“I lost my job today,” I cried. “They fired me over this.”
“It’s their loss, honey,” Dad assured me. “People need to be able to live their lives. Even public figures. We live in a society where everything gets endlessly picked apart and judge. And who’s doing the judging? Just other people! Stupid, fault-filled people that make mistakes too. Who are they to judge?”
“You really mean that?”
“Of course I do. When I was raising you by myself, people used to look at me weird and say, why doesn’t that guy get someone to take care of that little girl. He’s a man, a little girl needs a mommy. Kids need a mommy. I’d say, I can be the mommy too. People adapt. Who are you to say what my kid should and should not have! You forge your own path, Sweetie. I’ll back you 100 percent.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I said, finally stopping the crying. “That makes everything better. You know just what to say.”
“Ah, well,” he dismissed. “It’s a shame what they’re going to do to your friends.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, they’re treating this like a scandal. The Sea-Eagles are a big organization. They might bench all three of them.”
“What? They’re the star players! They need them to win the Super Bowl.”
“There are always back ups,” said Dad. “Plus, they’ve all been on thin ice for most of the season. Two of them got caught fighting over a girl. This kind of thing is exactly what might put them off and get them benched.”
“Oh, my God! I have to go down there and explain to the coach,” I said. “I can’t let the guys lose their dream over me!”
“Good luck, Sweetie. Whatever happens, know that I’m proud of you. Screw these TV goons!”
I rushed out of the house and got in my car. I was driving at break neck speed to the Sea-Eagles’ practice field. Some of the guys texted, but I wanted to talk to them in person. This was too important for a text. I needed to see them face to face. And this time, it wasn’t because I wanted them to fuck me all at the same time. Or at least, that wasn’t the only reason.
Chapter 13 – Jackson
Practice seemed like it was going too well that day. Carey, Kyle and I were so relaxed and focused, I honestly didn’t see the signs. Someone told me later people were checking the news story out on their phones, looking at us and pointing. It wasn’t until Coach Brennan called us all into the office that I knew something was up.
“Ellis, Fowler, Blake, get in here!” the coach demanded as we approached.
Brennan’s office had a corporate feel to it. It was the biggest office on the floor. The walls were adorned with pictures of his previous victories, everything from his college days as a player to our NFC wins. There was a picture of us during my first rookie year. We looked happy in that picture. He was so not happy with me now. It was like being yelled at by my dad.
“What where you guys thinking?! Huh?! What the fuck were you thinking?!” he ranted. “Do you know the owners are coming down here?! They never come down here on a day like today! You guys messed up! Messed up real good!”
Coach was 40 something and in great shape for a guy his age. When he ranted, his voice boomed everywhere. We just kind of stared at him and looked at each other. If he was yelling at us for hooking up with Lexi, none of us had any clue how he would know. Fortunately, he had had his office sound proof for occasions when he had to chew somebody’s ass off. Like now.
“I don’t think we know what you’re talking about coach,” I said honestly.
He grabbed a remote off his desk and turned on the wide screen TV in his office. He flipped to various news channels showing stills of the four of us in the foyer. There we were saying goodbye to Lexi that morning. The headline on the screen was “Sea-Eagles Sex Scandal?”
“Oh, Christ,” I muttered.
“Where the fuck was that guy?” demanded Carey. “I didn’t see him! He couldn’t have been in the foyer!”
“Like that matters, Ellis!” snapped the coach. “You especially were warned about this shit!”
“What shit? This ain’t like what happened with Ringo,” assured Carey. “That was completely different. I didn’t know it was his girlfriend!”
“Do you think that matters?! Do you think that fucking matters?!” snapped coach. “The team doesn’t like this shit. The League doesn’t like this shit! They still think you guys are role models for children!”
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” insisted Kyle. “That was a private moment. We were inside. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Oh, no, Fowler!” said the coach sarcastically. “You just gangbanged some broad on Sports Ring! Please tell me you had the sense not to tape the fucking thing! Is it floating around on Pornhub somewhere?!”
