Blitzed (The Alpha Ballers #3) (23 page)

I smiled back, and we lay there on the bed in silence for a few minutes more and it was perfect, each of us moving so slowly, the sound of our hearts getting louder over the drone of the hotel room’s air conditioning.

“What’ll you do after the game?” I asked, out of nowhere.

Hud looked pensive, like he had been giving this some thought for a while. Finally, he found the words. “I’m gonna retire, Mack.”

I picked my head up off my hands and my jaw dropped at the same time. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Hud said, a serene smile coming over his face, like a weight had been lifted by saying it. “When we win, of course.”

“Of course. That goes without saying.”

“Right. I thought a lot about that conversation we had at dinner weeks ago.”

“Yeah?”

Hud chuckled. “Yeah, at the time I had no idea you were interested in me. I thought it was a business thing. I thought you wanted me to retire.”

My cheeks reddened. “That was not what I meant…is that what you really thought?”

“Until the end, yeah. I thought you were thanking me for the party thing and kicking me out the door with the same meal.”

It was so absurd I had to laugh. “Is that how I came off?”

“You know you have a nickname around the facility, right?”

The embarrassment deepened and I narrowed my eyes. “I am well aware of what they call me.”

“Well, at first, that’s what I had to go on. That and you a little tipsy at the party.”

“I see your point.” Then, I softened. “So you thought about that conversation, and now you want to retire?”

“Yeah. Funny how things work out like that. When we win this game, I’ll have done what I came here to do - deliver a championship to New England. I’ve played football for 10 years now, and that’s just professionally. Most guys don’t get this far.”

I nodded.

“And luckily, I’ve got my health still. Most guys can’t say that after this many years. So, I’ve been thinking, now might be a good time to start the next step of my life.”

“Helping kids?”

Hud nodded. “I’ve made a good amount of money and I haven’t spent what I’ve made, so I don’t really need to work anymore. Might as well put my time to good use - lift kids up the same way it happened to me. Give them something to work toward.”

I felt the tears starting to form. “That sounds wonderful.”

Hud got a far away look in his eyes. “Yeah,” he whispered, “I think it’s gonna be pretty great.”

More comfortable silence after that.

“You’re ready for the game, right?”

“Mack, I stay ready.”

“I know, I know, but what’re you going to do about their rushing attack? They have a way of shaking linebackers off.”

Hud’s eyes widened. “Been doing a little studying up on the Seahawks in our spare time away from me, have we?”

“I do work for the team, Hud, and I know more about football than you think. My father and I have been going to the games since I was a kid.”

“I love it.” Hud looked thoughtful. “We’re going to stack the box - make Seattle throw the ball, take out the running game. Their receivers are a little suspect, and while their QB is pretty mobile, his accuracy goes way down if you get him running. So that’s what we’ll do.”

“Sounds like you’ve got this all figured out.”

“We’re ready, yeah.”

“Someone one said ‘everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face.’”

“I’ve heard that one before.”

“What’re you gonna do when you get punched in the face?”

Hud sat up slowly, and I sat up with him. I put my arms around his neck and he pulled me in for a long kiss. “I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do, Mack. I’m gonna get up, I’m gonna think about the girl I love sitting in the stands cheering me on, and then I’m gonna punch right back. We’re going to win this game.”

I barely heard anything after ‘girl I love,’ and for the life of me I had nothing else to say except “I love you too, Hud.”

Luckily Hud wasn’t in the mood for talking either.

CHAPTER 26 - HUDSON

The next few days went by in a whirlwind of practice, media stuff, big parties, and time spent naked with Mack.

I couldn’t complain.

Game day came faster than we thought, though, and before we knew it the team bus was pulling up at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

I got off the bus behind Drake and Lance, and we just stopped in our tracks, staring up at the giant stadium. We’d heard stories about it, but this was the first time any of us had seen it in person.

After a quick nudging from Coach Armstrong we went into the stadium, waiting outside the locker room before they let us in. I huddled up near Drake and Lance and we talked softly.

