Page 22 of Me For You
When the ball was snapped, I was able to keep Dedric off Omiri, giving him time to throw the ball. Perfect pass down the field to McClain.
“That good enough for you?” I threw my hands up and he shot me a bird, catching the ball Coach tossed him so we could set up again. Unfortunately the minute we were on the line, my mind was back to Somee when Omiri used his hand to set the play instead of calling it out verbally. Before I could shake the thought, two defenders crossed and I gauged it wrong. I moved left and created a gap. Dedric plowed right through it with a clean hit that took Omiri down. He couldn’t get out of the way in time.
Fuck…
I jogged over to help him up and felt like shit. He went down harder than necessary since he didn’t see the hit coming.
“You’re slipping, Land. Don’t let Charles take that spot.” Dedric grinned, jogging backwards. Charles was the second string left tackle and damn sure not about to take my spot. Fuck that.
“My bad, O.”
He accepted my hand when I reached to help him up but stepped close to me so no one could hear what he was about to say.
“You need to get some shit off your chest?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“I just took three hits back to back. You’re not good, Land. What’s going on?”
My mind was in a million and one places. Mostly centered around how the hell I was going to manage keeping up with a six-year-old in the middle of playoffs. A six-year-old who had no desire to fit into my life. Then there was Somee, who I was willing to guarantee hated my entire existence but loved my sister enough to deal with me. I couldn’t get Somee out of my fucking head.
I was damn sure off my game but couldn’t tell my boy he’d just gotten knocked on his ass because I couldn’t stop thinking about a woman who was likely plotting my death at this very moment.
“Too much to explain right now. We can talk after practice.”
“Nah, fuck that. Talk…”
“That’s it for today. Weights and then you’re done. Parks, over here,” Coach yelled, cutting Omiri off.
“Let me go get this over with. I’ll get with you in a minute,” I mumbled, turning to jog toward Coach before Omiri could respond. When I stepped in front of Coach, he angled his head to the side and looked me over before speaking.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Parks?”
“Nothing, Coach, I’m good.”
“Then do you want to tell me why you practiced like shit today?”
I smirked because Coach just didn’t give a damn.
“Just distracted. I have a lot of personal stuff going on right now.”
“Your personal stuff doesn’t need to show up on the field. Hayes gets hurt at practice and we don’t have a QB.Yourjob is to make sure Hayes doesn’t get hurt. You didn’t do your gotdamn job today, Parks.”
I tugged my helmet off my head and tucked it under my arm, nodding stiffly. “Yeah, I know. It’s just one bad practice though. I’ll have my head in the game tomorrow.”
He stared at me for a minute longer before he relaxed. “Does your personal stuff have anything to do with something going viral?”
I grinned and shook my head. “No, it’s not that kinda personal stuff this time.”
“Good because you’re in a contract year and the owners don’t need a reason to consider a trade.”
My mood changed quickly. “That’s a conversation?”
I needed to know if the owners had my name on a list. I had gotten a decent amount of bad press over the past year but I showed up on the field. Every fucking time. I earned my salary, every penny. My name shouldn’t be attached to any discussions about a trade.
“Trades are always a conversation, Parks. This is a business that goes beyond love for the game when it comes to the owners. Their only loyalty is to how much money you guys bring in to line their pockets versus cost them. Bad press costs the franchise, Parks, and lately you’ve had a lot attached to you. Keep that in mind.”
He was right. The owners didn’t give a damn about us beyond filling seats. I could be replaced without much disruption to the program.