“It’s not like that, coach,” said Carey seriously. “This chick, Lexi, she’s different. She’s not mad at us. Look at her in the picture!”
“Does that matter? Nothing in reality matters, Ellis! Cause it’s about the way it looks!” the coach ranted. “Jesus H. Christ! Do you know what this woman could do to the entire organization?! The lawsuit?! And that’s just the beginning!”
“She’s not going to sue the team,” I insisted.
“Oh, and you know that how, Blake? Y-y-you some kind of mind reader now?”
“We have…a relationship with her.”
“You expect me to believe that? You get drunk and have a four-way and now you’re in a relationship?” said the coach, incredulous. “You think marketing could explain that to the public even if it were true?”
“It is true” insisted Kyle.
“It doesn’t matter what is or isn’t true, Fowler! This chick’s career is over! Dead! You guys got caught! It looks incredibly bad and now I have to bench you! My three best players! Not because of injuries, but because they couldn’t wait two weeks to hold their orgy in the off season!”
“Don’t bench them,” I pleaded. “Just bench me. It’s my fault. I dragged them into this.”
“Nice try, Blake, but I can’t,” said the coach in frustration walking behind his desk and tossing the remote aside. “The owners are on their way down here. Probably to hand me my ass and tell me to look for another job next season.”
“You can’t go down for what we did,” said Kyle.
“I am the captain of this ship, Fowler!” corrected the Coach. “Everything that happens here, good or bad, is my fault. Win a game? My fault. Lose a game? My fault? A player gets injured? My fault. Not enough towels in the locker room? My God damn fucking fault!”
“Look, coach,” pleaded Ellis. “I’m the one that messed up during the Tina situation. I started that shit with Ringo and I handled it bad. Blame me. This is Jackson’s last season, man. Let him go out with a ring!”
“I would like nothing more than that,” said the coach sadly. “But this story is snowballing out of control. It’s national fucking news. Good Morning America talked about it. The women on the View, every celebrity is tweeting an opinion about it. The God damned president is being asked his opinion on it!”
“What did he say?” asked Kyle genuinely interested.
“It doesn’t God damn matter, Fowler!” snapped the coach. “What matters is, they’re talking about the Sea-Eagles and they’re not talking about how we’re going to win the Super Bowl! They’re not talking about yards and penalties and plays. They’re talking about your stupid sex life, you moron! We look like amateurs! Like a bunch of high school amateurs!”
“Coach, if you knew this woman, you’d see that this wasn’t a joke,” I said, trying to explain. “This wasn’t some frat house sex party.”
“I get it, Blake,” said the coach, relenting. “People have different situations. Personally, I don’t care, but it’s not up to me, okay? This organization is worth millions. They’re not going to risk that money trying to explain someone’s non-traditional relationship. You think Pepsi or Coke or Ford or Budweiser wants to get into the details? No! They still think of the NFL as a
family sport! There’s no room for complicated and nuance adult talk, okay? There’s just not!”
Suddenly, Lexi burst into the room. For a lot of years, I went out of my way to save people. Here she was coming to save me. She had a determined look in her eye. It was like she emerged her full self for the first time.
“Coach! You have to listen to me!” Lexi begged. “You can’t let the tabloids ruin these men’s careers!”
“Is that her? What is she doing in here?” snapped the coach. “Are you nuts calling her down here? The papers will have a field day!”
“Lexi, you should go,” I advised. “Honestly, coach, we didn’t ask for this.”
“No! I’m not going to let them ruin your career over me!” she insisted. “Coach, you have to listen to me!”
“Lady, please, listen---“
“No! You listen!” Lexi roared. “These three men are some of the kindest, most wonderful people I have ever met. They love me, and I love them. And that love is real. Those pictures don’t do it justice, but it is real. Kyle has a heart of gold! Carey is loyal and loving! And Jackson, well I already know he probably tried to take the blame for everything!”
