Izzy Avery?

Why would Lexi think I was with Izzy? I can’t stand talking to her or about her. My heart sinks. Izzy wasn’t there, and Lexi knows it. Lexi wants nothing to do with you. Whatever excuses you have won’t be good enough.

As I continue to the elevator, I figure that Lexi is accusing me of being with Izzy to get me out of her life. I haven’t talked to Izzy since the night I saw her at the club with Lexi. Thoughts race through my mind as I wonder how Lexi could have gotten the idea that Izzy and I were together. I pull out my phone and dial Izzy’s number.

I hear it ring several times before Izzy picks up, “Hey, Brett, how’s my favorite baller?”

“Izzy,” I begin, treading cautiously. “Where were you New Year’s Eve?”

There’s a pause before she answers. “Well, let me think. I went to a few parties that night.”

“Where did you end up?”

“Oh, Brett, that’s not your business. Why? Are you thinking you and I should get together sometime?” She titters.

“Well, uh, not exactly. I thought maybe you had …” I trail off.

“I did end up at your apartment complex.” She giggles. “Actually, I had a lovely evening with Rudy Baxx. Ran into your little sports tart on my way out.”

My hand clenches my phone, and a crack splits the screen. That explains a lot. Rudy is a film director that lives on my floor. Lexi must have crossed paths with Izzy in the hall on the way to confront me. I sigh.

“You know, Brett, if you’re game, I’d love to pay you a visit again,” Izzy says, “you were always so attentive to my needs.”

“I don’t think so, Izzy.” I hang up the phone in disbelief. Lexi thinks that I spent the night with Izzy because she saw Izzy walking down the hallway? I text Hal. He’d help me out as an alibi.

I leave Lexi’s apartment building and head to practice, waiting for Hal to answer. But I get nothing.

The past week, the players on the team have been great. Some photographers had managed to get inside the parking lot every day. I’ve worn different things to throw them off. Since the leak, the guys have driven me to and from my car. But practice is going terribly. I’m off my game. I can’t stop thinking about Lexi and how the sex tapes have impacted her life. I feel stupid for losing my phone and not telling her.

I park my car outside and wait, hoping one of the guys spot me before a photographer does. To my surprise, Dion parks his car next to mine. He opens the passenger door. “Get in, Brett.”

I tuck my gym bag into the back seats of his Lamborghini.

“I’ll drop you off at the doors. I ran into Coach Dietrick. He says he saw a few people by the doors that look suspicious. He’s thinking of calling security.”

“Thanks,” I say as we drive. I pull out a wig and sunglasses.

“Damn boy, you got to wear that shit?” Dion looks at my wig in disgust.

“I’d never dream of wearing this normally.”

“Some of the boys have been noticing that you’re a little off your game, Brett,” Dion says in a serious tone.

“I know. We’re so close to getting to the Super Bowl, too.”

“No, man. You’re forgetting something. Lexi Driver has nothing to do with your job. We are as close to the Super Bowl now as we were before New Year’s.” He pulls up to the doors that lead to the team’s work out room and parks the car. “You need to remember something, Brett. If you are going to survive being a major player, you got to sort your priorities. Separate your romantic life from your professional life. When you’re on the field, Lexi isn’t there. Don’t think about your problems outside of the team. Think only about the team and what it’s going to take to get us to Super Bowl. Don’t worry about your personal problems. They’ll be waiting there for you to solve after you leave the locker room.”

“Right.” I chuckle nervously. I’m shocked that Dion is being encouraging toward me. I stretch my wig over my head and put my sunglasses on. “Thanks for the support, Dion.”

“It’s all right, boy. Just get your head in the game and the rest of your problems might solve themselves.”

“That’s good advice. I’ll focus on that. See ya in a bit.” I open the door and step out of the car. Quickly grabbing my bag, I race inside. The locker room is to the left of me, but I can see a couple of paps hanging about. Strangely, they are with Jade Stolt. Is Jade trying to make a quick buck here?

“You said he drove an Audi. There’s a couple of them in the lot. How do we know which is his?” asks a man next to Jade.

I restrain myself and calmly walk toward the locker rooms. As I turn with my back to them, I put my sunglasses up on my head. Wearing them inside would look suspicious. I can feel Jade’s eyes following me as I walk in the other direction.

