” Ridley’s grumbling pulled me out of my thoughts of the guy I’d never get the chance to talk to again because I had no way to contact him anymore.
I shook my head, rolling my eyes even though they couldn’t see me. “Maybe if you’d actually applied yourself, you might’ve gotten better than a C in your college stats class.”
“Nah, that sounds like a horrible idea.” Ridley laughed. “Sorry, but you’re the only nerd in the family who spends more time studying than partying while you’re a college student.”
“She damn well better be,” Russell growled. “The last thing we need is for our little sister to be on her own at a party in a city as big as New York.”
I let out a huff of irritation. “I’m twenty-one. Old enough to handle a party if I wanted to go to one.”
“Thank fuck she’s happier playing video games for entertainment than hitting up the bars,” Ridley groused.
“Don’t remind me that’s a possibility.” Russell heaved a deep sigh. “You’re gonna give me hives or something.”
“Maybe we could get back to the reason you guys called me?” I yanked a pair of khaki pants out of my closet before reaching for a Nighthawks jersey our parents had sent me when I told them about the internship.
Luckily, casual dress was perfect for being in the press box during the first preseason game since I wasn’t a fan of dressing up.
“I need to leave in about ten minutes, and I still have to finish getting ready.”
“Okay, I guess we better stop giving you a hard time and let you head out.”
“Yeah,” Ridley agreed. “We wouldn’t want you to be late…even if it’s just football.”
“Gee thanks.” I laughed softly. “Love you guys, too.”
After they said goodbye, I finished getting ready and headed out of my teeny-tiny micro apartment in East Village.
The subway ride out to Long Island went smoothly, and I arrived at the stadium with about ten minutes to spare.
Which was more than enough time since I already had my employee pass and didn’t have any issues getting through security.
I’d already met my boss and the full-time statistician on staff for the team, so there weren’t any awkward introductions before we headed up to the press box.
My job during the game was to record player data as it occurred.
It was nerve-wracking being near some of the coaching staff, sports broadcasters, and journalists, but at least the task at hand was familiar after the project I did for my Foundations of Sports Analytics class last semester.
I’d taken it on a whim because I needed to fill a hole in my schedule, and the course I’d really wanted had been full.
In the end, it had been such a lucky turn of events for me because being in that class had changed the course of my career plans.
And my idea to do data visualization for the university baseball team for my final paper was the only reason I’d landed my internship with the Nighthawks.
Although the two sports were completely different—my school didn’t even have a football team, so that wasn’t an option—the method I applied to my project could be easily adapted to football.
My professor had apparently mentioned it to someone with the team, and before I knew what was happening, I’d been offered the internship.
The opportunity had been too good to pass up, especially since the demand for advanced football analytics had grown in recent years.
By the time the first half was over, my head was already spinning with ideas for how to analyze the data we had collected so far.
I’d gotten some ideas while playing Beaumont Football during the beta—especially when I was up against SpreadOffense—but seeing the professional players on the field from the press box was a completely different experience.
Something about experiencing the game from this perspective was exhilarating.
I had a feeling my brothers would be teasing me about my new favorite sport for the rest of my life. They could keep baseball and hockey for themselves because I would call dibs on football.
The only downside so far was that I’d barely been able to log any stats for my favorite player—Gage Ledger.
The first I’d heard of him was when I researched which players I wanted to draft in Beaumont Football.
I’d been intrigued by his running stats, which were impressive.
Then SpreadOffense snapped him up before I could, and for some reason, that made me focus on Gage even more as I started to pull historical numbers before I started my internship.
It was disappointing that I hadn’t been able to see him play much in person yet.
As the teams started to leave the field, I turned to my boss and asked, “Why haven’t the starting players been on the field except for a few plays?”
One of the coaches was walking past me and answered before my boss could.
“There’s a couple of reasons for that. Preseason success doesn't automatically translate into a good regular season, so the pressure isn’t as high right now.
Which means there isn’t a solid reason to risk injury for our starters.
It also allows us to take the time to judge our fringe players while we solidify our roster for the season. ”
Thinking about the numbers I’d compiled on the players who rarely got any playing time last season or were new to the team, I nodded. “Gotcha, that definitely makes sense.”
The coach extended his hand with a smile. “I’m Cole O’Hara, by the way. Offensive coordinator for the Nighthawks.”
I slid my palm against his and grinned, my cheeks filling with heat as I blurted, “Yeah, I know. Your play calling is a big reason the Nighthawks were the top-scoring team last year. You definitely did your part to earn that championship ring.”
“Thanks,” he murmured with a deep chuckle.
My boss clapped me on the back. “This is Rory Abernathy, my intern for the season. She’s a junior at NYU, double majoring in math and computer science.
She did some interesting data visualization for the NYU baseball team that I’m hoping will offer you additional insight when she runs some models of the offense for us this season. ”
“That sounds fucking fantastic to me.” He jerked his head toward the door. “I look forward to hearing more about it later. I gotta get down to the locker room so I can talk to a few of my guys during halftime.”