Page 45 of Waiting for Her

He continues to play around with the empty cup in his hand, starting to rip the paper into a long line like he’s peeling an apple. “This is kind of embarrassing but, he was kind of my idol. My mentor without knowing he was mentoring me. I looked up to him. I saw what kind of guy he was both on and off the field. I watched his old game tapes, even. I know, I know. It sounds creepy but I’m a Michigan boy, born and raised, and Grady Ryan was a bit of a household name. At least in ours, it was.”

“Aww.”

He blushes and rakes a hand through his sweaty hair. “Not aww. That makes me sound like I had a schoolgirl crush on him,” he jokes. “Obviously, it wasn’t like that. I recognized so much of myself in him. So when Bales came around, there was no question in my mind who I wanted to play for. Especially with Coach Ryan on the team. I kind of accepted their offer because I knew I would at least get to work with him in some capacity. When they announced he was replacing Bales, I kind of had a little freak out. In a good way, of course.”

“Back on the record now?”

“Sure.” He shrugs.

“Has he lived up to your expectations?”

His smile is wide. “Oh for sure, beyond them, actually. But you’re not hearing me. Iknoweverything there is to know about him.” He looks between my eyes like he’s trying to see if I’ll understand his meaning behind his words.

“What do you mean?”

“Fu… I mean…” he trails off, catching himself from cursing in front of me. It’s cute. He’s polite and seems like a sweet young man. He looks behind him and I follow his gaze to see Grady is still talking. He lowers his voice, leaning toward me. “I know what you mean to him.”

I jerk back, not expecting his words.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

I’m quiet for a bit. “That’s in the past,” I tell him.

He watches me and shakes his head, a boyish grin taking over his face. “Nah. It’s not.”

I swallow hard, not knowing what to make of this conversation.

“See, I know things I probably shouldn’t.”

“I don’t…” my voice gets caught in my throat.

“I’m making you uncomfortable. I’m sorry.”

I reach over and touch his hand. “No! No, I promise. You’re fine. I had no idea that anyone knew we once knew each other. And like I said, it’s all in the past. We’ve both moved on.”

“That’s not entirely the truth, now, is it?”

Biting my lip, I look at my lap. He gives me the time I need to process his last words. “I don’t know,” I finally admit, wondering how this interview turned into a counseling session.

“I’m sorry. I just thought you should know that I uh, know, I guess.”

“Yeah.” I really don’t know what else to say.

“For what it’s worth, I meant what I said. I don’t think it’s in the past at all.”

My shoulders lift on a shrug and I suck in a deep breath before blowing it out. “Well, for what it’s worth,” I pause and we share a smile, “between us, I hope you’re right.”

“Nice. I hoped so. Now, let’s get to the football stuff.”

I appreciate his easy transition and jump right into my line of questions. Maybe he’s more like Grady than I originally thought.

When we’re finished, we both stand and as I look around, I notice most of the players are off the field, presumably in the showers.

But when Izaak moves slightly, what I see behind him causes my breath to catch.

Kennedy is standing in front of Grady, whirly birds dancing in her eyes as she looks up at him with a bright smile on her face. She’s twirling her long blonde hair around her finger, her other hand lightly resting on his forearm crossed over his chest. Can she puff out her chest anymore? She’s practically shoving her boobs right in his face. Okay, none of that is true, but I can see from here she wants to. Wants his attention on her.

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