Tackled by the Team

by Sierra Sparks

  I was worried what would happen if I lost it or it tore. I often wished I could find another one online somewhere.

  “Aw, hell no,” said Carey, upon seeing the shirt. “You pull out your big guns already? Big mistake. I look good in all shirts, bro!”

  “The shirt wouldn’t work for you,” I assured him. “I’m sure there’s a shirt out there that would, but not this one. This is only for me.”

  Just then, I felt Kyle’s presence in the room. Carey started laughing. I turned around and there he was: stuffed into the same shirt.

  “What the hell, Kyle?!” I snapped.

  Lexi walked into the room. She had just made reservations.

  “You guys like sushi? There’s a good Japanese place, but we’ve got to hurry,” she explained.

  “Out in a minute,” I said. “Kyle has to change his shirt.”

  “I can’t change it,” said Kyle, slightly smiling. “It’s the only shirt I brought.”

  “Why did you buy that shirt?!” I demanded.

  “You told me how great the shirt was for you,” explained Kyle. “I just wanted a little of that magic. The only one they had in stock was a size too small, but that’s how much I wanted this damn shirt.”

  “You’re taking that shirt off, Kyle. I got a spare.”

  Carey continued to laugh. He was in a ball on the floor laughing so hard, he was about to piss himself.

  “I’m not changing this shirt. Besides, your shirt won’t fit me.”

  “That shirt doesn’t fit you!”

  “Yeah, but it’s lucky, like you said.”

  “For me! It’s lucky for me!”

  “Oh, my God. Oh, Lawd,” laughed Carey out of breath. “This is the greatest day of my life.”

  “If you have an extra shirt, you change it,” suggested Kyle.

  “No way! Where’d you even get that?!”

  “I’ll tell you, but only if you let me wear it.”

  “You guys almost ready?” called Lexi. “The Uber’s here.”

  There was no way I was facing her in anything other than my best shirt and since I couldn’t get Kyle to change, I just had to accept fucking fate. We went as twinsies. Carey laughed under his breath for several minutes after that.

  “What’s so funny?” asked Lexi in the car.

  “Oh, I’m just remembering that old movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. Did you see that?” joked Carey.

  “Shut up,” I muttered under my breath. Luckily, he listened. Lexi looked confused, but I wasn’t about to tell her how the movie “Twins” applied to this situation.

  We arrived at the restaurant. It was a high end Japanese place owned by the Iron Chef. Most of the tables were very open so everyone could see everything, including the Iron Chef cooking away. Fortunately, I skipped in ahead to put us in a private room. It would be more intimate even if I did have to share Lexi’s meal with these two knuckleheads. I wasn’t much on sushi, but Carey was. He decided to show off.

  “How is the uni today? Fresh?” Carey asked the waiter.

  “Oh, I love uni,” added Lexi, a little bit excited.

  “How about you, Jackson?” asked Carey, knowing I had no idea what uni was. “You want some uni?”

  I pulled out my trump card.

  “Is it vegetarian?” I asked the waiter.

  “No, I’m afraid not, sir. Would you like me to ask the chef to prepare you a vegetarian sushi platter?”

  “That would be great, thanks,” I said humbly.

  “Oh, you’re a vegetarian,” said Lexi, mildly impressed.

  “Well, I love all animals. Even uni.”

  “That’s awesome,” she responded. “How nice of you.”

  “It’s sea urchin,” said Carey, a little annoyed he had been shown up.

  “Sir?” the waiter asked Kyle.

  “Just bring me a little of everything. Vegetarian, uni, whatever.”

  “How about the chef’s special?”

  “That sounds cool,” said Kyle, rolling with it. “Bring me that.”

  “Oo, that’s right. Can’t go wrong with that,” said Lexi. “Bring me that too.”

  Well, in this first round trying to win over Lexi, I think it was a tie. Maybe in the end, Kyle had the edge, only because Carey and I were annoyed. Lexi got out her notebook and camera and promptly dropped them on the floor. She seemed a little nervous.

  “Whoops,” she said. “Sorry-sorry. One sec.”