“You guys ready for this?” Drake asked, tugging at his collar. He was looking far more nervous than I expected. Sure, he had the least experience of all of us, but he also had the most natural bravado. I still remembered how he’d been in the fall during preseason, thinking he knew what was doing.

Lance was cool as a cucumber. “Yeah,” he said, like he was smoking a cigarette in between.
 

I nodded. “We got this far, man, that doesn’t just happen. We earned this, now it’s time to make the most of it.”

Drake jumped up and down, taking a fighting stance. “You right, you right. I’ll get there, man, just a little overwhelming is all.”

“I know the feeling.” Drake looked relieved. “It won’t go away.”

“It better, by game time.”

“Play through it.”

“It’s a big game, man, nerves. You know how it is.”

“I know. Nerves never go away, you just get used to them.”

Drake looked at me gratefully. “Yeah, man. You’re right.” Drake’s face clouded over, and he stepped in. “Listen, guys, I gotta say something.”

I held up my hand and Lance and I both shook our heads. “Save it, rookie. Tell us after we win.”

“But what if-“

I cut him off. “Shut the fuck up, rookie.”

Drake quieted down, nodding. “You right, you right,” I heard him whisper.

Lance watched us both, a serene smile on his face.

It was too much for me. Time to get ol’ Lance ready for the big stage.

I pushed Drake lightly out of the way and stood in front of Lance, looking down at him. I tapped him on the shoulder, getting his attention. “You ready for this shit, Parker?”

“Yeah, Hud, I’m ready,” Lance said, almost dreamily.

“Not good enough, Parker!” I shouted, then started punching him in the stomach. “I. Said. Are. You. Ready. For. This. Shit. Parker?”

“Fucking A’, I’m ready, Hud!” Lance shouted back, fire in his eyes for the first time.

“That’s what I want to hear!”

Drake was jumping up and down all around us, throwing his arms up and down. “Yeah! We got this shit!”

I whipped around till I was facing the entire team. “That’s fucking right, we got this shit,” I shouted, perking everyone up. “We’re gonna bring a championship home to New England, and fuck anyone that gets in our way!”

The entire team cheered.

I turned back to Drake and Lance but they were gone. I looked around and found them both with their girlfriends, Lily and Charlotte giving them last second advice and encouragement, and more than one kiss, too.

Lily was covering the game for ESPN, and Charlotte was in her trainer’s gear, ready to head out to the field and take care of her quarterback.

I sighed, happy that my brothers had found girls that were so perfect for them. I’d felt this way before about them, when I saw the four of them together, but this time it was different.

It was different because just then I caught Mack’s eye as she came down the hall, dressed her Patriots gear as usual. Even at a game like this, she couldn’t sit in the owner’s box, she had to sit with the fans.

I shook my head, smiling, and Mack winked at me as she passed. “Go get ‘em, Hud,” I heard her whisper. And just before she turned the corner, she blew me a kiss.

Things were gonna be alright after all.

I wanted to run to her, take her in my arms, and find some place we could be alone, but I didn’t have time for that right now.

It was almost time for the game.

We got into the locker room and started our pre-game routines. I settled back into my locker, dancing a bit in place to my music and getting ready. I put my pads on, laced up my shoes, and did a little meditation before we got up.

Drake sat in his locker, looking around, a big smile on his face. Lance was right next to him, his head leaning against his locker wall like he was fast asleep. He probably was, that asshole.

The clock wound down and we went out onto the field for warmups. The crowd was deafening - Patriots fans traveled well, but Seattle was closer, and so we were at a slight disadvantage in terms of sheer sound, but we were used to that by now.

The game started quickly after, and it was just like any other football game, but with more and longer commercial breaks - just the right time to relax.

The first half was a slugfest, both defenses coming out on top. Everyone at home likes to see big points put on the board, but championship games were usually pretty low scoring, and this was no exception.

We went into the half down three, still plenty of time to go, after the offenses had each only managed to put up 1 touchdown.

Coach Armstrong was grim but supportive during the break, pointing out the various breakdowns in coverage and mistakes on offense that were causing us problems.

