Change of Hart (10 page)

I waited all night for a response.

I never got one.

I
t was the second home game of the season. Jaxon was coming to the game this time. At least, last time I talked to Addison that was the plan.

I had tried reaching her a few times, but she never responded to my texts. So I had Adam email her all the details and instructions.

She responded to him.

I was looking for Jaxon in the stands as people started streaming into the bleachers when the coach blew the whistle for us to huddle up. I jogged over to the group, taking one last glance at the seats I had reserved. They were empty.

I felt a twinge of disappointment in my gut. But I brushed it off. I had a job to do now and it was time to concentrate.

“Ok boys,” Coach Ramiro said, “I know we have the home-field advantage today, but I don’t wanna see any showboating out there for the fans. Injuries happen, but you know how I feel about
dumb-ass
injuries.” I chuckled and slapped Deuce upside the head. He’d had a dumb-ass injury a couple years ago when he tried showing off for the fans. It was all over the news that night. From a coaching standpoint it was ridiculous. From a teammate/best friend/person-most-likely-to-make-fun-of-you standpoint, it meant hours of fun for me. “La Russo!” Coach yelled, “Get these guys warmed up!”

We all spread out and started our stretching regimen. I looked over in the stands again, mentally preparing to see the seats still empty. Instead, I saw Jaxon’s smiling face. Only Addison wasn’t with him. Mick was.

I smiled and sent a quick wave in their direction. I swear Jaxon’s whole body waved back in response, making me chuckle under my breath.

“Is that him?” Deuce asked me quietly through his legs.

“Yep.”

“Man, he’s got energy,” Deuce remarked.

I snorted. “You have no idea.”

For the next three hours, I thought about nothing but the game. Washington was looking really good this year and at one point it looked like they might be able to win. But they didn’t. We ended up edging them out by one touchdown for a final score of 21 - 14.

We didn’t usually stick around to talk to the fans, but with it being so close to the beginning of the season, and having just won, most of us took the time to sign some autographs and take some pictures. Even the coaches stuck around a little bit to interact with people, which I appreciated.

I made my way around the stadium, talking to people, before finally getting to Jaxon.

“Hey, dude,” I said with smile on my face, ruffling the top of his head as he hung over the security bar. “I’m glad you made it.” I reached up to Mick to shake his hand. “Nice to see you again, Mick. Did you guys have fun?”

“It was awesome!” Jaxon said, bouncing around again. “I got to watch an actual game! You tackled a lot of people!” he said wide-eyed.

I laughed. “Well that’s my job.”

“Thanks for the jerseys and hats and, well hell, all this crap, Jason,” Mick said, waving his hand in the direction of the bag. It looked pretty full. I’d have to thank Adam later. “I’ve got Addison’s jersey right here to take home to her.”

“I’m just glad they found you one, too, Mick,” I said with a smile. I was hoping he couldn’t pick up on my disappointment. I was looking forward to having Addison wearing my number. I’m not sure what it was about her wearing my jersey that got me so excited. The concept seemed a little primal and possessive. But I’m a guy. Sometimes I can’t help it.

“Can I wear it to school, Jason?” Jaxon asked. “I wanna show Mrs. Teske and Mrs. Miller. And that stupid Vincent Parker. He says we’re not friends. I wanna show him the jersey you got me!”

“I think you’re gonna have to ask your mom about that one, bud,” I said, flattered that it meant so much to him. “She’s the one that does laundry at your house.”

“
So this is the famous Jaxon,” Deuce said as he walked up to join us.

“Deuce Johnson!” Jaxon yelled. “You’re my favorite tight end! Do you remember that time . . .”

I tuned Jaxon out when he started telling Deuce all the plays he remembered seeing on TV. Instead, I turned to talk to Mick.

“I got us a reservation at the restaurant right here in the building,” I said to him. “In about a half hour from now, is that ok?”

“Aw, Jason,” he argued, “you don’t have to take us to eat. Why don’t you save your reservation for another day?”

