Unexpected Rush (Play-By-Play #11) (11 page)

“Sorry. It’s a community outreach program for at-risk teens. There’s a facility near the stadium that the team supports.”

“Oh, okay. I know that one well. Drake’s involved with it, too. He’s spoken there a few times. Great program. Are you giving a talk over there today?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Some of the kids are in a summer program, so I’m going to talk with them about sports—and grades. I figure if you talk about sports to them, they might actually listen to how important school and grades are.”

“That’s fantastic. I’d love to go with you. I know the coordinator there.”

“You do?”

“Yes. We went to college together. And we can grab some food while we’re out.”

He liked how she’d inserted the “we’ll eat together, too” part of the day. “Are you sure your schedule will allow that?”

Her lips curved. “Still trying to get away from me?”

“No. I just don’t want to make you late for any appointments.”

“Trust me, Barrett. I know exactly where I’m supposed to be at
any given time. I’ve got time for this. Plus, I want to see what you do with these kids.”

He shrugged, knowing he wasn’t going to get out of bringing her along. “Sure. Let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

More time with the seductress in her sweet dress, while he tried not to ogle her sexy legs in front of middle school kids.

Yeah, it’d be about as fun as a hard-on with no relief in sight.

Harmony knew she’d backed Barrett into a corner by inviting herself along to the community center. But she’d actually wanted to go. She hadn’t seen her friend Lachelle in a long time. Both of them had hefty schedules, plus Lachelle had eighteen-month-old twin boys, so trying to get a night out with her friend was nearly impossible these days.

So when she walked through the doors of the community center, she couldn’t help the smile on her face or the way she leaned into Barrett. She was so excited to see her friend.

“Lachelle and I were roommates freshman year at Florida State,” she said to Barrett as they waited at the front desk. “We became friends right away, and were inseparable through all our years of college together.”

Barrett grinned. “Like Drake and me.”

“Yes. Exactly like that. Though she majored in social work and
I did interior design. We didn’t exactly have sports in common like you and Drake did.”

“Your brother and I didn’t share the same major. Drake did media studies and I did political science. The difference in our majors had no effect on our friendship. I think Drake and I would have been friends even if we hadn’t had football in common.”

Harmony adored how much Barrett loved her brother. It was one of the things she admired the most about him. He was loyal to Drake, and Drake hadn’t experienced much in the way of loyalty and friendship growing up. There were the guys in gangs who had claimed to be his friends, who wanted him—no, more like coaxed him—to be a part of what they considered their brotherhood. To someone like Drake, who had been displaced and had grown up fatherless, that kind of male leadership had appealed.

Mama had told him absolutely not and had told him she’d kick his ass. Fortunately, he’d had football to focus on, to keep him honest and straight. Along with Mama, who had been fierce with her love as well as her discipline.

Once out of high school and into college, he’d had football, his studies and loyal friends like Barrett to keep him focused.

She was grateful.

“He’s lucky to have someone like you in his life.”

“I don’t know. I’ve always felt like the lucky one.”

Harmony got an inkling right then of why Barrett was so hesitant to do anything with her. Barrett had to know how protective Drake was over the family, and especially her. Barrett was also protective of his friendship with Drake and wouldn’t want to do anything to jeopardize it. And she’d never want to do that, either.

But he was also going to have to understand she was her own woman, with a life separate from her brother’s.

It was going to be a dilemma.

“Harmony.”

She turned to see Lachelle walking toward her. She didn’t know how her friend did it with everything going on in her life, but she was gorgeous, with her long black hair in dreads and her painted red lips and her long legs encased in a sunny copper dress. She looked as bright and beautiful as she had back in college.

“Girl, it has been too long,” Harmony said.

Harmony embraced her friend in a tight hug.

“I know,” Lachelle said. “Totally my fault. Between Davis and the twins and work, I’m buried. I’m so sorry I had to cancel our girls night out a few weeks ago.”

“Don’t even worry about it. Next time we’ll do a playdate on a Saturday with you and the kids. I want to see them anyway.”

“Sounds like a plan. And then we’ll leave the kids with Davis and we’ll go have margaritas.”

Harmony grinned. “An even better plan.”

Lachelle turned to Barrett. “I’m sorry, Barrett. It was rude of me to ignore you.”

Barrett gave Lachelle a wide smile. “Not a problem. I know better than to get in the way of two friends getting reacquainted.”

“This much is true. Anyway, I’m so glad you came today. The kids are so excited to see you.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing them.”

“Then let’s get started. Why don’t you head to the gym, and I’ll gather up the kids.”

Harmony went with Barrett into the gym. Bleachers were set up and Barrett had a podium with a built-in microphone.

“Nervous?” she asked.

He let out a short laugh. “No. I’ve done this before. And I like kids. They’re always honest and will tell you exactly what’s on their minds.”

She turned to face him. “So you prefer someone being forthright. Telling you what they want. What they’re thinking.”

“Yeah. Makes it easier, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely.”

She was about to tell him exactly what she wanted, but the doors opened and an influx of middle schoolers poured in.

Definitely not the right time. She stepped away so Barrett and Lachelle could take the podium.

