Change of Hart (25 page)

In the meantime, Jaxon would have to miss a couple days of school. We couldn’t guarantee the paparazzi wasn’t going to stake out his school and until we knew for sure, none of us felt comfortable letting him go. Same thing went for Addison’s work. We needed a couple days to assess exactly how strong all the interest in our story was before we could send everyone on their merry way. I was the only one of us that would continue with my schedule as normal. I didn’t like the idea of leaving them at the house alone, but Mick agreed to stay over for a few days, which made me feel better. And Adam reminded me that as long as I was here, there was a story. The sooner I left, the sooner the reporters did, too.

Finally, since everyone was clamoring to get to know her and Jaxon a little better, we’d let them. In a very, very controlled fashion. That meant Addison and Jaxon would be coming to my next home game . . . tomorrow night.

At first, Addison resisted the idea. But Judy reminded her that she wasn’t the average “new girlfriend of a player.” She was a recent widow, which made our relationship a “sensational” news story. It also meant the more mysterious she was, the more people would speculate what she was really like. And speculation just led to more curiosity. By attending the game, people could take as many pictures as they wanted of her and Jaxon. They could see she was just a normal mom raising a normal son. Yes, they would still analyze her hair and her clothes and what that look on her face meant. But analyzing from across the stadium was much different than analyzing from outside her front door.

Adam promised Addison he would send a car to pick her and Jaxon up and that security would walk them all the way to their seats and back. Any time Jaxon had to use the bathroom, security would go with them. Get hungry? Security goes with them. Want to leave early? Security goes with them.

Addison reluctantly agreed when Jax overheard and came running into the room, excited about going to a game on a school night.

So the plan of action was set in motion and I hoped it would make Addison feel more confident in her new role of “football player’s girlfriend”. As I got ready to leave, I tried to reassure her one more time that everyone would leave her alone soon. And that once they found out she was just as “boring” as she kept saying she was (her word, not mine), things would get back to normal. She tried smiling at me, but I could see she was still uncomfortable.

Jaxon merely waved over his shoulder when I went to head out the back door, still too excited by all the chaos outside. I was starting to wonder what kind of video they had of this little boy peeking out his front window for hours on end.

As I closed the back door behind me, I made my way down the driveway, past my car and straight to the reporters. Judy had given me the ok to answer a few questions about football. It was part of my job. But I was also hoping once they talked to me, it would help satisfy their appetite for a story.

“
Jason, is it true Addison Bryant’s husband was killed in a mysterious car accident?”

“How do you get along with her son?”

“Jason, when are you going to pop the question?”

Man. They had no conscience about the questions they asked, did they?

“Hey guys,” I started, trying to stay calmer than I felt on the inside. “I see you figured out where Addison lives.” There were a few chuckles from my audience. “We’re so flattered you guys find our story interesting. That’s really nice. But I am asking, as a personal favor to me, that you be respectful of the fact that a child lives here.”

“
We know. He’s been peeking through that window all day,”
someone replied.

I chuckled. “Yeah. That sounds about right. He is quite intrigued by all your equipment. I don’t know whose satellite truck that is, but he thinks that is the coolest thing ever.”

“Jason, there has been some speculation that you and Addison began dating before her husband died. What is your response to that?”

That is exactly the kind of rumor Addison was worried about. As much as I wanted to deck the big-nosed dude that asked me the question, I stayed cool. I didn’t want to make things worse.

“I would say that is a ridiculous speculation since we only met a couple months ago. You guys can expect a press release soon with a little more information. In the meantime, we have a game coming up tomorrow night if you have any questions about football.”

I was only asked a couple questions about the game, which is exactly what I expected. No one was here because they thought I would be. But it still seemed like a nice compromise . . . give the reporters a little and they back off a little.

At this point, I’d take what I could get.

Me: How’s it going so far today?

I hit send on my text to Addison and sat on the bench of the locker room, waiting for a response.

I had stayed up late last night watching all the news reports and internet updates to see if any more intrusive stories popped up. So far, with the exception of the one article and the media in the street, things were pretty quiet. But I still wanted to make sure.

Addison: There are still a couple people out there. Mostly it’s before the news starts when they are doing a live shot.

Me: Good. I’ve been worried.

Addison: ;) You’re sweet. I’m really glad Judy put that picture in the press release. I looked hot!

I chuckled.

Me: Yes, yes you were. And yes you are. Gotta go, babe. Pre-game meetings and interviews. See you at the game?

Addison: I’ll be wearing your number.

I smiled at the thought as I turned off my phone, put it in my locker and shut the door, ready to go to work.

Two hours later, we were on the field warming up and getting revved up for the game. Deuce was always really energetic before we played. Ran around like a fool talking to people, cracking jokes, meeting fans. Me? I had to get in the zone. Block everything else out. I didn’t think about anything or anyone except football.

Tonight was a small exception. It was the first time Addison was going to be here in the stadium during one of my games and I’d be lying if I said that didn’t excite me a little bit. So while I stayed in my football zone, I allowed myself to glance at the reserved seating area every once in a while. Just to see if they were here yet. I knew they’d probably come in a little late to avoid the crowd, but I was still anxious to see my girl, and my buddy, wearing my jersey and cheering me on.