“Well, she does know you,” the coach admitted.
“You see? We have an honest and open relationship. A real connection. Shouldn’t that be celebrated instead of scandalized? We make each other happy. What’s wrong with that?” Lexi demanded to know.
“There’s nothing you said that I don’t agree with,” said the coach plainly. “These guys are some of the best players on the team. Hell, best players I’ve ever coached. But their goodness or whatever is not the issue. A professional football team has a lot of moving parts and this story is a monkey wrench thrown into that,” the coach tried to explain.
“We could have a press conference and explain,” suggested Lexi. “If the public saw the real people. That real people’s lives are being destroyed, they’d change their minds. I’ve already been fired from Sports Ring, I have nothing to lose.”
“They fired you?” said Kyle sounding worried.
“It’s fine,” assured Lexi.
“Miss, I’m impressed that you came in here to defend these guys. Honestly, that takes guts. Admittedly, I had the wrong impression of you,” conceded the coach. “But that still doesn’t change things. You can’t stand up in front of each of our millions of fans and explain this. It just won’t fly. And the only opinions that really matter are the owners.”
Just then, one of the assistant coaches ran to the door.
“Coach, Ben and Anita are here,” he announced. “They’re getting off the elevator.”
“Jesus,” muttered Brennan. “You have to go, Miss.”
“Please, just let me talk to them,” begged Lexi. “I’m already here. At the very least, I can apologize.”
“Yeah, sure,” said the coach pessimistically. “More people to watch me get fired.”
A few seconds later, the owners of the Sea-Eagles, Ben and Anita, walked into the room. Ben was quiet and reserved, a graying billionaire that bought the Sea-Eagles for his wife. Anita wore the pants in the relationship and strived to do what was best for her beloved Sea-Eagles team. Ben wore a modest shirt and tie. He stared into his phone, barely looking up, answering emails and texts. Anita had her hair done up and wore a designer business woman’s suit. She wanted to be noticed and had a fiery energy that was part of everything she did.
“Brennan, what the Hell is going on here?” she demanded entering and seeing Lexi. “And what the Hell is she doing here?”
“Anita, I’m Lexi Aaron---“
“I know who you are, dear, I watch the news,” she said icily. “Although these days it seems much more like a gossip rag.”
“I totally agree with you, ma’am,” conceded Lexi. “I just came down here to explain what happened.”
“I think we all know what happened, dear,” said Anita. “You and some of the boys had quite a wild time. I’m not interesting in the sexual predilections of my players.”
“It’s not like that,” insisted Lexi. “Carey, Kyle and Jackson and I shared something special. Something that’s real. I love these men.”
“Love them?”
“Yes,” Lexi said proudly. “We have a real bond. A real connection. You’ve been married for 30 years, you must know what that’s like.”
“She’s got you there, Anita,” said Ben, still staring at his phone.
“Benjamin, hush,” she chided. “Let me handle this.”
Anita turned toward Brennan.
“Did you know about this?”
“I swear, I did not,” said Brennan. “I saw it on the news, same as you. This happened completely outside of practice and off of Sea-Eagles grounds.”
“This is a disruption,” insisted Anita. “We can’t win Super Bowls with disruptions like this. It takes everyone’s focus off of winning and onto nonsensical nonsense. Need I remind you, Mr. Ellis, of the Tina situation?”
“No, ma’am,” said Carey. “Not at all.”
“For weeks, you and Ringo were in the press, fighting on the field and during practice--- We sustained three injuries during that period. I hold you and Ringo personally responsible for those injuries because they are often the result of distractions. I will not tolerate it,” insisted Anita. “This sport already had a tremendous amount of injury, some that we’ve only just started to uncover. Distractions lead to injury!”
“Honestly, I’ve never been more focused,” I confessed.
“Me too, my head was clear today,” added Carey.