We ran out of the tunnel back onto the field for the second half with a renewed sense of purpose - 30 more minutes of football and immortality could be ours.

Both offenses struggled in the second half, each team managing only just one more touchdown as the fourth quarter ticked down.

As I came onto the field, I saw that there were just over 20 minutes left, and we were still down 3. We’d have to get at turnover, or at least prevent Seattle from getting a first down. It was 3
^rd
and 5 to go.

I trudged out onto the field, listening for the defensive coordinator’s voice in my helmet and calling out assignments to the other guys as I passed by, touching each of them on the helmet and making eye contact.

We settled in for the play. It looked like another run play - Seattle’s bread and butter, and what we thought they would do. Just after the play went off, though, I saw a move by a receiver, something that I had seen in practice before, something the coaches had mentioned Seattle liked to do.

Fuck, they weren’t going to run it after all, even though that made the most sense. I had no idea what the fuck they were trying to do, but I wasn’t about to argue with them.

Sure enough, the running back faked getting the ball and moved into block, and the quarterback dropped back, scanning for a receiver.
 

He must not have found a read he liked because wavered in the pocket, looking around, and I jumped into action. and if I hadn’t seen what was developing a second earlier, I would have been out of position.

But fuck all that, I was RIGHT FUCKING THERE, and less than a second later I was barreling into the Seattle quarterback at full speed.

He never knew what hit him, and he went down like a cheap card table, the ball flying out of his hands. I ran after it and I felt the ball hit me right in the fingers, my hands moving back toward my chest in slow motion as I cradled that thing and pulled it in, holding on for dear life and I sprinted back toward the end zone.

I could dimly hear the crowd all around the stadium go ballistic, and the sound was so loud, when added to the rushing of the blood in my ears, that I didn’t know whether I could hear anything anymore, but I didn’t give a shit.

I ran as fast as I could, as fast as I ever had, as all of the Seattle players desperately tried to get in my way.

It was no use.

No one could stop Hudson Asher today.

I had blitzed the quarterback on the game’s most crucial play, stripped the ball, and scored a touchdown.

The clock hit all zeros.

Against all odds, we’d done it.

We’d won a championship for New England.

CHAPTER 27 - MACKENZIE

The earplugs I wore to games weren’t enough to quiet the roar of the crowd as Hudson Asher blitzed the quarterback and ran back into the end zone after stripping the ball, winning the game and the championship title for New England.

It was utter pandemonium in the stands. I was jumping up and down trying not to fall over in the narrow bleachers, my arms up I the air as I hugged everyone around me.

We all cheered and shouted for as long as we could, while the Seattle fans just sat there, numb, unable to comprehend what had happened.

In my shock and jubilation I whipped off my terrible disguise and started talking a mile a minute with the other fans.

“CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT WE JUST DID?!” I gushed.

“NO SHIT!” the guy next to me shouted back.

His wife gave me an odd look. “Aren’t you…the owner’s daughter? Mackenzie or something? Mayfield?”

“Oh, yeah, you got me.”

“OH SHIT!” the guy shouted. “We watched the entire game next to the owner’s daughter?!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t tell anyone.” We all laughed and hugged it out.

I couldn’t stay long, though, I had to get down to the field for the ceremony. I said my goodbyes and pulled out my field pass, getting onto the field and finding my father.

His eyes were filled with tears as he told me how much my mother would have wanted to be here for this - I assured him that she knew all about it, and I cried too, too happy for any more words.

They quickly set up the podium on the field as the streamers came down, and the commissioner came out and we all got on top for the presentation of the trophy. The players piled in too, Lance, Drake, Hud, all the rest of them behind my father and I.

The commissioner came out to lusty boos and I secretly wanted to join in on them. He presented the trophy to us, and I managed to hold it up for a few seconds - that thing was heavy!

My father spoke for a minute in front of the assembled crowd, talking about my mother and how much she loved each and every one of our players.

Then it was my turn, and I said a few words about New England, and how grateful we were to the fans for supporting us. Coach Armstrong came up and said some things in his gruff and monotone voice, but managed to crack what seemed like a joke, that everyone laughed at.