Dirty Tackle: A Football Romance

by King,Imani

  She knew as well as I did that it was that ‘everything else’ that was messing with my head and my game. My eyes wandered up the stadium walls to an area where the suites were situated. I knew that Scarlet was up there with her grandmother watching the game. I hadn’t expected to feel nervous about having her watch me play. After all, I had millions of eyes watching me do this exact same thing every week. But somehow, today felt different. I felt like I had something to prove. It was an odd feeling considering I hadn’t felt that way in years.

  “She’s just happy to be here in the same place with you,” Maddy said as if she had read my mind again. There was no need to say who she was.

  “I just wanted to have a big play today so she could see it up close,” I said. The words slipped from my lips, but I knew they were true and the crux of my problem.

  Maddy stood up and crossed her arms. She looked away from me, but I could still hear her words. “She doesn’t care about any big plays. All she cares about is being able to spend time with you.”

  “Well, the feeling is entirely mutual,” I said.

  “Then that is all that matters,” she said. Then I heard a low muttered curse followed by, “Great.”

  I thought that she was talking about Scarlet, but I looked up and my gaze found Olivia headed in our direction. She wore a skin tight red skirt, and her matching top was cut so low that I had to wonder if her breasts were going to fall out. It was an outfit that seemed entirely inappropriate for the sidelines of a major NFL game.

  As soon as she got close, she leaned down giving me an eyeful of cleavage. “Anything you want to say to the fans on Twitter? Everyone’s concerned that you’re going to be out for the rest of the game. Your fans are in an uproar.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I said.

  Olivia cut a glance at Maddy. I sensed the level of tension between us had increased tenfold with her arrival. There was something going on between the two of them. It didn’t take a genius to see it or to know the cause of it.

  “Any further comment, Doctor?” Olivia sniffed. The way that she said ‘Doctor’ had a demeaning tone to it. It was almost as if she thought it was a pretend title. Olivia was clearly threatened by Maddy, and it continued to be a source of frustration for me that I knew I would likely have to address again. Even if I wasn’t with Maddy, there was no way in hell there would be anything else again between me and Olivia.

  “No comment,” Maddy said. I wasn’t surprised. Regardless of what happened on the field, corporate staff was supposed to keep their mouths shut when it came to talking to anyone in the press. I knew that, of course, Olivia knew that. It was almost as if she was trying to bait Maddy into saying something she shouldn’t.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said again. I didn’t like having to repeat myself.

  Olivia sat down on the bench next to me. She looked at me with what was probably supposed to be an expression of concern, but I felt the waves of possessiveness wafting off of her instead. She put her hand on my thigh. “So, off the record, are you okay?” Her words dripped with mock sympathy.

  “It’s nothing,” I said. I pushed her hand away, but I knew it wasn’t before Maddy saw the gesture. Her spine straightened, and she turned away from me. Then she started to walk away. She threw a couple of words over her shoulder. “I’ll check you after the next set of downs. Then we can make the call on if you can go back in.” She took her position on the sidelines again watching the game.

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “I thought she’d never leave,” she said.

  “What’s your problem?” I said.

  I saw her eyes widen, which was good. I was tired of this game.

  “I don’t like her. That’s all. How convenient that she shows up, and now she supposedly had your child?”

  “You leave my daughter out of this,” I said.

  “I’m just concerned. I mean, how do you know the kid’s really yours? Did you ask her for a DNA test?”

  The fact that I was sitting here on the sidelines during a big divisional game having a nonsense conversation with a woman that I didn’t even like was irritating as hell.

  “My daughter is none of your business,” I said tersely.

  “I would just consider getting a test. I mean, you have no idea where she’s been.”

  I turned toward Olivia, and I stared into her eyes. “I’m not sure what gives you the right to say anything about Maddy or Scarlet. You have no idea what the hell you are talking about, and you sound like an idiot. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop now, get up, and walk away. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. I thought I was clear on this with you.”

  The lines tightened around her mouth. “Shane, I’m worried about you. I just want what’s best for you.”

  “Leave. Now.”

  She stood up and appeared to ignore my tone. “I’ll let the fans know that you should be back on the field soon.” Then she sauntered away as if it had been her choice to do so all along.

  “Man, if looks could kill, I think that girl would be dead right now,” Marvin said. The offensive squad had come back off the field. They hadn’t scored without me.

  “She’s the least of my concerns,” I said. That was the truth. I rubbed my knee underneath the ice pack.

  “How’s your knee?”

  “It’s fine,” I repeated for what felt like the tenth time. “Those guys are kicking our asses.” I wanted to turn the conversation back to something safer.

  “That’s why we need our best player back on the field to score some touchdowns for us,” Marvin said.

  “I’m on it,” I said. I thought about what Maddy had said about Scarlet. She was happy just to be included, and she wanted to be where I was. That thought relaxed me in a way and took the pressure off. I hadn’t realized there had been so weight on my shoulders regarding my own expectations. I guess it made sense. I want my kid to be proud of her dad. But, all I had to do was just go out there and do what I did every Sunday. There was nothing different about today than any other Sunday other than I had somebody else in my life to care about. That thought made my chest swell with pride and happiness.