  While she bent down, Carey managed to look down her shirt and mouth the word, “Damn!” I gave him a gentle punch. That was kind of rude. Then I started thinking, “What the hell am I doing? Let him be rude.” It was so weird being in competition for this woman with my two best friends.

  Lexi got her camera and notepad situated and almost immediately, she became this other person. Confident, thoughtful, knowledgeable. I had her wrong. She didn’t need saving, but she wasn’t going to just swoon for Carey or marry Kyle to pump out kids. Admittedly, Kyle was the closest to peg her. He was right. She was strong.

  “So Jackson,” she said, turning to me. “You’ve had quite an amazing year. Is this going to be your last?”

  “Why? What did you hear or overhear?” I countered.

  “Well, you’re 31. That’s pretty old for a QB. There’s no denying your talent. You took the team to two other Super Bowls, but can you see yourself taking them to a fourth?”

  “I’m not going to deny I’m getting up there and it’s tough,” I admitted. “If we win the Super Bowl this year, it would be a perfect way to go out on top.”

  “So are you announcing your retirement?” she immediately followed up.

  I felt a little bit like I was being maneuvered. This chick knew how to get to the heart of an issue. Maybe she overheard us talking, but it didn’t seem that way. She seemed to draw her conclusions from evidence. That was something that was no only lacking in most sports reporters, but most people these days. There were a few more questions for me, but I managed to deflect and stall. No way I could announce my retirement now. My agent would have a fit.

  “Carey, over the last four years, you’ve become the star of this team. But after a recent incident, a lot of commentators were saying you had been moved up too fast and all the fame was going to you head,” began Lexi. “How do you respond to that?”

  I had to smile. Carey looked like a deer caught in the headlights!

  “Well, ya know, there are, uh, a lot of haters out there,” he stammered. “But hey, just because my parents had a little money doesn’t mean I didn’t work hard. I have a teaching degree that I plan to use once I retire.”

  “Really? What would you teach?” asked Lexi.

  “At first, I’d like to teach little kids, ya know? Maybe 2nd or 3rd grade so I can teach all subjects. Then I think eventually I would like to move up to the high school level. Teach history and coach a football team. Plus I want to have a family, so I hope I get to teach my own kids at the same time,” said Carey genuinely. “I really want to have kids some day.”

  “Okay,” smiled Lexi. “Kyle, you had a rough start this year.”

  Kyle laughed. He had gotten drunk in the beginning of the year and pissed on the car belonging to the Dallas Cowboy coach. Our coach almost cut him from the team, but fortunately it was early enough in the year to blow over.

  “Yeah, I know,” laughed Kyle. “Like I said, coach wouldn’t start me because I was late, but I had to take care of my moms. She was sick.”

  “Now I want to phrase this delicately…”

  “It’s okay.”

  “Has she completed her rehab treatment?”

  Kyle looked away. It was a sensitive subject for him.

  “She still has 41 days to go,” he explained. “It’s not easy. She had a tough life. I’m just glad I’m making enough money so I can help her and my siblings.”

  I’ve seen Kyle interviewed by a lot of people about this. Most them can’t handle one of these questions without getting too personal and rud
e, but this girl— it was like effortless to her to thread the needle. Amazing.

  The food arrived not long thereafter, so we took a break. My plate contained a lot of tofu, edamame and faux-everything, but it was delicious. I saw Carey and Lexi’s sea urchin appetizer and it looked like some kind of snot to me. Kyle, as always, was a vacuum cleaner when it came to food. Put something in front of him and poof, it was gone. I gave him a few pieces of my dinner to try. I don’t think he even tasted it really, it just disappeared down the garbage disposal mouth of his.

  At some point, Lexi got up to use the restroom and we had a chance to evaluate our progress mid-game. Typical football players, right?

  “Now would be a good time for you guys to excuse yourselves and take an early night,” suggested Carey. “There’s no shame in losing to the best.”

  “And that would be me,” I suggested. “Bow out gracefully, champ.”

  “Oh, I forgot. Mr. Shirt is here,” scoffed Carey.

  Kyle just laughed. He had run out of food and was going back to eating edamame beans from the appetizer. I decided to go on the attack a little.

