Page 255 of His Hungry Wolf
“What does that mean? Have you been catching a lot of passes, or something?”
“Yeah, I play running back which means it’s my job to catch passes and run down the field. I’ve been doing it a lot.”
“Sounds great,” I said mustering as much enthusiasm as I could.
“You have no idea what that means, do you?”
“No, I do. Catching… Passing… The field is that big green thing with the stripes, right?”
Nero laughed. He had a nice laugh.
“Yes. That’s the field. I have an idea. You want to get to know me, right?”
“For professional purposes,” I made clear not wanting to lead him on.
He tried to hide his disappointment. It shouldn’t have, but him being disappointed about that gave me a charge.
“Right, for professional purposes. Then you should start by coming to watch a game.”
All of my fears about football players came rushing back.
“I don’t know.”
“You should. I can get you tickets. You can bring someone, maybe your boyfriend?” Nero asked hesitantly.
“Wasn’t my drunk ass trying to kiss you a couple of nights ago?”
“I remember something like that,” he said feeling good about himself.
“Then what makes you think I would have a boyfriend?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you have an open relationship or something. Guys do that sometimes, don’t they?”
“This guy doesn’t,” I said firmly.
“Good. Neither do I. I mean, not that it matters…”
“Not that it matters,” I confirmed.
“So, will you go? I could seat you next to my brother and his boyfriend?”
“Your brother has a boyfriend?” I asked surprised.
“Yeah. He’s pretty cool, too.”
“Who? Your brother or his boyfriend?”
“Both, actually. And my brother used to play football here so he could explain everything you need to know about the game.”
“So, your brother is an ex-football player who has a boyfriend.”
“We football players come in all types,” Nero said with a smile.
“I guess,” I said still trying to wrap my mind around that.
“So, are you coming?”
I thought about it for a second. Before I could decide, I heard myself say, “Yes”. My mouth had a mind of its own lately.