“Is that true?” asked Anita. “Are our star players more focused because of their…interaction with Ms. Aaron?”
“They had a good practice,” admitted coach. “They seemed focused.”
“Nevertheless, the press on this is relentless,” said Anita. “The paparazzi are everywhere. I’ve got reporters following me and Benjamin night and day! Calling on the phone, asking questions and demanding answers. I can’t have you flaunting this--- This--- Whatever this is, around!”
“We weren’t flaunting anything,” insisted Lexi. “This is private. Between me and the guys only. We didn’t tell anyone and kept to ourselves.”
“Then how did it get out?” asked Anita. “My players are about to win the Super Bowl. They’re incredibly famous. You are the new variable in this equation, Ms. Aaron!”
“Must’ve been that photographer at the zoo,” I suggested.
“It was just me and you there,” pointed out Lexi. “No! I remember seeing Ringo at the restaurant. He was hiding in the coat room, but when I ran to find him he was gone.”
“You’re telling me Ringo did this?” snapped Anita. “Get Ringo in here right now. I want to question him myself!”
Coach Brennan pressed a button on his phone and made a P.A. announcement.
“Ringo, this is Coach Brennan. Can I see you in my office immediately please?” he announced.
“Lexi, you don’t have to do this,” I whispered. “Just go, we’ll take whatever punishment they give.”
“No, Jackson,” said Lexi. “We need to stick up for each other. I’ve got your back. Always.”
Ringo entered. He kind of strutted in, cocksure as always. He was wearing a clean practice jersey and a thick gold chain.
“Hey, everyone. Coach. Anita, Ben, looking good!” greeted Ringo.
Ben, who was answering emails on his phone and barely paying attention, acknowledged Ringo’s greeting.
“Ringo,” said Coach. “Did you send a reporter to follow the guys and Ms. Aaron here?”
“No,” said Ringo, half-smiling. “I took the picture on my phone.”
Ringo lifted up the phone. He had the audacity to show the pictures in the office. He swiped across the many pictures he took.
“What the Hell did you do that for?!” I demanded. “This was none of your business!”
Carey and Kyle got between us. I swear, I was ready to beat the shit out of Ringo in front of everyo
ne.
“Because!” said Ringo. “Y’all always stirring up shit with me, so I stirred some shit up with you! These freaks have a group orgy and everything. It ain’t natural.”
“You fucking idiot,” said Coach. “You don’t have any idea what you’ve done.”
“Hey, I know Anita and Ben ain’t going to support that shit, right?” said Ringo, appealing to them. “No one in the NFL is gonna tolerate this shit. Cut these motherfuckers and put me back in the game! I’ll win you that Super Bowl ring!”
“Ringo, I don’t give a shit what my players do in their off time,” said Anita. “But you! You created a distraction that didn’t exist!”
“I created it? I exposed it!” insisted Ringo. “You should be thanking me!”
“No one would’ve known about it if you hadn’t taken the pictures!” said Lexi. “You’re just jealous because I turned you down!”
“Oh, God! Again, Ringo?”
“No, Anita. I-i-it ain’t like that.”
“I’ve been blind,” Anita said to herself. “You were the cause of this and the Tina situation.”
“I didn’t cause that!”
“Bench him, coach,” said Anita.
“What? You can’t bench me! We got the Super Bowl in two games!” snapped Ringo.
“Oh, you’re benched!” said coached. “Now get your shit and get out of the team locker room.”
Ringo took a moment to give everyone in the room nasty looks and then stormed out.
“I am so sorry, Ben,” said Anita. “I should’ve gotten rid of Ringo all along. You called it.”
“Hmm?” said Ben, still distracted. “Oh, yes. Of course.”
“So coach,” said Anita. “Think you can win a Super Bowl without Ringo? I’m certain he was the cause of all this distraction now.”
“Oh, well, yeah,” said coach, half expecting more firings. “Absolutely. Yeah, I can replace Ringo in a second.”
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