“I heard that some of the players are giving him rides to practice,” Jade says. “If a different player goes and picks him up every day, the only thing we can do is watch every man that comes through those doors.”

“Are you sure there are no other entrances?” the man asks.

As I reach the locker room doors, their voices become muffled. But then I hear a voice booming behind me. Dietrick.

“Jade? What are you doing here? Games are Sundays,” Dietrick says. “I don’t like you ladies around during practice. You know that.”

“I’m taking some friends on a tour. I was also wondering if we could get a couple interviews or photos from today’s practice?” Jade replies in her sweetest tone. I pause a moment with my hand on the door handle. I know Dietrick isn’t going to fall for that nonsense.

“Get the hell out of here, Jade,” Dietrick shouts. “You know damn well that we wouldn’t be interested in photos and interviews. Stop trying to advance your career at such a sensitive time.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do,” Jade says defensively.

“Get out of here now or I will be sure to call your studio and let them know about your conduct.”

I open the door to the locker room and join my teammates. I pull off my wig.

“Stolt didn’t catch on to you, did she?” asks Deshawn.

“No, I don’t think so. Dietrick is giving her shit now, though.”

“Sure as hell what she deserves,” Phil, one of our starting linebackers says. “That girl has been all over social media stirring up crap. She seems determined to drag Lexi’s name through the mud. I don’t think Lexi will ever work in broadcasting again.”

Shit. “Why? What has Jade been saying?”

All the players around the room look at me. It dawns on Phil that telling me Jade’s scheming was a bad idea. They all stand in silence as they realize that I’ve not been searching the comments or video online.

Deshawn has a sympathetic look on his face and puts his arm around my shoulder. “Man, is that something you want to know before we head into practice? I mean, if today were a conditioning day and we were headed for some push-ups, I’d tell ya. But, you know Dietrick will be on your back this practice if you can’t stay focused.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” I start to get dressed.

“Let’s forget that mess and go out and play!” Phil yells. Everyone cheers. After we are all dressed, I place a football on the center bench. I know that I have to show them that I’m motivated to win, despite the media storm surrounding me.

“Gentlemen!” I call. “To forgetting all our personal problems and loving the game!” I place my hand out. “Who’s with me?”

All the guys outstretched their arms and pile their hands on top mine.

“GO, GO, BLAZERS!” We yell at the top of our lungs as we raise our arms into the air. We all rush out the locker room and onto the field to meet the coaches.

Practice goes horribly. I’m not landing my passes smoothly, nor am I doing plays swiftly. My kicks were terrible. Lexi, and the pain she is suffering is on my mind. She may never be in my arms again, but I still want her to know that I care for her and would never intentionally hurt her. At the end of practice, I glance over at Coach Dietrick. He gives me a nod, “Stick around the locker room,” he calls as the guys and I head in. Shit.

I take my shower and I don’t dawdle. I know Dietrick hates waiting. After quickly washing up, I throw on my towel and head to my locker. I pull my gym bag out and flop onto the bench. I lazily unfold my socks and begin to dress myself.

Deshawn sits next to me as the rest of the guys continue to get dressed around us. The pep we had before practice has evaporated. The atmosphere is demoralizing.

“Hey, Brett,” Deshawn says.

“Yeah,” I ask.

“You know, even if we don’t make Super Bowl you’re still ‘the Rock’ to us. Season was looking like it might go to shit with Dion out. But you still pulled us through, and now we’ve been playing better than ever. We haven’t seen chances for a Super Bowl in five years. That’s something to be proud of.”

“Thanks, Deshawn, I appreciate that. But you guys were great, too. You opened your hearts, you all gave me a fair chance to lead.”

“You’ll get it back.” He pats me on the back. “You can handle a lot of pressure.” He stands and wriggles into his shoes, “See ya tomorrow, Rock.”

I give a faint smile. As Deshawn leaves, Coach Dietrick walks in and stands next to the door. All the guys sense his presence right away and hastily get ready. They know Coach wants some words with me alone. After they empty the locker room, Dietrick approaches me. “You’ve had some rough practices. You need to put an end to it, Brett. The boys will lose faith in you.”

I sigh, “Coach, I hardly know what to do. I went on the field today with the intention of forgetting all the shit going on. I didn’t give Lexi much thought while I played,” I say, lying. “I feel out of my element.”

