Chapter 3
2149 Words
CHAPTER 3
MILES
TRAINING CAMP…Training camp isn’t for the weak. It’s the hardest training I’ve ever done. During my first training camp, I threw up ten times. I underestimated it. But now I know.
Thankfully, today is over, and I’m stretching while some of the players are working one-on-one with their specialist coaches. I’m sitting in the field, talking to my other defensive players, when Ronnie Michaels walks up to me.
Ronnie is the general manager of the Chicago Grizzlies. He’s the one who positioned my trade last year. He’s the one who brought me into his office my first day on the team and said how much they wanted me. How much of an asset I would be to the team. I felt great until the draft happened, and they took a safety in the fifth round. Why do the Grizzlies need a third-string safety?
He sits down beside me. Ronnie’s one of those hands-on GMs, always telling you how he wouldn’t be where he is without the players. Which is nice to hear, and of course, in a roundabout way, it’s true. Without players, the league doesn’t exist, but there’ll never be a shortage of guys who want to play professional football.
“Great day today. That pick-six against Damon? f**k, man, everyone went crazy.”
I could say it’s like flag football out there right now. We’re not in pads yet and just running drills. The pick-six was nothing. But I’m going to take credit, because Cooper is one hell of a quarterback, and Damon Siska has some of the best hands in the league. So the fact I stopped them from scoring means I’m doing something right.
“Thanks. It was fun out there.”
“And that’s what it’s all about. Fun. Too much serious s**t in this league.”
Says the man who doesn’t have to fight for his position every year. The Grizzlies gave me a two-year contract. So in reality, I have to prove myself this year with the hopes they resign me.
“I can’t tell you again how happy we are that we were able to get you onto the Grizzlies. You’re going to do amazing things for us.” He claps me on the back and stands. “I have to go tell the Sportsverse reporter just that. Come over when you’re done, and I’ll introduce you to her.”
For a moment I freeze, not wanting to look in the direction he’s headed for fear of finding a short, feisty brunette with a scowl. Because if Bryce was hired at Sportsverse to cover the Grizzlies, I’m going to lose my ever-loving mind.
Thankfully, when I look up, a tall redhead is smiling at me. Ronnie’s already made his way over there, and he must say something about me because she waves and her smile grows. It would make my day if this woman were one of my fans and not the half of Chicago that thinks I’m a bust and past my prime.
After I finish stretching, I walk over to the press area where Ronnie is still talking to the redhead. With so much against me, I can’t pass up an opportunity for good press.
“Hi,” I say, and Ronnie turns to me, putting his hand on the back of my shoulder as if he’s presenting me.
“Miles. So glad you could cut your stretching a little short and talk to us. Let me introduce you to Shelly Breckles. She’s the point person for Sportsverse Magazine, and she covers the Grizzlies.”
I put my hand between us and her thin, smooth hand slides into my calloused one. “Nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine. I’m a Wolverine too, and I’ve been following you around ever since.”
“Really? You went to the University of Michigan too? What year?”
“Just a year behind you.”
“Really?” I can’t believe I don’t know her. I thought I knew everyone who wrote for the newspaper back then.
“Yeah, I had a talk radio show on campus where I’d go over the games. I was way too intimidated by you to ask you to be on it though. But here we are now.”
“Exactly, here we are now,” Ronnie says, clapping me on the back again. “I’m going to leave you two to catch up.”
We say our goodbyes, and my eyes follow him as he makes his way over to the fifth-round draft pick, Tre Brummer. A sour taste hits my tongue. He’s younger, faster, and was supposed to be drafted higher, except the i***t got into a bar fight, and now he’s been labeled as a troublemaker.
“So…” Shelly pulls my attention back to her. “I was so excited when you were traded to Chicago. I went out and bought your jersey. I already have some interesting articles and pieces to do about you that I’m pitching to my editor.”
“Why would you want to do that?” I shouldn’t ask the question, but why would I be important enough to have special pieces on me?
Her green eyes widen. “Are you kidding me? You’re like the underdog story of the year. You’re traded mid-year and the team you were on for years wins the Big Game? Don’t tell me you’re not upset about that. That you don’t feel like you have something to prove.”
Shit, this woman understands me.
“Yeah, I do, but the Kingsmen deserved to win. Lee Burrows is one hell of a quarterback.” Plus, he’s my friend.
“So is Cooper Rice, and he’s younger than Burrows. Analysts are saying this is his year, and with you on defense to stop the other teams, it’s a match made to get you guys to the Big Game. That’s all without even adding Damon Siska into the equation. You should be smiling, Miles.” She playfully pushes my shoulder and laughs.
“There have been a lot of teams with great players that never reached the championship game.”
She rocks back on her heels. “You’re one of those, are you?”
I arch an eyebrow. “One of?”
“Pessimist.”
