Tackled (Alpha Ballers #1) (23 page)

It was a perfect pass and a perfect catch. I looked down as I came down and the field was a different color.

I was in the end zone. It was a touchdown!

And then the world went black and I knew nothing anymore except that I was falling.

CHAPTER 27 - LILY

Drake went up for the catch after Lance Parker managed to evade that monstrous Eagles pass rush, and made a spectacular catch.

I nearly jumped out of my clothes I was so happy!

And then I saw the hit from the safety as he came back down. It was a vicious hit, and all the happiness and exultation I felt died in my throat.

Drake crumbled to the ground and didn’t move. The ball was still in his hands and ever hit the ground, which meant it was a touchdown, but immediately the referees signaled an injury time out and the Patriots medical team ran out onto the field to attend to him.

Oh shit, please let him be ok, please. Just as he was having the game of his life, and now he got injured? This just wasn’t fair!

I gripped my notebook in my hands till my knuckles turned white, not able to do anything and feeling totally inadequate because of it.

I wanted to run out there and help him, but I wasn’t a doctor. There was nothing I could do from here but send him my thoughts and will him to wake up, stand up, and keep playing.

It felt like nothing, but it was all I had.

The cameras focused on Drake lying on the ground as the TV stations went to commercial break. A production assistant ran through the media section, looking around frantically for someone.

When he saw me, he ran up and threw himself in front of me. “You’re Lily Pearson, right?” he said, breathlessly.

“Yes, that’s right. What’s up?”

He put his hands on my shoulders. “You gotta come with me, they want to do a live interview with you right now!”

“Wait, what? Who? Why? Me?”

“Come on, I’ll explain on the way, we gotta go now!” He turned around and beckoned me back toward where he came. “Let’s go!”

I put my notebook away and hurried after him, questions swirling in my head. What was going on?

“I’m with ESPN. The game announcers are big fans of your work and they want to do a live interview with you about Drake Rollins and his quest to make the team.”

Of course, that made sense. It felt a little strange to do an interview while the subject of my work was lying on the field not 200 feet from me, but that was the nature of sports.

The assistant hustled me through interview prep and handed me a mic, and less than a minute later I was on camera. Annie Ross was nowhere to be found.

“Lily Pearson, with us from the Boston Globe, has been following Drake Rollins ever since the dustup the two had on draft day,” said the announcer both to me and the viewing audience. “We’ve all followed along with her daily dispatches from Patriots training camp. She’s here with us live right now. Lily, can you tell us a little bit more about Drake Rollins’ story?”

“Well, Tony,” I started, feeling a little odd talking directly into a camera but addressing a specific person, “Drake Rollins had a rough camp to start with, only learning he was going to be a Patriot less than three days before the start of training camp. He didn’t even get the playbook in his hands till the day he showed up.”

“And how has his progress been since?”

“It’s been really great, Tony! You and everyone has seen how he performed in tonight’s game. 11 catches for 149 yards and now a touchdown, those are some impressive numbers for an undrafted free agent.”

“They certainly are. Looks like he’s still on the ground now, medical staff are attending to him. What do you think of his chances to make the team, assuming he’s not seriously injured?”

“Of course all of us down here hope that it’s nothing serious, but I’ve been speaking to the coaches and I get the impression after tonight’s game that Drake Rollins will in fact be a New England Patriot this year.” It felt so good to say that.

“That’s certainly great news, Lily. He’s had some off the field issues, the team isn’t concerned with that?”

“Of course the team was concerned, Tony. Any team might be when character concerns come up, and Drake certainly has had his. He’s been on point all through training camp, though. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit and I really get the impression he’s matured a lot since draft day and that he’s put that part of his life behind him.”

“A little quick to suggest he’s turned his entire life around, isn’t it?”

I smiled. “Yeah, it is, but that’s something the Patriots are known for, Tony. Players with huge egos and off the field issues come here and turn into model football players. Drake Rollins seems to have bought into the entire thing, and it’s really helped him out these last couple weeks.”

“You’ve spent a lot of time around Drake Rollins lately, you’ve had the unique opportunity to observe him. We’ve all heard and read the stories about his famous partying persona, can you tell us something more about the real Drake Rollins?”

I hesitated before answering, “Well, Tony, I’d say that Drake Rollins, the real Drake Rollins, is a much more complicated man than gossip columns would report. He’s got a huge heart and really loves playing football. Yeah, he’s had some demons in his past, but everyone has those. Drake’s were just more visible because he’s so good at what he does.”

I kept looking back and forth between the camera and the field where Drake lay. It felt almost wrong that I would be talking about Drake while he was unconscious, but just at that moment, I noticed that he was starting to stir.

I knew what I had to do. “Tony, thanks for the interview, but I gotta go.”

Then I tossed the microphone to the production assistant and ran onto the field.

In front of almost 67,000 people and millions on television.

CHAPTER 28 - DRAKE

It was an amazing dream. I was in front of a huge crowd, and then I caught the winning touchdown and the place just went insane.

Grown men were crying in the stands. Pregnant women around the world were naming their unborn sons ‘Drake.’ The Patriots were signing me to a gigantic contract right there on the field, and every sports and drink company was lined up after them to make me an offer and get my signature and hand over a giant check.

Yeah, it was an amazing dream, and in it, I had it all made.

But it was missing something.

I looked around, past all the cheering crowd, past the stacks of money as they piled up, past all the cheerleaders throwing themselves at me.

Then it hit me, all at once.

