Change of Hart (5 page)

“Hi, Mr. Hart,” she said. “I’m Addison Bryant. It’s really nice of you to invite us here.”

I grabbed her soft hand and smiled back, trying to keep my cool and praying I didn’t look like a stupid tongue-tied teenager. She didn’t seem to notice so I think I covered it well. “Thanks for coming, Mrs. Bryant. But please call me Jason. We’re not very formal around here.”

“Only if you call me Addison,” she said, her lips turned upward as she removed her hand from mine and tucked it in her back jeans pocket.

“Addison it is,” I said, still smiling. Damn. I’ve never seen a smile light up a face like that before. She looked like someone who enjoyed laughing a lot.
I could get used to being around that
, I thought to myself.

“Sorry he’s so . . . ,” she started, waving her hand in the direction of Jaxon who was still jumping up and down. This time he was talking animatedly to Ronald about something football-related. I wasn’t really sure what and didn’t really care at that moment.

“Nah, he’s fine,” I said with a chuckle. “Ronald is the most talkative and friendly man I’ve met in my life. I’m sure they’ll keep each other entertained for a while.”

She looked over as I said it and sure enough, Ronald was clearly just as engaged in the conversation as Jaxon was.

“Did you find the entrance ok?” I asked. Obviously she had since she was standing right in front of me. But I wanted a few more minutes to talk to her. I was intrigued by her and wanted to see if I could figure out why.

She shuffled in front of me. Clearly a little nervous. Could she be intrigued by me, too?

I quickly put the thought out of my brain. The woman had lost her husband and father of her son six months ago. There would be no intrigue on her end of it. So I chalked up the nerves to meeting her first professional football player.

“Oh, your directions were great,” she said. “Thanks for making sure Ronald knew we were coming. The last thing we needed was security thinking Jaxon was gonna make an unauthorized break for it. He’s been jumping around the hallway for ten minutes now.”

I grimaced. “Sorry about that. I was in the locker room and it’s a small hike to get over here from that side of the building.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she started, blushing just slightly. “I didn’t mean to imply that waiting was a problem. Jaxon can just be overwhelming sometimes.”

“I know what you meant. I just feel bad that I kept him waiting so long. Speaking of which. . . ,” I began, “Hey Jaxon! Are you ready to get this tour started?” I yelled in his direction. Jaxon turned and started running toward us.

“Yeah!” he yelled, bouncing on his toes. I could relate. Being in the stadium before a game always gave me enormous amounts of energy, too. “Are we going on the field first?”

I looked up at Addison, not for any other reason than to look at her. That’s when I noticed her clear hazel eyes. They were just so bright and . . . I don’t know, joyful, maybe?

“I thought we’d hit the locker room and trainers first. Maybe even see if my coaches are still in. If we want to get to the field through the tunnel, we need to be on that side of the building. Is that alright with you, Addison?”

I swear I saw her bat her eyelashes just slightly. “Sounds good to me,” she said softly.

“Then lead the way.” I motioned for them to start walking ahead of me. As they headed in the general direction of the locker room, I made no effort to hide that I was checking out her backside. A man could get used to seeing that every day. She wasn’t model skinny. Nope. She was the size of a normal woman. With some hips and quite a bit of junk in that trunk being shown off by some very flattering, sparkly jeans.
Nice
.

I heard a snicker off to my side and looked over to see Ronald watching my every move. I winked at him and smiled as I jogged to catch up to my guests.

An hour later, Jaxon had seen every square inch of the locker room and training room. He had met every single person in the building who happened to be on the training and coaching staff, as well as learned what every single piece of equipment does. He even stuck his feet in the ice bath, while my teammate Matt was sitting in it nursing a groin injury, because he wanted to see how cold it was. His conclusion? “That’s cooooold!”

The kid was like a hurricane. Except he didn’t leave any destruction behind. His energy was just contagious. I couldn’t help but wonder how Addison survived the energy overload all by herself. Which got me thinking about my own mom and wondering how she dealt with
my
energy overload when she was single. Because truth be told, Jaxon really did remind me a bit of myself at that age. Always curious about everything. Not afraid to ask questions. Never met a stranger. My poor mom. She needed a bigger bouquet of flowers on Mother’s Day next year. The biggest one the florist could make her. And maybe a trip to Hawaii.