I plastered a smile on my face, hoping he didn’t notice that I was kind of shocked he knew I was disappointed. “Nah. I’m starving and getting out of this parking lot is a nightmare after a game so I’d rather just eat here anyway.”

“Well, if you’re sure. I’m sure Jaxon would love to spend more time with you. He talks about you all the time.”

“He’s a really good kid, Mick,” I said. “Addison’s done a great job with him. I’m sure Austin did a great job with him, too.”

“Yeah, he loved his boy more than anything.” Mick’s face was suddenly sad. He paused for a few seconds and looked down at me. “But I appreciate you taking some time to get to know him. It means a lot to Addison for Jax to have some strong male role models in his life.”

I couldn’t be sure, but I got the distinct impression he was dropping hints in my direction. Before I could try and feel him out more, a voice that made me shudder came from my left.

“Do you boys mind if I ask a few questions?” April Gill asked. I looked over at Deuce who had his eyes narrowed in her direction.

I looked back at Mick. “Why don’t you guys head on and I’ll meet you over there after I’ve taken care of this.” He nodded and put an arm on Jaxon’s shoulder to lead him out.

“Wait! I actually wanted to ask you two some questions,” she said, waving a hand in their direction.

“Us?” Mick questioned.

“Yeah,” she said, turning her attention to Jaxon. “Aren’t you that little boy from the pep rally at Mountain Park Elementary?”

“No,” I said sharply.

“Are you sure, Jason?” she said, glaring at me. “He looks just like the kid that rushed the stage.”

“I said no,” I said again, getting angry this time.

“Okay,” Deuce said, stepping in front of me and grabbing April by the arm to lead her away. “I actually have some really great fans for you to interview over here . . .”

His voice trailed off as they walked away. I turned around and faced Mick. “Sorry about that. She is the resident snake in the grass,” I said, looking over at Deuce who was hamming it up with some female fans, probably college kids. He was gonna catch hell for that tonight. I owed him one - or twelve - once Vanessa was through with him. “I don’t think Addison would appreciate putting Jaxon in the limelight.”

“I appreciate it,” he said, turning to Jaxon. “Come on, Jax. Let’s head on over to the restaurant and wait for Jason there.”

“Ok,” Jaxon said. “Bye, Jason.”

“See you in a minute, buddy.”

I turned around as Deuce jogged back over to me. “There. In and out and I’m done. But you know I’m gonna get my ass kicked by my shortie tonight. I need to get her on the phone and give her a heads up.”

“Thanks for the deterrent,” I said as we made our way to the locker room. “Let me know if you need me to help talk her down.”

“I hope I get to her before that bitch starts the rumors. Things are bad enough as it is right now.”

“Is she still acting psycho?” I asked, pushing the locker room door open.

“Yep,” he said, dragging his jersey over his head and throwing it into the communal laundry basket. “Last night I thought I was helping by folding towels. Apparently I don’t fold them right. We fought about it for almost an hour.”

I started taking off all my pads and throwing them in my locker. “Did you ever think of just saying, ‘Yes, dear’ and letting her be right?”

“Man, with as much as she has been back and forth lately, I just snapped,” he said, sitting on the bench to unlace his cleats. “I knew I should have just let her be right, but I was so mad that I was trying to help and she went all La Diabla on me. Anyway, I don’t wanna talk about it anymore, it’s just pissing me off,” he said, stripping off the rest of his clothes and heading toward the shower. “Where are you going to eat? I’m starving.”

I stripped my shorts off, following after him. “I’m actually having an early dinner in the restaurant with Jaxon and his grandpa.”

“Oh, that’s right. He’s a cool kid,” Deuce said, already under the water. “I see why you like him.”

I turned on the spray and tensed just slightly as it gave me a quick blast of cold water before warming up. “He reminds me a lot of myself when I was his age.”

“Except I doubt you had his memory,” Deuce jabbed. “He probably remembered every single play I’ve ever made.”

I chuckled and ducked under the spray, cleaning off.

“I noticed his mom didn’t come this time. What’s her name again?”