  The coach walked over to me. “What’s the story?”

  “Give me the notes,” I said. “I’ll be ready to go.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  As the season continued, and the weeks flew by, my new little pseudo-family settled into a semblance of a routine. Whether the team won or lost on Sunday, and luckily we mostly won, we celebrated at a local pizzeria after the game. It was me and Maddy and Scarlet and Marvin and sometimes some of the other team members. It was a nice way to stay connected with guys without having to go out and party with them the way that I used to. I was surprised that almost without exception, all of them accepted that my life was different now. Everyone was so supportive. It helped that they all adored Scarlet.

  As for partying, I had completely given it up despite Olivia’s continued attempts to try and draw me out. The woman was infuriating. It was like she just couldn’t get the message that things were not going to happen there anymore.

  Maddy had been respectful of my space just like I had asked her to be. She had fulfilled every promise so far whenever I asked to see Scarlet. We usually tried to get together for dinner a couple of times a week, and then if I had a home game that weekend, Scarlet would usually stay overnight one night. It required a lot more juggling than I was used to with my schedule, but my assistant and my agent had taken on more of the business activities for me on a day-to-day basis, so I had time to spend with her.

  Where I had been concerned that I would not be able to figure out how to be a good dad, I found that we settled into a kind of rhythm far more easily than I expected. Maddy had been right. It seemed like all I had to do was show up, and my daughter was nothing but smiles for me. I knew that if I had her full time, things would probably be different, but I had so far enjoyed every moment that I had with her.

  I only wished that I could see her more often, b
ut as we rolled toward the end of the season and a possible a divisional title, the coach was demanding more and more of our time for practice and preparation. It was starting to get to the intense part of the season where things could go any which way, and I had to be laser focused.

  Luckily, Scarlet loved to talk about the games as much as I did, which had been another surprise. For only being eight years old, she understood far more of the nuances of the game than I anticipated, and she was constantly asking questions. And when she wasn’t asking me questions, she was peppering Marvin with different questions too. She had quickly endeared herself to the older man, which made me think that he was probably longing for a wife and a family even more than he had been before now that he saw what I had.

  I stopped by Maddy’s office late one Friday night. I was knocking on her door when I saw her pacing and obviously upset.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” I asked her. Much of the anger I had felt toward her after the initial revelation about Scarlet had faded over the weeks, and we had settled into a kind of awkward friendship. It reminded me of when we were in high school, back in the early days after I first met her. She had always been easy to talk to. We had had a great time hanging out together, and it was amazing to find how quickly we settled back into those roles in the absence of anything else.

  I still thought that she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, but my heart was hesitant to open up to her again or think about moving things back into the romantic realm again. She had so far proved herself to be trustworthy, but that didn’t mean that if something came up that called things into question with me and Scarlet, that she wouldn’t make the same kind of decision to try to take Scarlet away from me again.

  “It’s nothing,” she said. She started to move around the room putting files away that were piled on her desk, but she closed the file cabinet drawers a little bit harder than usual.

  “Something’s wrong. Did something happen with Scarlet or your parents?” I asked.

  She whirled on her heel and glared at me. I wondered then if I had inadvertently done something, but we had barely spoken for the last two days because I had been busy with work. Plus, now that I had gotten Scarlet a cell phone, I was able to call her directly without going through Maddy.

  “If you could call your cat off, that would be great. I’m fed up with her threats and little warnings.”

  I had no idea what she was talking about. “What cat? You know I don’t have a cat.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Olivia. Okay? I mean, I understand it’s not my place. You can screw whoever you want to as long as you’re not flaunting it in front of Scarlet. I understand that things are over between us, but if you could get her to stop threatening my job, that would be fantastic. I am working to help support both my daughter and my parents, you know. I can’t afford to lose this job.”

  “What do you mean she’s threatening you? And, for the record, there’s nothing going on between me and Olivia. There hasn’t been for a while, since before you and me and my dad’s funeral.”

  She rolled her eyes again as if I had said something stupid. “You could sure have fooled me. She doesn’t hesitate to tell me at every opportunity how you guys hook up on the nights when you don’t see Scarlet.”

  My mouth fell open in shock. “I haven’t done anything with Olivia since before you and I got back together. That’s the God honest truth.”

  Her shoulders slumped. She looked at me with a look of disbelief. “I know that we have had our problems. I thought that we were getting to a good place where at least we could be friends. But she’s threatening my job. She’s the general manager’s daughter. She has a lot of pull, obviously. I just need to make sure that I keep my job. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  I stood up abruptly. I felt the anger welling inside of me. I thought that I had dealt with Olivia, but clearly, she just stopped messing with me and had turned her attention to Maddy. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “Shane, I can’t let you do anything that would affect my job.”