As soon as Jaxon had seen everything and talked to everyone, we found the tunnel. He wanted us all to run through it together as we headed toward the field. So we did. Jaxon threw his little fists up in the air and yelled, “GO COWBOYS!” the entire way. It made Addison and I both laugh. He, of course, beat us out to the field with Addison a close second. I could have smoked them both. But I’ve seen the view down the tunnel before. The view from behind Addison was much better.

Jaxon marveled at all the seats in the stadium and how big it was. Then we tossed the football around until he started to get bored. Maybe bored isn’t the right word. Distracted is more like it.

“What’s that guy doing over there, Jason?” he asked me, staring at one of the maintenance people. Eli looked up from his project right then and I waved in his direction.

“Looks like he’s painting the goalposts, buddy. Making sure everything looks nice for tomorrow.”

“Can I go watch him?” Jaxon asked, staring at Addison with wide eyes.

“Um . . . ,” she stammered, looking over at me like she wasn’t sure what the right answer was.

I smiled. “Sure you can, Jax. Just don’t touch anything.”

“And don’t bother him for long!” Addison yelled after him as he took off down the field. But he was already so far away, he either didn’t hear her or just chose not to respond.

Addison and I looked at each other and started meandering toward the goal posts, which were a good seventy-five yards away. I was kind of glad Jaxon left us by ourselves. And not just because she was hot. Turns out, she was witty and smart and had a great sense of humor. We’d had a lot of fun during the tour and I was interested in getting to know her better.

“Thanks again for inviting us,” Addison said shyly. “He’s really having a great time.”

“Well, he’s a great kid,” I smiled back at her. “I enjoy spending time with him. Kind of reminds of myself when I was his age.”

Addison laughed. “Oh, your poor mother!”

“I don’t know how either of you do it as single moms,” I said. “I’ve heard raising kids is hard. But I can’t imagine raising boys with so much energy all by yourself.”

“I didn’t know your mom raised you alone.” She blushed. “I mean, it’s not like I know a whole lot about you. I don’t stalk you online or anything. I just . . . oh, geez . . . you know. You’re on the news a lot so I just see things here and there.”

There was that nervousness again. I liked seeing her blush. “Yeah, I’m on the news more often than I like. But what can I do? I chose the job and everything that goes with it.”

“Did your parents get a divorce, or . . . ,” her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry, I’m getting really personal. You don’t have to tell me.”

“No, no,” I said, trying to reassure her. “It’s actually kind of funny.”

Addison looked at me with those bright hazel eyes again. Damn, she was beautiful. “Well, not ‘ha ha’ funny. Just kind of ironic.”

“How so?”

“My dad actually died when I was a kid,” I said, glancing over at Jaxon and Eli, happily conversing about, well, whatever Jaxon was interested in at the moment.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Addison said, knowing first-hand the difficulties. “How old were you?”

“I was eight,” I said, my gaze dropping to the grass in front of me, memories coming back as we walked. “Car accident. Just like Jaxon’s dad. I’m actually surprised he didn’t tell you about it. We had a whole conversation about it after the pep rally.”

I looked over at Addison, whose eyebrows were raised. “Wow,” she said. “I’m surprised, too. He usually tells me just about everything about . . . well . . . everything. That is ironic, though. Is that why you invited Jaxon here?”

I smiled sheepishly. “Partly. I still remember what that first year after losing my dad felt like, and it really sucked. I’m so grateful that I have an amazing uncle who kind of stepped into that roll. But it didn’t make me miss my dad any less.” I shrugged. “I figured if I could give Jaxon something to do that he’d really enjoy, something that his dad would have loved . . . I don’t know . . . maybe I could help make him not so sad
and
feel close to his dad at the same time.”

We stopped walking, still about ten yards away from the goalposts, and just looked at each other. I was worried that talking about her dead husband would make her sad or even tear up or something. But she didn’t. So I wasn’t quite sure how she was going to respond to my confession.

After a few seconds she finally spoke. “What’s the other part?”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“You said knowing how Jaxon feels is
partly
why you invited him. What’s the other part?”

