Breaking Tackles: A Taking Flight Novel (14 page)

I laugh and start stretching. “None of that. Just trying to lose some weight and live a little healthier.”

“As should we all,” Sophie says. “I definitely need more green things in my diet.”

“We could get a juice instead of a coffee.”

“Are you sure you aren’t an alien robot?”

“One can never know for sure.”

“Touché,” Sophie says, smiling wryly. “All right, let’s get this run over with so I can caffeinate.”

An hour later, we’ve run, gotten our caffeine fixes, and are heading back to the dorm room as the tailgates are starting to be set up in front of the football stadium.

“Your parents are coming to the game today, right?” Sophie asks.

“Yep. The parents and my brothers.”

“The Family Narducci in its entirety,” Sophie says. “Y’all should swing by the
Maneater
’s tailgate.”

“I will for sure,” I say. “I’ll probably start there before going to tailgate with my family.”

“Okay,” Sophie says. “So maybe I’ll swing by your tailgate then.”

“You should. But bring Luke so that my brothers don’t hit on you too much.”

Sophie laughs and says, “Make sure you invite Kate. I’m sure she has to put in some face time at the sorority tailgate, but if you mention that your very single and eligible brothers will be there, you better believe she’ll show up.”

I roll my eyes, partly because anyone considering my brothers eligible is crazy to me, but mostly because imagining Kate with one of my brothers is laughable.

Actually, Ryan
does
have a thing for Korean girls.

I probably shouldn’t mention that to Kate because she would totally take advantage of my brother’s preference and, Lord, now that I’m thinking of it, they’d probably make a decent couple.

“What’s going on in your head?” Sophie asks.

“Hmm?”

“You’re making a disgusted face.”

I sigh and say, “Ryan likes Korean girls.”

Her eyebrows shoot up and she says, “Ryan and Kate. Sounds pretty good.”

I make a gagging noise in my throat and Sophie laughs before saying, “You know I’m going to milk this knowledge.”

“Please don’t.”

“Ryan is tall, dark, and handsome, right?”

“I guess,” I say through clenched teeth.

As she opens the door to the dorm, she smiles and says, “This is going to be fun.”

“Please do not set my favorite brother up with Kate.”

I groan as she pulls her phone out.

“Calm down, I’m texting Luke, not Kate.”

“Good.”

“But Kate is next.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t,” she says, as we take the stairs to our room. “You just don’t want Kate to sleep with your brother.”

“Ack!” I say, tripping up one of the stairs.

“Whoa, you’re really not okay with this. Sorry. I took it too far. My fault.”

I shake my head as I race past her up the stairs as a reply.

“Point taken,” Sophie says, as we walk into our room.

“You guys were already up and outside?” Willa asks from the couch as we walk in.

“Went for a run and to get coffee,” I say, handing her the drink we picked up for her.

“Thank you kindly,” she says, taking the cup. “And here I was thinking everyone else was still asleep. By the way,
ESPN College GameDay
starts in five.”

“Dibs on first shower,” I say, moving past Sophie to get there before she can beat me to it. I shower in under three minutes and race to my room to throw on the first clothes I see, sitting on the couch just as
GameDay
is starting.

“I’m pretty sure that was a showering and changing record,” Willa says.

“I like
GameDay
,” I say with a shrug.

“Is it going to be weird going to a Mizzou game that Adam isn’t playing in?”

The question catches me off guard. I’ve been to plenty of Mizzou games that Adam didn’t play in growing up. But more often than not, Adam would be somewhere in my vicinity, sitting near my family at the game. I realize that nearly all of my memories of going to games involve at least one of the Kistlers, actually.

And none of them will be here today.

“Actually, yeah,” I say. “It’s going to be really weird.”

“You doing okay?” Willa asks before taking a sip of her coffee.

“Yeah.”

“Courtney. Seriously.”

I turn my attention from the screaming mobs on
GameDay
and look at Willa, who is giving me the
yeah, right
face.

“I’m okay,” I say. “I miss Adam. A lot. I missed him over the summer, too, obviously, but for some reason being here without him is harder than being home without him. Which is weird since he’s been so involved in my life since I can remember.”