My dream was missing her.

Lily Pearson.

Where was she? It couldn’t be an amazing dream without her.

No, no this wouldn’t do. All my dreams needed to have Lily in them from now on.

I would have to wake up from this one and face reality. Because reality at least had Lily in it, even if it didn’t have as much money or fame.

Wake up, Drake.
 

Wake up.

Right.

Now.

I opened my eyes. Blurry at first.

And then the sound. Or, rather, the lack of sound. I had never been around a full stadium that was so quiet.

My eyes started focusing and there she was, looking down at me, with those big brown hopeful eyes of hers. I could get used to that look.

“Oh, Drake, you’re back!” Lily whispered.

“Heeeeeeeeyyyyy, there Lily.” It took a couple seconds before I could speak clearly. “You’re lookiiiinng mighty fiiiiine.”

She tapped me on the chest, smiling and laughing through the tears as they came down. “You big dummy, you scared me! Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

“Can you move your arms?” This came from someone else, clearly one of the medical guys from the team.

I moved my arms and then my legs, and a cheer went up from the crowd as they watched me, even from far away. Once the crowd knew there was no paralysis, the tough part was over.

“Can you stand?” Lily asked.

“Y-yeah, let’s do it. Help me up.” I paused for a second. “Wait.”

“What is it?” Lily’s voice was strained and concerned, fearing the worst.

“Before I get up, I gotta know. It was a touchdown, right?”

“Ugh, you are are the worst.” She punched me in the chest again, but through all the padding I barely felt it. “Help yourself get up, then, you big dummy. Yes, it was a touchdown.” But she was still smiling.

“Great. I thought so. First one with a new team feels the best.” I started to get up, struggling a bit at first, but then Lily was there to steady me, and I stood up, slowly.

The crowd went nuts, and once I was standing, still leaning on Lily’s shoulder on one side, and the medical guy’s on the other, I waved to them, turning around smiling.

The video monitors showed the hit, and it looked bad, but already I was feeling much, much better. I turned around and breathed in deep, savoring the moment, wanting to remember it as long as I could.

The medical guy stayed with us as we walked toward the sideline, but I leaned over and whispered to him and he stepped away. I was fine.

Lily was next to me and that was all I needed. I clung to her and she kept me up.

Like she had the entire time. We may have started off in a rocky place, but she had stood by me from the start, and I was eternally grateful.

I stopped walking, 10 yards before we hit the side. The crowd watched, and I could tell they were wondering if I was going to collapse again, after effects of the hit.

Instead, I turned to Lily, who looked at me with confusion, and I put my arms around her. The crowd went silent.

And then I kissed her, long and hard, on national TV. She melted into me, and I picked her up and pulled her close.

And then it was too loud to hear anything anymore.

CHAPTER 29 - LILY

That…was unexpected.

Over the next couple weeks, video of Drake kissing me was the biggest thing on the planet. The number of stories written about us eclipsed anything I could possibly have imagined.

We both became celebrities for a hot minute. Interviews, appearances on TV, the whole nine yards. Annie Ross got fired by ESPN - the worldwide leader in sports did not appreciate their on-air talent spreading slanderous rumors about other journalists out of petty jealousy.

It was a huge whirlwind, and I couldn’t believe it was happening to me. Drake took it all in stride, he was used to being in the public spotlight, but this was my first, well, second brush with notoriety.

Drake spent the first day or so convincing the world that it wasn’t a publicity stunt, but eventually people got the point - we were actually in love and now we didn’t have to hide it anymore.

Whoosh, just saying that still felt a little weird. Gonna take some time before I could wrap my head around it.

I was Drake Rollins’ girlfriend.

Damn. Me. Lily Pearson!

I never would have guessed this would happen in a thousand years, yet here we were.

Drake was standing in the parking lot as I entered. I got out of the car after parking in the familiar spot. Preseason was over and the final roster cuts had just been announced.

“Hey there,” he said, smiling as he took me into his arms and kissed me, deep and long.

“Hey yourself.”

“Is that anyway to greet a New England Patriot?”

I shoved him back a bit, but he barely moved. “Ugh, you’re going to be even worse now, aren’t you? Your ego didn’t really need a boost.”

“So much worse, Lily, you have no idea.”

“You’re lucky I like you.”

He frowned. “Like me? That’s all it is? I’m wounded.”

I stepped in close. “You’ll get over it. Maybe I like you a lot.”

“That’s a little bit better. We’ll have to work on that.”

So Drake was a New England Patriot for real now. The front office had decided that now was the right time to get out from under Mike Sampson’s contract, especially since he had pulled those holdout shenanigans instead of coming to camp on time.

That left a roster spot for their new #1 wide receiver, undrafted free agent Drake Rollins of Cal.

That had a nice ring to it.

My coverage of the Drake Rollins story was the biggest thing in sports journalism. I was back in Boston now that the preseason was over, but I had been assigned to cover the Patriots full time during the season.

It was going to be an interesting year - the team looked great and there were high expectations all around.

And I would spend it covering my favorite team.

Oh, and my boyfriend? He was on the team.

Cause, you know, Drake Rollins was my boyfriend.

In case I hadn’t made that part clear.

“You got some time off?”

“Yeah, last weekend before the season starts, everyone gets one last weekend to do whatever they want.”

I tugged at his belt, looking up at him. “And what do you want to do?”

Drake wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in and kissing me. “Lily, I don’t care what we do this weekend, as long as you don’t leave my sight.”

I was OK with that.

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