I’m not sure that’s what I would say. I shrug. But I know better than to get my hopes up. Maybe this year they’ll want to trade me somewhere else just when we’re on a winning streak.
“I learned a long time ago to keep my expectations low.”
She laughs and hits me in the shoulder again. “Well, you have me on your side this year and I’m going to make sure everyone, including Ronnie and the whole coaching staff, know how good they have it with you as their first-string safety. Have faith in me, Miles Cavanaugh. You’re going to be the hottest commodity in the league by the year’s end.”
“That would be amazing. I’m usually underrated.” I smile at her.
“Exactly, but I could be president of your fan club. I love the way you play, the way you live your life away from the press, the way you take your physicality seriously with your workouts and watching what you put in your body.”
My ego soars with her words. Finally, someone on my side. Someone the complete opposite of Bryce and her nitpicky bullshit. “I can’t tell you how happy you just made me.”
She smiles wide. “I couldn’t wait to get down here this morning. I tried on, like, five outfits. My boyfriend is jealous, but he’s not really a sports guy, so he doesn’t understand how I’ve followed you your entire career and how anxious I was to meet you in person. I felt like those young girls who cry at the concert of their favorite boy band.” She laughs again.
I join in with her because I must be dreaming or lost in some other world because a sports reporter wants to scream from the rooftops how great of a player I am.
Fuck, maybe Chicago is exactly where I need to be.
* * *
Later that day, in the dorms where we stay during training camp, Damon and Cooper are playing some video game in the common area, so I sit in the chair next to them. I knew Damon Siska in college—we were teammates—so he made my adjustment to the Grizzlies a lot easier. Propped me up to the other players.
Cooper, on the other hand, I don’t know much about, except that some woman on a social media app fell in love with his looks and made these videos that went viral, and women all over the world fell in love with him. He’s been inundated with commercial deals and magazine covers over the past year. I’ve never been the “it” player, so I have to wonder how he handles all the fame, especially when it’s not even football-related.
“Say thank you,” Damon says, his thumbs moving on the controller, his eyes fixated at the screen.
“For?”
“I scored you a place at The Den.”
Cooper laughs. “s**t, man, did you start that name for the place?”
Neither of them look at each other while they’re talking, instead concentrating on the screen.
“Hell, no, man, but it’s really brilliant when you think about it. I mean Grizzlies and The Den?” Damon laughs.
“Is someone going to fill me in about what The Den is?” I ask.
“It’s our place on the North Side, by the Colts field.”
The Colts are one of Chicago’s baseball teams. The most-loved team on the North Side.
“People call where you live The Den?”
They glance at one another and laugh before concentrating back on the television.
“Tell me you get it, Cavanaugh?” Cooper says, his body twisting as though that can impact his game on the screen. “I know you’re, like, a straight arrow and s**t, but you do enjoy some of the advantages to being a pro football star, right?”
“Hell no, my bro doesn’t,” Damon says, his thumbs hammering on the buttons. “f**k you, Rice.”
Cooper smiles as he continues to win the video game.
“So how and why did you score me a place?” I ask.
“You’re in that short-term rental still with shitty furniture and an even shittier location. You’re not gonna meet any girls living where you are right now. So I pulled rank. After Creed retired, half the team put in bids for his floor.”
Cooper glances in my direction and laughs. “It’s a four-flat with a bar on the street level and a rooftop bar and bleachers that look onto the Colts’ field. It’s the top floor unit too. Premium. You really should thank him, because I heard some of the offers from other players were hard to pass up.”
“Then why did I get the place when I never even expressed any interest in wanting to live there?” I ask.
“Because, like I told Burrows, you’re under my wing here, and I’m not going to fail you like he did. f*****g bastard gets attached and lets you become a hermit?” Damon shakes his head like “how could he?” “We’re going out, and you’re going to enjoy your life for once. That means you live at The Den with Rice and me.” He drops his controller and walks away, pulling at his blond hair. “f**k this.”
Cooper laughs. “It’s just a game, man.”
Having known Damon since college, I’m familiar with his hatred for losing at anything. Back then, he would’ve broken something.
“So, how much is this coveted spot in The Den going to cost me?” I ask.
Damon recovers quickly and laughs. “Rematch, bastard.”
“It’s worth the cost,” Cooper says.
“So say thank you,” Damon insists, picking up his controller, along with Cooper, to play again.
“Thanks, I guess, but I don’t think I’m going to do the name justice.” I’m not the playboy type, even if I wish I were.
“I’m gonna make sure you do. And you’re welcome.” Damon smiles at me before his lips turn into a thin line and he puts on his game face to compete with Cooper.
Things are looking up. I wanted to find common ground with my teammates, and with Shelly at Sportsverse on my side, maybe this is my year.
I f*****g hope so.
- Writer
