Page 89 of Player
Immediately, silence falls and the attention of all guests focuses on me.
"What are you studying at OMU?" Dixie's father asks me.
"Economics and business, sir."
"Good," he approves. "With that kind of background, you'll do well in our society."
Dixie answers for me, "He's a quarterback on the Jaguars, Dad. I doubt he intends to ever have a real job."
She gives me a cold look. OK, she's still mad at me, clearly my apologies weren't enough.
Then again, what did you expect? Did you think she would forgive everything just because you showed up at her door with a hopeful smile?
"Athletes have real careers, Dixie," her father points out. "You know that very well."
She shakes her head but doesn't add anything. Her grandmother addresses me. "Are you really aquarterback, young man?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Oh, call me Janine, I don't like being called 'ma'am', it makes me seem even older than I am."
"That's the highest-paid position on a team, Mama," comments one of the men present. "Usually. "
He looks a lot like Zachary, and I deduce they're probably brothers.
"I'm Nick," he introduces himself. "And I'm a football fan."
Immediately, Janine interjects, her expression and face very serious:
"You’re in Alabama, everyone is. But we take traditions very seriously in our family," she informs me, "but football is absolutely not allowed to intrude on our Thanksgiving day."
"Watching the games is forbidden," Venus whispers to me.
I think that football couldn't be further from my concerns today. If I'm here, it's for Dixie. I couldn't care less about missing the day's games.
The discussion picks up again around the table. Despite Janine's declaration, they talk a lot about football, and I get the impression that Dixie is bored to death.
I want to be alone with her, to make sure she's okay and that everything is good between us. But even after we've eaten dessert, it's impossible for me to approach her. Her two uncles weren't lying—they're deep fans of football and they've launched into a detailed analysis the leading schools in the Southeastern Conference, and who they think will qualify for the upcoming college football playoffs.
I respond politely, but my mind is elsewhere.
"Come on, you two, leave poor Player alone!" Liane interrupts. Dixie's mother gives me a warm smile that makes me feel at ease. "Dixie is in her room, first door on the right at the top of the stairs."
I nod and take off without another word. I easily find Dixie's room, her door is slightly ajar. I nudge it open, and the movement catches her attention.
I enter and close the door behind me, noticing a poster of constellations hanging on the back of it.
Dixie stares at me in silence. The tension between us intensifies again. If only she could feel how much I regret what happened between us and my attitude toward her.
"Your family is amazing," I say in a pitiful attempt to soften her up.
She frowns. "You came all this way just to talk about them?"
I shake my head and move closer to her. Her gaze doesn't leave mine, a glimmer of defiance shines in her eyes. A pale ray of late afternoon sunlight comes through the window, illuminating her skin.
I clench my fists harder in my pockets, afraid of doing something stupid. It would take so little for me to pull her against me and kiss her.
"Player..."