“Yeah, but when you’re at home, you’re with your family. When you’re here, you’re used to being with us and with him. Now that he isn’t here, I’m sure it feels like something huge is missing.”

“That’s exactly what it feels like. Does that ever go away?”

“Not really,” Willa says. “But you’ll find ways to adjust. And you have all of us. And me. I’m a wealth of long-distance relationship information.”

“Thanks, Willa.”

“Anytime,” she says warmly. “I promise I’ll shut up now so you can watch your sports show.”

As Willa and I fall silent, Sophie joins us after her shower and the three of us sit on the couch, watching four dudes in suits argue about college football.

“We are middle America’s wet dream right now,” Sophie says.

“What?” Willa says as I start laughing hysterically.

Because it’s true. Three college-aged women sitting on a couch on Saturday morning, silently watching
ESPN College GameDay
together.

“The only thing that would make it more true is if we were all in perfect hair and makeup and wearing teeny-tiny denim shorts and jerseys tied in a knot above our belly buttons,” Sophie says, making me laugh harder.

“No one really wears that anywhere, right?” Willa asks.

“I can assure you that they do,” I say, finally recovered from the laughter. “Hang around football players long enough and you see a little bit of everything.”

“Hmm,” Willa says. “To each their own, I guess.”

“Exactly,” Sophie says. “
I’m
not going to dress that way, but if someone wants to and she feels good about that decision, I won’t hold it against her.”

“While y’all are over there being good feminists, I’ll be over here silently judging,” I say.

“Says the girl with the NFL player-sized rock on her finger,” Sophie says.

“Oh, please,” I say, holding my hand up. “I did not have to reduce myself to land this sucker.”

Willa smiles wide at that and Sophie says, “Oh, we know. You are the rare breed of woman who doesn’t have to try to land NFL player-sized rocks. You are born to sweep football players off their feet, with your curves and your eyes and your encyclopedic knowledge of and actual interest in sports.”

“I tried,” I say in my defense. “I had to try for
years
. Like, literally my entire life to get Adam Kistler to notice me as more than the chubby girl from down the street. I didn’t succeed until I stopped talking to him and happened to run into him on campus three years later.”

“Well, notice you he did. He latched on and put a ring on it fast because he knew what he’d be losing if he didn’t snatch you up,” Sophie says.

I look at the ring. I’ve worn it every day for four months and I’m still not used to it. “It still doesn’t feel real.”

“That you’re engaged?” Willa asks.

“Yeah. I mean, I know I’m engaged. But the meaning behind it. The things that come with it. I guess I haven’t come to terms with all of it yet.”

“You’ll get there,” Willa says. “All things in their own time.”

“Right,” I say, still staring at my ring, wondering when all my things’ times will come.

Adam

“Yes!” I hear Montgomery yell from mid-field as the ball lands directly in my hands, as if it were a heat-seeking missile destined for me.

I started running from the fifty-yard line and caught the ball in the end zone.

Not too shabby.

I jog back to meet him and say, “I think that’s a hell yes.”

“It is,” he says, “But you know that the Bengals defense have been watching tape from last week and are going to be prepared for that play.”

“Yeah, I know,” I say. “But we know that we have it when the time comes.”

“That we do,” he says. “We should probably get showered and changed.”

We walk back to the locker room, where we have twenty minutes to get the sweat off ourselves and changed into suits. Because when you travel as a team, you need to look good, not be comfortable on the plane. It’s an old-school rule, and I think that teams still uphold it for tradition as much as the photo op. Everyone likes to see dudes in suits.

Or so Kate tells me.

When I get out of the shower, I take the opportunity to call Courtney before boarding the plane.

“Hey,” she yells into the phone. The sounds of tailgating are in the background. I haven’t tailgated in years, and the thought makes my heart twist with bittersweet nostalgia.

“Hey,” I say back, loudly, so that she can hear me.

“I thought you’d be on a plane by now.”

“Soon. I wanted to talk to you before then. Having fun?” I ask.

“Sure,” she says half-heartedly. “I just really miss you. It’s weird being here without you.”