Once all the kids had taken seats on the bleachers, Lachelle stepped up to the podium and the microphone.

“Good afternoon. As you know, we often have industry leaders and people who we feel can relate to what you’re all going through. Today, I’m so pleased to introduce Barrett Cassidy, a player with our own Tampa Bay Hawks.”

There was loud applause, and, Harmony noted, squeals from the girls.

She couldn’t blame them.

Barrett came out from behind the podium.

“I speak loud enough; I don’t think I’ll need the microphone.”

He got close to the kids and pulled out one of the metal chairs, sitting down in front of them.

“I’m not going to blow smoke up your asses and tell you all that I know what any of you have been through.”

Harmony looked over at Lachelle, who shrugged at Barrett’s use of profanity.

Whatever it took to reach them, she supposed.

“I didn’t grow up in poverty, or in foster care, or homeless, or in any of the situations I know many of you have faced. I know a lot of you are sports fans, so you know my family name. You know who my father is, who my brothers are, and where I come from. I had it easy growing up. I got to go to great schools and an amazing college here in Florida. But I’ve known a lot of my brothers on the
team who did grow up like you. And I learned a lot of my work ethic from them, as well as from my father, who did come from poverty. And he taught all of his sons to never take anything for granted. That it’s not just all about sports and money and how to make a quick buck. It’s about what’s in your head as much as it is what’s on the playing field.

“He taught all of us to pay attention, to learn, that using your head to get ahead is what’s most important. Does that make sense to any of you?”

He got a lot of nods.

“Look, I know it may seem easy to steal, or to want to use your bodies or your hands and feet in whatever way you can to make money. But it’s a temporary thing. If you want to be successful in life, the best way to do that is to use your brain. It’ll last a lot longer than your body will.”

“But that’s not what you did, is it?”

Harmony tracked the voice, someone on the far top tier of the bleachers.

Instead of calling out whoever said it, Barrett said, “You mean because I chose football as a career?”

There were a lot of nods and
yeah
s from the crowd.

“I can see why you’d think that. But if you look at my background, you’d also know that I graduated college with a 4.0 GPA. I graduated, unlike a lot of athletes, whose only desire in college is to see how fast they can get drafted into their professional sport. My degree is in political science. I know that my body will only last so long on the football field. I’ve known a lot of rookies who got injured their first or second years. Career-ending injuries, and all their dreams died on the football field. I’m smarter than that. I’m investing my earnings and I have a plan for my post-football career.

“It’s important to think beyond who you are today to what you can do with your life. You maybe started out your lives with disadvantages, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay down. You aren’t a product of your past any more than I am. I had a great upbringing and many advantages. So did a lot of athletes. I’ve seen a lot of those athletes piss away those advantages on drugs, bad investments and bad decisions. Bad decisions can cost you your future. You’re at the crossroads of your future right now. You’re in charge of your lives right here. Today. Good choices and smart thinking can turn your lives around. All you have to do is make smart decisions. No one can live your life for you or make those decisions for you.”

Harmony was so impressed. Barrett was doing an amazing job, letting these kids know that their futures were in their own hands, that they could do anything if they wanted to.

“He’s very good at this,” Lachelle whispered to her.

“Yes, he is.”

“You’d be surprised how many athletes come in here and talk smack to these kids about sports, and how they need to be physically fit and get out there and play ball and it’s all bs,” Lachelle said. “That’s not what they need to hear. They need to hear exactly what Barrett is telling them. To use their minds, to think about their futures.”

Lachelle was right. Harmony had been surrounded by plenty of troubled kids growing up. She wished some of them had heard Barrett’s speech. It might have saved a few from walking the wrong path.

Then again, she also believed in choice. And some of them were going to make the wrong choice no matter what.

Barrett took questions and there were a lot of them. He handled them all perfectly, and Lachelle stepped in and helped when
Barrett didn’t know the answers. Then he surprised all of them with tickets to one of the Hawks preseason games for them and their families. Everyone excitedly cheered.

It took Lachelle a while to get them settled down, especially since Barrett insisted on spending time chatting one-on-one with any of the kids who wanted to, which was quite a few of them.

But eventually Lachelle insisted it was time for the kids to go back to class, and Barrett reminded them to engage their brains. They all waved good-bye to him on their way out of the gym.

“I can’t tell you how much what you said will stick with some of these kids,” Lachelle said.

“I wish it would stick with all of them.”

Lachelle laid her hand on Barrett’s forearm. “You can’t save them all, Barrett. If you reach only a handful of them, it’ll be enough. Trust me.”

“Have you got a few minutes?” Lachelle asked Harmony. “I have a meeting in about a half hour, but I’ve got new pictures of the boys.”

“I wouldn’t miss seeing those. Providing Barrett has time.”

His lips curved. “I have time.”

“Awesome,” Lachelle said. “Follow me to my office.”

Harmony started moving, then realized she felt a little dizzy. It was awfully warm in the community center. She’d noticed it while she was listening to Barrett’s speech. She should probably mention it to Lachelle, but then again her friend was likely already aware of the glitchy AC system.