Carla played with his chest hair. Every touch from her small fingers or sharp nails gave him goose flesh. Football is a physical game. The players are touchy, feely, hugging, high-fiving, butt smacking men. Trunk envied his teammates who held hands with their wives, or draped arms around their shoulders or waists and kissed. He had wanted that with Mary, but she had refused any “PDA,” as she called it. No public displays of affection had been allowed.
Why hadn’t he asked her for a divorce? Even the loyal Al had contemplated it. He’d thought about it so often, he’d even gone to see a lawyer. But then he’d worried he’d crush her and humiliate her publicly, so he’d stopped. NFL stars don’t have much privacy.
At night, he’d prayed for her to love him, for the punishing coldness to stop. But