“I miss you, too. Not to be a jerk by pointing this out, but you never tailgated with me before.”

“I know, but I always knew you were here. That I was going to watch you play. But now you’re not here. That’s weird.”

“Yeah,” I say. “My entire life is weird these days. The fact that I was just running passing drills with Jax Montgomery is weird. And that I’m playing as a starter for the New Orleans Saints is mega weird. But not being with you is what weirds me out the most.”

“Everything feels off without you on campus with me. I feel a little lost most of the time.”

Shit.

“I’m sorry.”

“For getting drafted and living the dream? Don’t apologize for that.”

I smile at that. Courtney is the best. I am the luckiest man ever.

“I love you.”

“I know,” she says. “And I love you, too. Now go win a game for me in Cincinnati.”

“Yes, ma’am. Have fun at the game today. Tell your family hello for me.”

“I will. Fly safe.”

“Bye, love.”

“Bye.”

I’ve been quiet the entire flight, and Deeks keeps asking me what’s wrong. I keep brushing him off with “Nothin’, man,” or “Just trying to get mentally prepared” but he knows me well enough already to know that’s bullshit.

“Rookie, if something is bothering you, best to get it off your chest before game time,” he says. “Otherwise you’re going to take that baggage into the game and none of us need that.”

“I just really miss Courtney. That’s all that’s bothering me.”

He smiles wryly and says, “Your hand not doing it for you anymore?”

“It’s not even like that,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I miss being around her. Telling her about my day. The way she automatically nestles against me on the couch. Hell, how her shampoo smells.”

“So that’s what it’s like to be in love,” he says.

“You don’t love Hilary?”

“We’ve only been dating for a little bit. I like the girl, but love? Nah.”

“Not looking for it?”

“It’ll happen when it happens,” he says. “But right now we need to figure out how to get you from focusing on your woman to focusing on your game.”

“I just feel like I need to do something for her. It seems like she’s having a hard time with the distance.”

“I’m guessing y’all video chat already.”

“Yeah,” I say. “With our schedules it’s not like I can surprise her by showing up at her dorm room.”

“You could during the break between preseason and regular season.”

“Won’t we be practicing?” I ask.

“Coach typically gives us a long weekend that week. Wants us to relax and recharge.”

“Really?”

“He has the past few seasons at least. No reason to think that he wouldn’t do it again this year.”

“Good to know,” I say, the wheels beginning to turn in my head.

“I thought you’d like it. Feel better now?”

“Yeah. I actually do.”

When we’re checked into the hotel, I head up to my room and pick up the phone.

“Adam!” my mom says cheerily into the phone.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Are you in Ohio?”

“Yeah, we just got to the hotel.”

“How’s everything?”

“Really nice,” I say, looking around the room, taking in the plush bedding and huge television. “But there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yep. But I need your help with something. I want to do something nice for Courtney when preseason is over and I have a free weekend.”

“Okay,” she says. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Well, that’s why I’m calling you. I was thinking maybe we could have a party of some sort? And I’ll surprise her with it?”

“Like an engagement party?” she asks, nearly breathless at the thought of party planning.

“Sure,” I say, laughing. “Something casual. Just friends and family.”

“I’ll let you take care of the guest list and I’ll take care of everything else. I’ll make sure your brothers are there. You’ll all have that week off, right?”

I laugh, knowing how much my mom loves when all three of her boys are at the house at the same time—it’s a rare treat for her these days.

“Yeah, we should all be off that week. The only reason they may not be able to make it would be if they have practice or something.”

“Well, I’ll call and figure out a way to get them here. I’m sure arrangements can be made.”

“Okay. Sorry I’m just springing this on you.”

“Nonsense,” she says. “This is what I’m here for.”

“To throw me and my fiancée parties?”

“Well. Among other things.”

I laugh again and say, “Thanks so much for your help, Mom.”

“Of course,” she says.

“Love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too. Now go settle in for the night and prepare for your game and I’ll get started on this surprise party.”

We say our good-byes and after hanging up, I turn on the television to watch the end of the Mizzou game, so I can feel, even at a distance, like I’m with Courtney.