Page 74 of Everything's Better With You
“Coach! Have you seen this?”
Damontae brought his phone over and handed it to Leslie.
“What am I looking at?”
Randy and Sandy crowded in and they tried to shade the phone so they could see.
“It’s on Instagram and TikTok live and they’re doing stunts. They’ve got their crowdfunding link up and if they get to certain levels, they’ll keep doing more difficult stunts.”
“Aw, how cute,” Randy said and Leslie elbowed him. “What? They aren’t going to catch us after the calendars and the concessions in Kansas City.”
They’d really hit the jackpot with the charity calendar. He’d gotten twelve of his former NFL pals to send him shots and so each month featured different Greenvale players and the NFL player. It helped that one of Leslie’s pals at the network shared early pics with the morning show and a deluge of pre-orders had come in. Sandy was trying to keep on top of the printer to make sure they could meet demand. It also helped that the players had gone all out. Some were in formal dress with tuxedos and sports cars, others shirtless with kittens and puppies, all the sprinkles of awesome that would ensure its success.
“They’ve already got fifteen thousand dollars raised. They’re also doing dance routines for each ten thousand raised. Coach Judd said if they get to fifty thousand in the first twelve hours, he’ll dance.”
God, Leslie would love to see that. Watching Joe’s YouTube channel was his secret obsession. If Joe ever found out how many times he’d watched certain videos on there, he’d probably question the claim he’d made the night before.
Leslie would have been fist-pumping thrilled after their late-nightsession, but he still couldn’t believe Joe was really going all in. He worried about Joe leaving for the weekend. It was different for Leslie; he could meet his NFL and network obligations knowing full well his place was at Greenvale, and he was happy about that. But what if the job offers came pouring in for Joe? He was younger, still in great shape, could still do his sport/art. Leslie was physically done, a situation that was getting more real each day.
He’d met with his doctor over video conference the day before and his doctor had confirmed it was time, that he couldn’t put off the knee replacements any longer. He was young for a full replacement, but the tweak he’d done the previous week put bone-on-bone and the doctor feared he’d fracture it if he didn’t take care of it now. They were going to schedule it after the first of the year, before he needed to start working on the next year’s team. He was forbidden from running, so it was definitely time to get the pool back in order. Leslie didn’t have the body he’d had when he was playing, but he hadn’t let himself go. He liked being in shape, but wasn’t willing to work as hard as he’d need to for an eight pack…or even four or six…or those V lines…
Which led his thoughts back to Joe.
His cheeks got red just thinking about what they’d done the night before. Leslie wasn’t a total prude when it came to sex even though he’d been raised under pretty conservative beliefs about sex and relationships. He had a vivid imagination and desires like a lot of people, but the act was often hard for him. He worried so much it affected his performance, but not with Joe. Joe had this way of talking him through everything that didn’t feel weird or forced, it felt natural. Like his own personal sex coach.
Leslie laughed out loud and then realized his coaching staff were all staring at him.
“We gotta do something. If they win—”
“They’re not going to win,” Leslie said. But he was having a hard time not whipping out his credit card to make a donation in order to see Joe dance. Would it count if he used his own funds for the cheerleaders and not football? God, he was a mess.
“Hey, how about we do an all-sport Olympics?” Damontae asked. “Like a series of events like push-ups, races, tug-of-war, an obstaclecourse… We get sponsors and the money goes to the winner’s team for each event.”
“Sounds great. Really great, actually. Damontae, would you be willing to work with Sandy to get it set up?” Leslie asked. Because as much as he wanted to win the fundraising challenge, he wanted his damn team to win their game next week. He was trying to have perspective about the trip he had to take this weekend…he didn’t have any more focus to give to fundraising. He’d had to learn how to delegate when he took his first coaching job, and now that knowledge would serve him well.
“Sure, Coach. Whatever you need.”
They shook hands. “Sandy will handle the sponsors, won’t you, Brother Sandy?”
Sandy blinked. “Suuuure, Brother Leslie. I’ll get right on that as soon as you give me some ideas.”
They shared a look and Sandy appeared to want to say more.
“If there’s nothing else? Can we get back to getting this team ready for next week?”
Randy frowned at him too, but Leslie didn’t have time for any more distractions. He moved away from them on the sidelines to watch his special teams working out, and his phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Hello?”
“Coach Payton? It’s Malcolm Darling,Timemagazine. We had an appointment today. Is this a good time?”
Leslie chuckled. “As good a time as any, I suppose.”More distractions.
“Great. I wanted to check in first and see how things are going with the team? Great start to your season but a rough week last week.”
Leslie pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah. When you’ve got a young team, you have those off nights. These kids have been giving their all despite all of the chaos on campus and we just couldn’t score last week.”
“Your quarterback particularly suffered from the lack of offensive coverage. Was he injured?”