  “You’re the best doctor they’ve had in here in years. You care about the players, and they like and trust you. Better yet, you’re getting results. You don’t have to worry about your job, and I’m sorry that Olivia has taken it upon herself to make you think that you do. I swear I’m not doing anything with her. She is not the woman for me. I’ll take care of it.”

  Her face softened. Then her shoulders slumped again, and I saw tears falling down her cheeks.

  Immediately, I went to her. I put my arms around her, and she started to cry against my chest. I had no idea where this was coming from. “It’s okay, Maddy. Don’t worry.”

  “It’s not that,” she said muffled against my chest. She gently pushed me away and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry. I just heard from my parents that they found a buyer for their business. They had to agree to a price that was so much less than what they were hoping for. It’s barely going to be enough to cover their debts. In fact, I’m pretty sure they’re still going to be short on a couple of different things. It’s just after all of that time, they have walked away with nothing to show for all of it. I can’t help but feel responsible.”

  “What are you talking about? They hired somebody who screwed them over big time. It sucks, and it shouldn’t have happened. But businesses succeed and fail all the time. Your parents will bounce back, probably better than ever. How could you be responsible for any of that?”

  Maddy looked away and color rose in her cheeks. “They paid for all of my school, both undergrad and medical school. That was over a hundred thousand dollars now. If they still had that, maybe they would have at least been able to keep the house. I want to pay them back, but it’ll take too long. Everything will be long gone by then.”

  Now so many things fell into place. Madeleine felt like she owed her parents everything for her livelihood. No wonder she had taken a job that would maximize her income in the meantime.

  “Don’t worry about this. We will figure it all out. But your parents are adults, and you can’t let this get you down or take responsibility for it. Nobody likes a martyr.”

  I saw a ghost of a smile cross her face. She moved away from me then and sat down in her chair. “Thank you for the shoulder to cry on, Shane. I appreciate it.”

  “You and Scarlet are still coming over for dinner tonight, right?” She nodded. “Okay then. I’ve got one more stop before I leave, so I’ll see you later. Just keep your chin up. I am sure that Scarlet wouldn’t want to see you like this. I will take care of Olivia. First things first.”

  She still looked forlorn as if she didn’t believe me. But I would prove it to her.

  After I left her office, I headed in the direction of the corporate suites where all of the executives had their offices. It was high time that I took care of the Olivia situation. Not only for myself but for Maddy too. I was tired of dealing with a spoiled brat who was acting up because she wasn’t getting her way. I found her dad, Jeff Watson, sitting in his office.

  “Hey there, Shane,” Jeff said as he looked up from the piles of paperwork on his desk at my soft knock on his door

  “Have a minute?” I asked.

  “For my best player? Of course. Come on in,” he said waving me into his office. I stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind me. “Whoa, this must be serious. I hope you’re not coming to try and negotiate another raise in your salary. Your contract isn’t up for another two years,” he said.

  I chuckled. “We’ll see if you can afford me then. But that’s not what I’m here to talk to you about,” I said.

  Jeff pointed to the chair across from him. “Pull up a seat. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

  I had always liked Jeff. He was a straight shooter, and he ran everything that affected the team like a well-oiled machine. That was why we were one of the most profitable teams in the league, and we attracted some of the best talent to our roster. Over the last several years, Jeff had put
together a high caliber team that was going to go to the Super Bowl this year, if we could just keep it together.

  “This is kind of awkward,” I said. I wasn’t quite sure where to start. How do you tell a man that his daughter was kicking up all sorts of trouble for the team?

  “Well, that’s a rather auspicious start,” he said. He leaned back in his chair.

  I knew it was better just rip the Band-Aid off. “It’s about your daughter,” I said. There really was no sense in beating around the bush. “You might know that she and I kind of had a thing for a short time a while ago.” That was a very generous description of what Olivia and I had.

  “There were rumors, but I don’t stick my nose in my daughter’s business unless I have to. Once your daughter gets a bit older, you probably will understand that.”

  I thought about that and realized that wasn’t something I wanted to think about for a long time. If I had anything to say about it, Scarlet wasn’t going to be interacting with boys until college, if even then. And I’d make sure that she didn’t turn out anything like Olivia. But I wasn’t going to say that.

  “True. And this normally would be something that I wouldn’t bring to your attention except it’s causing some issues for the team.”

  “What do you mean?”

  There was no way to delicately say what I had to say. “I ended our relationship a while ago. Olivia seems to be having some problems with letting it go. She’s said a couple of things to that effect to me. And now that Doctor Thompson has joined the team, and my daughter is in the picture, she seems to have turned her attention in that direction, which I definitely have a problem with.”

  “I did hear that the new doctor and you had a thing a while ago. So that’s your daughter’s mother,” Jeff said.

  I nodded, but I did not underestimate Jeff’s network of information. He knew all of this already. He was just playing a little dumb, if it there was one thing Jeff was not, it was dumb. I had to be careful of this situation.