I looked back over at the goalposts again. This was either gonna sound crazy or really sweet. I was hoping for the latter.

“I like him,” I shrugged and looked back at Addison. “I’ve met a lot of kids at different events over the years. But Jaxon and I just connect. Like we’re meant to be friends or something.”

I snorted, looking down at my feet. “That is the sappiest thing I have ever said in my life. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna need to do a few extra tackles to get my man-card back after that one,” I said, looking back up at Addison. She was smiling at me.

“If it’s ok with you, I’d love to hang out with him again. The invitation extends to you, too, obviously. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable or anything,” I said, trying not to sound desperate but knowing I didn’t really want to say goodbye to either one of them today.

The wide grin I saw when Addison first introduced herself came back. “I think he’d really like that. He could use a good male role model these days.” She turned and started walking toward Jaxon, with me right on her tail.

“Jax, it’s time to go, honey,” Addison said, walking the final few yards to where he was painting. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am,” Eli said nervously. “He said you wouldn’t mind if he helped paint.”

“No, it’s fine,” Addison said with a smile. Eli visibly relaxed. “I just hope he wasn’t bothering you while you were working.”

“Oh no!” Eli said with a smile. “I’ve got two boys of my own and five grandsons. I’m used to working around little men. Besides, he’s a pretty good painter!”

I looked over at Jaxon who was still painting, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth while he concentrated.

“Hey, Jaxon,” I said, “Buddy, your mom said it’s time to go.”

“I know,” he said, “but I’m not done.”

I looked over at Addison who rolled her eyes. Clearly this wasn’t the first time he’d ignored her instructions. I walked closer to Jaxon and squatted down in front of him. “Hey dude, I’m about to teach you something every man should know, ok?” That got his attention. He looked right at me.

“Ok,” he said quietly.

“When mom says it’s time to go, that means it’s time to go. Right then,” I took the paintbrush out of his hands and put it on the tarp next to him. “See, they don’t like having us men come along with them on errands. So if they’re taking us with them, that means it’s really, really important.”

Jaxon looked directly into my eyes. “Do you go with your mom when she says it’s time to go, too?”

I smiled. “Every single time, buddy. Even if I don’t want to. I
always
obey my mom.”

I looked over at Addison who had her arms crossed in front of her chest, a smirk on her face.

“Sorry, Mom,” Jaxon said. “I’m ready to go.” I stood up and put my hand on his shoulder. “Bye, Mr. Eli. Thanks for letting me paint.”

“Yeah, thanks Eli,” I said. “Hope there’s not too much to fix now.”

Eli laughed. “Oh no! He’s a good painter. You come back any time and help, Jaxon!”

Addison waved goodbye to Eli and the three of us made our way off the field, past security and into the parking lot, Jaxon resuming his normal chatter.

When the car was started and Jaxon was safely buckled in, Addison leaned against the car door, arms crossed in front of her, feet crossed at the ankles, smirking at me. I got a vibe from her that maybe she was more interested in me than I originally thought.

“Well, you are coming in handy already,” she flirted. At least, it looked like flirting. “I haven’t had him break away from an interesting activity without a fight since, well, I don’t even remember when.”

I chuckled and moved next to her, leaning against the car door and mimicking her pose. “There are certain things every man needs to teach a boy. How to respect your mother is one of them.”

“Well, I really appreciate it. I really appreciate you wanting to be his friend,” she said softly. “Just . . .”

“Just what?” I asked.

“Just make sure if you really want to be his friend, you will
always
be his friend,” she said, looking up at me. “I don’t wanna have to watch his little heart break again if another important man leaves him. And yes, I know his dad didn’t leave him. But the heartache is still painful.”

“I promise,” I said. “He’s a special kid. I think we can be good for each other.”

“Good,” she said, shoving off the car door. “Now that that’s settled, I think a certain little boy needs to go home and take a nap. Look at him,” she said, gesturing to the window. “He’s already nodding off.”

I turned around and saw Jaxon’s eyes rolling into the back of his head and his head bobbing. He was trying so hard to stay awake, it made me laugh. I turned back to Addison as she started to open her car door. I knew in my mind that it had only been six months since her husband had died. But my gut kept telling me she might be interested in me. Now was as good of a time as any to find out.