“Addison,” I answered as I grabbed some shampoo.

“Addison, that’s right,” he said, rinsing the soap out of his hair. “What happened to her? Why didn’t she come?”

I stuck my face in the water, delaying my response. I was hoping Deuce would move on. He didn’t.

“Dude,” he said, “why didn’t Addison come?”

I looked over to see him looking right at me. “Why are you staring at me in the shower, you perv,” I said with a serious look on my face.

He stared back. “You’re not gonna distract me with a not-so-witty comment and your fake-ass media smile. Trouble in paradise? Already? What’d you do this time?

I dropped my head down and sighed. “I don’t know.”

I looked around and saw that no one was paying us any attention and the media hadn’t been let in yet, so while we finished up, I told him the whole story. Well, I didn’t tell him how I couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. I wanted to keep that to myself. Plus, if my body had any reaction to me thinking about it, showering with the team could get pretty awkward. That’s the last story we needed to be on the ten o’clock news.

“I don’t know what to tell you, man,” he said while we got dressed. “I’d say she sounds like more effort than she’s worth. But if you really feel it . . . I just don’t know.” His phone rang and he checked the screen. “Speaking of more effort than it’s worth, let’s hope Vanessa is in a better mood.” He swiped his finger across the screen. “Hello? Baby, baby, slow down, why are you screaming, what happened?”

I stopped what I was doing and turned to look at him, afraid something was wrong.

Deuce groaned and ran his free hand down his face. “Ugggghhhh, baby I was coming home to tell you about that before that skank whore spun the story to make me look bad. Fuck, man,” he said to me, moving the phone away from his mouth. “That bitch works quick. There are some choice pics already on the Channel 5 website. I gotta get out of here before the reporters show up. Yeah, baby, I’m listening,” he said, quickly moving the phone back to his mouth. “But you gotta stop screaming at me so I can tell you what really happened.” He shoved his wallet in his back pocket and slammed his locker door. “Babe, I promise it’s not what it looks like. You owe me more than one, douchebag,” he whispered to me on his way out the door.

He was in for a world of hurt when he got home. After getting dressed and doing a few locker room interviews, I headed toward the restaurant. On my way, I sent Adam a message asking him to send Vanessa a giant flower bouquet on my behalf, thanking her for understanding Deuce’s moronic way of keeping Jaxon out of the spotlight. Emphasis on the word “moronic”. She’d get a kick out of that.

When I got to the restaurant, Jaxon and Mick were waiting at the front.

“Hey guys, I’m sorry you had to wait. There were a few extra reporters I wasn’t expecting. I was hoping they’d let you have a seat before I got here.”

“It’s ok,” Mick said. “Jax and I were just checking out the view of the field from over here. He’s been pretty entertained watching all the maintenance people.”

“Pee-paw! That’s Mr. Eli,” Jax said, right on cue and pointing to the field. “I helped him paint that goalpost.”

“You did?” Mick replied. “Why I knew that was the best looking goalpost out there.”

Jaxon smiled and kept watching all the work happening down below.

“Why don’t we head to our table,” I suggested. “I’m starving.”

The three of us walked up to the hostess stand. She recognized me and seated us right away. The restaurant usually stayed open after the games, but only for executives and players like me who couldn’t wait the extra twenty minutes it took to get home to eat.

After we sat down and put in our drink orders, I looked over at Jaxon, excited about getting to talk to him a little more.

“So did you have a good time at the game?” I asked, leaning my elbows on the table.

“Yeah,” he said, looking down at his hands. He wasn’t at all like his usual bubbly self.

“Hey, buddy,” I said, leaning over and putting my hand on his shoulder, “What’s up? Are you feeling ok?”

He sighed a deep sigh for a little kid. When he looked up at me, his eyes looked so sad. “Why did you tell that lady I don’t go to Mountain Park? You said I wasn’t at the pep rally. But I was. Is it cause I cried at the pep rally?”

My head dropped in defeat. With just a couple sentences he broke my heart. Which I deserved. Apparently I had unknowingly already broken his.