  “Kyle, buddy, she obviously doesn’t dig you,” I suggested. “I mean, she handled those questions well, but she wasn’t making eyes at you like she was at me.”

  “Are you crazy?” said Kyle. “She’s been all business since we’ve got here.”

  “Not to me,” I insisted. “There is definitely a vibe.”

  “The only vibe is in her panties, for me,” insisted Carey.

  Lexi abruptly returned. Carey wasn’t sure if she overheard that last remark. I twisted the knife.

  “Tch, Carey, that was so vulgar,” I said, concerned.

  “What is? I didn’t hear you,” admitted Lexi.

  “I was just telling these guys a dirty story about Jackson in Phoenix, back in the day,” explained Carey.

  In an attempted to pillory Carey, I ended up setting him up for the worst story about me, ever.

  “Go ahead, please,” said Lexi, now riveting her attention on Carey.

  “Oh, no,” I said, embarrassed.

  “So Jackson’s a rookie on the road in Arizona and they make him share a room with Harold Jamar. Hugest guy in the league. Center. 6’ 8”, four hundred pounds, right? Him and Jackson go out for a post game meal at some Tex Mex place. They both get sick, but Harold gets in the bathroom first,” tells Carey, laughing the whole time.

  “Well, Jackson had to go and there was only one stall!” added Kyle.

  Lexi was laughing. I was beginning to think this story was a plus for me, even though originally I’d been embarrassed by it.

  “I’m really sick from the food, but the smell is making it worse. The whole hotel is booked, I have no other place to go,” I added. “Harold knows it and is just sitting there taking his sweet time— I knew he was done.”

  “So this crazy motherfucker charges in there and tackles Harold off the toilet,” laughed Carey.

  “Oh, my God!” laughed Lexi. “Now that’s desperation.”

  “It was either that or drop trou in the trash can,” I admitted.

  “Oh! Gross!” laughed Lexi.

  “Sorry for the unpleasant dinner conversation my teammates started,” I said. “And I really hope this conversation is off the record.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Lexi said, with a wink. God, she was so damn cute. I found myself drawn to her in a way that I couldn’t even describe. “But don’t worry about the dinner convo. As a reporter gracing locker rooms across the country, I’ve heard worse.”

  “Oh, man,” Kyle said. “We thought we were special!”

  I made eye contact with Carey. Now it was my turn to return the favor.

  “So, I have a great story about Carey in Miami,” I said, smiling.

  Carey looked at me. He did not like what was coming.

  “Carey’s rookie year was a bit tough and he liked to over compensate by buying cars. Each one he bought was more expensive than the other. We didn’t know how he was doing it! He was only a rookie!” laughed Jackson.

  “He had this vintage Astin Martin at a club and I had it towed! He freaked out in the parking lot.” I laughed. “Turns out, he had been renting the cars the entire time.”

  “Yo, that wasn’t funny, Jackson. I had to rent that thing another week and we were on the road and I couldn’t drive it,” said Carey, sounding a little annoyed.

  Lexi laughed. It was an effortless laugh that lit up the room. God damn this girl had me reeling.

  “Oh, boy. What about you, Kyle?” asked Lexi. “You have any stories from the road you’d like to share?”

  “Well, I did hear one about Carey,” Kyle admitted.

  Carey threw up his napkin in surrender.

  “A’ight, I see how it is,” he muttered.

  “It’s not that bad,” assured Kyle. “We were in L.A. for a game and Carey says to me that he’s dying for a cheese steak. And I’m like, bro, they don’t have cheese steaks in L.A. This is a burger town, right?”

  “I found a place though, didn’t I?” added Carey.

  “Oh, you found it,” admitted Kyle. “Place called Philly Cali in Santa Monica. We roll up in there and it’s like a little piece of Philly. It’s got a Mike Schmidt poster and a picture of the Liberty Bell, but it is tiny. And the guy that runs it, God bless him, is making these tiny cheese steaks.”

  “And they’re the absolute worst,” laughed Carey despite himself.

  “No!” laughed Lexi.