“You ready for tonight?” Deuce asked as he jogged over to me with his normal pre-game bounce. “Monday Night Football, baby!”

“Yep,” I answered shortly, tossing the ball back to Dean McKenna, one of our practice team members.

“Hey, check it out man,” Deuce gestured toward the stands. “I got Judy to get me a reserved seating ticket at the last minute. My little preggo mamacita is feeling better, so we thought Addison might enjoy the company.”

Sure enough, as I looked over I saw Vanessa taking a seat right next to the ones we had for Addison and Jaxon. When she saw us looking, she blew a kiss at Deuce who pretended to catch it, kiss it, spike it like a football and dance around like he’d scored. Well, she was pregnant so I guess technically he had scored.

“Thanks, man,” I said once he finally stopped dancing. “I really appreciate it.”

He smiled and started bouncing again. “Don’t worry about it. Anything for Addison,” he said as he jogged away. McKenna and I kept tossing the ball around until it was time to head back in the locker room and suit up.

Once we went through the normal pep talks and started heading toward the tunnel in all our pads and uniforms, the mood changed. As we came charging through the tunnel, the sound of the crowd was deafening. You could feel the excitement in the air. It was almost electric. Football fans were hard-core. Everywhere I looked there was blue and silver. Blue and silver pom-poms. Blue and silver foam fingers. Blue and silver face paint. There’s nothing like knowing that ninety-five percent of the people in a building this size were rooting you on, believing in you, counting on you. It was unreal.

As we ran across the field, I looked over at the reserved seats again. And there they were. My girl and my buddy. Cheering me on. With an excited smile on my face, I smacked the top of my helmet twice and pointed at them. I have no idea why I did that. It just sort of happened. But Jax pointed back at me, so I didn’t care if I looked like a lovesick idiot.

We made it halfway through the third quarter without a hitch. Their offense was good, but our defense was better. By the time the third quarter was winding down, we were ahead of the 49ers, 14 - 7. And that’s when it happened.

We were getting set up at the line of scrimmage when Brandon Gonzales, the linebacker I was supposed to get around, started talking shit about Addison.

“Did that fine piece of ass make it to the game, Hart?” he taunted as we got in position. “I saw all those pictures in the paper. I bet she’s a really good lay, isn’t she?”

“Shut up and play football, punk ass,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Single moms are the best.” I tried to stay focused on the plays being called around me but almost lost it when he said, “They’re so desperate, they suck cock like a fucking hoover.”

Thankfully, their quarterback yelled “hike” at that exact moment because I lost it. I lunged for that douchebag and threw him to the side like a ragdoll. Then I went after the quarterback in a rage.

He saw me coming and kept moving backwards, trying to find someone who was open. But he waited just a second too long. He launched the ball out of his hands and I reached up.

The rest seemed like slow motion. The ball tipped off my fingers and popped straight up in the air a couple of feet. Somehow, someway, it came down right in my arms. So I ran for the end zone.

The entire stadium erupted as the team cleared the bench and ran down the sidelines next to me. I looked around to make sure I wasn’t about to be tackled, but all I could see were a few of my teammates blocking for me as I ran. Thirty-seven yards later, the ref’s arms went up and I heard him yell, “TOUCHDOWN!”

The stadium erupted once again.

“YEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” I threw my head back and yelled as loud as I could in celebration. I started getting pounded on the back and head by my teammates whooping and hollering in congratulations.

I was a defensive player. I wasn’t ever supposed to touch the ball. But while my girl and my buddy were watching, I made a touchdown. Unreal.

So I did what any good player would do. I locked eyes with Addison, smacked my helmet twice and pointed at her. She pointed back.

As the offensive players made their way onto the field for the extra point, I happened to walk right past Gonzales.

“Talking shit about my girl,” I said, glaring at him as I pulled my helmet off my head. “How’d that work out for you?” I taunted with a smile on my face, turning away and running off the field before he could respond.

“It was so awesome, Jason!” Jaxon was jumping up and down when I got out of the elevator at the restaurant upstairs. “You smacked that ball and caught it and ran so fast and made a touchdown!” Like always, he was imitating all the motions as he said them, eliciting a smirk from the hostess.

“It
was
awesome,” I agreed. “I’ve never done that before! Can you believe it?”

His eyes widened as he looked at me. “Never?”

“Never.”

He turned to Addison, still bouncing. “Mom, did you hear that? That was Jason’s first touchdown!”

“I heard,” she said, smiling at him and then looking over to smile at me. “It was a really amazing play.”

“Thanks.” I stood there awkwardly. I really wanted to kiss her hello but I couldn’t with Jaxon standing right there. I wasn’t quite sure what do to. She decided for me when she reached up on her toes and kissed me on the cheek.

“It seems those extra workouts overnight did the trick,” she whispered seductively in my ear.

I leaned back to look her in the eyes and smiled. “I’ll have to schedule a few more of those. You know, for football.”