  “Swear to God. My man would be out of business in a day here,” assured Carey. “That’s how bad.”

  “I didn’t think they were that bad,” added Kyle, to howls of laughter. “But I was so hungry, I didn’t care.”

  “He ate six of them,” added Carey. “Tell ‘em what you said when you were leaving.”

  “I said see you tomorrow, because I missed cheese steaks so much,” admitted Kyle. “They weren’t that bad.”

  By this time, we were all laughing so hard, our sides were hurting. Man, I couldn’t remember when I laughed so much. I guess Lexi just brought out the best in me and my teammates. It was strange. Great, but strange.

  “Now, let’s tell you about the time Carey fought over a girl,” Kyle said.

  “Let’s not,” Carey said, sending Kyle a glare.

  “I think you guys have given me enough stories for one day,” Lexi said, sensing the tension and trying to diffuse it. “And I appreciate that. It’s been a blast.”

  Obviously, Carey didn’t want Lexi thinking anything bad about him. Was he falling for this girl?

  Damn, was I falling for this girl?

  Chapter 4

  Lexi

  These guys were just really personable for being such big star athletes. And when I say big, I mean, the bulges on all three of them were impressive. I had never had this much face time with such affable, attractive men. God, how do the other female sports casters do it? I was a little hot and bothered just talking to them.

  Taking care of my dad all these years had really left me rusty picking up cues. I got the feeling all three of them wanted to date me. I guessed that was possible. They were obviously attractive, but I couldn’t tell if it was the chemistry between us or if the guys just naturally hit on every hot girl in their path. I mean, men get urges, but men like this must get urges times ten.

  I swear, the second half of the meal I was getting signals. First it was Carey. He made eye contact with me and winked. Then he kind of slurped up his uni with his tongue. I couldn’t decide if he was being a little crass and suggestive or if that’s just how he had to eat the damned thing. But he was definitely eyeing me up, I could sense that.

  Jackson, the handsome farm boy, was far too formal for that. It would’ve been easy to mistake his friendliness for something more. He gave me more of a sly look. Something that said, “Yeah, you impress me” or “Wow, that’s great.” Was he? Or what I imagining it? At the time I couldn’t tell, but I definitely got a strong vibe
from him.

  Then there was Kyle, the quiet one. It was almost as if he acted like we were already together. I mean, that was kinda the drift of the body language. Then again, I didn’t trust myself to read it right, so perhaps it was all in my head. I wasn’t used to having so many hot alpha guys paying me so much attention and seemingly falling all over themselves for me.

  “Could it be?” I thought to myself. “Are the three hottest and best athletes on the Sea-Eagles football team fighting over me?”

  If it was true, I couldn’t wait to tell Dad. He’d probably be more excited about than I was. Of course, I would tone down the raw, animalistic sexuality and focus on the friendly banter, crazy stories and the fact that these guys seemed to genuinely like hanging out with me.

  “What about you, Lexi?” asked Jackson. “Put down the pen a minute and tell us about you.”

  Jackson had an effortless charm about him. Just the sound of his voice made me feel safe and warm.

  “Yeah, Lexi,” added Carey. “Tell us a story about you.”

  “There’s really not much to tell,” I admitted. “My dad got hurt after I graduated high school, so I spent the last year taking care of him while putting myself through college.”

  “What does your dad do? Or what did he do?” asked Jackson.

  “He was in construction,” I said. “My mom passed when I was young, so he raised me by himself.”

  “It’s tough being a single parent,” Kyle added. “It’s what drove my mom to the bottle. She couldn’t handle all the kids.”

  “You mean she couldn’t handle you,” joked Carey. Kyle rolled his eyes.

  “After college, I got this job at Sports Ring. I had an internship there. About a month ago they hired me and it’s a dream come true.”

  “Wait, this is your first assignment?” asked Kyle.

  “Actually, no,” I admitted. “My first assignment was to do a sign off from the field, which I already did. This was kind of like a side project on my own, but Sports Ring is going to flip when I show them the interviews. I mean, you guys are great. Oh, and, I did reporting assignments in college but they were for college teams, all over the U.S. So, this is my first big league experience.”