“I’m not buying, Brock. I’ve done this job for years. You think I don’t know when a man’s head is out of the game? You’re blowing the best chance you’ve ever had to becoming a household name. We got a couple games left. If we could win those, we can win Super Bowl.”

His words crush me. “I know you’re right. I don’t know how to shut her out. This isn’t like any other woman I’ve been with. Everything I see in the stadium reminds me of Lexi. Going to the locker room, looking at the sidelines. For the first couple of years as a player, that’s where Lexi was; at the sidelines and in the locker room. Heck, I remember her once having Dion sign a ball and she threw it into the crowd.”

Coach chuckles, “Yes, Lexi has a way of raring up the fans.”

“Thing is, I can’t throw out the sidelines, the locker room, or the cameras during a game. I’m so used to seeing her in those places, even when she’s not there, I end up thinking about her.” I can see by the look on Dietrick’s face that he doesn’t know what to tell me. The environment of the game lends as a reminder of Lexi. He can’t change that. No one can. He sits in thought for a moment, then he finally clears his throat.

“You are so close to Super Bowl right now. We all are. You can’t give up your lifelong dream over this. You’re forgetting something; win or lose, things may work out between you and Lexi. But if you don’t make it to Super Bowl because you can’t stop thinking about what happened, you’ll live to regret it. You’ll see yourself as a damn fool.”

I know he’s right. “But that doesn’t answer how I forget everything around me and focus.”

“We’ll think on it,” he says, reassuring me. “I’ll talk to the boys and the rest of the coaches until one of us thinks up a solution that might work.” He gives me a hard pat on the shoulder and leaves the room. I sit alone for several minutes. My muscles are seizing up, holding onto the fear growing in my core. How the hell do I solve this? I already saw Lexi, but she doesn’t want to talk. No matter how hard I try, she won’t give me an ear to smooth things over. I abruptly get up and begin pacing back and forth, trying to sooth myself. I need to think of a way to convince Lexi to sit and talk to me. Is there anyone I can send to see her; to explain how sorry I am? I hear the door open and shut. I whip around to see who has entered.

“I watched your practice today,” Hal says as he strolls in. “You were terrible.”

I crinkle my nose. I hadn’t seen him while I was playing. “Thanks for coming,” I say with a sarcastic look.

“Hey, you asked me to,” he reminds me. “And here I am. Dietrick’s words bring any inspiration?”

“Not much. Pressure is on now more than ever.”

“You play with your heart, Brett. But that heart is being run through the gutter. Most players play with their head and leave their emotional baggage at the door.”

“I know. Most times, I can. Maybe it’s because Lexi is usually at my games. Normally, I’d be catching up with her after practice. I can’t separate my personal life from my professional life. It’s strange. I was able to do it with the whole cockgate thing, with Izzy. But I can’t do it with Lexi. My job is about fulfilling my dreams, Hal. She is … well … she’s part of my dream now.”

“Aw. That’s sweet,” he says, joking.

“Shut up.”

“With the whole cockgate thing, you felt like you had something to prove to your fans,” Hal says, pondering. “The game reminded you of that. So, every day you came in, and you worked hard at showing your worth. The reward was respect. And you won it.”

“What are you saying? That I need to ‘win’ to get Lexi’s respect back? I don’t think she cares how the team does. If anything, I bet she’s hoping I’ll ruin my career.”

“That’s not what I’m suggesting at all. We need to create a reward for you to win. You play with your heart, Brett. We’re going to use that to our advantage.”

I furrow my brow, “Huh? How?”

“I heard some interesting news today. Lexi Driver has pretty much lost her job.”

“WHAT? Come on!” I pick up my gym bag and head toward the doors. “I’m heading down to EAN, that isn’t right.”

“But it could work in her favor and yours.”

I stop in my tracks and turn to face him, “How?”

Right now, they have Jade Stolt and Shonda Washington giving interviews. But what if we were to, I don’t know … refuse to give any interviews unless Lexi Driver were your interviewer? At first, the networks may not see it as a big deal. But if you keep winning game after game, the audience will be disappointed not to see any interview. At that point, we’ll make the information public; everyone will know that you refuse to give an interview unless Lexi conducts it. We’ll time that tidbit of information just before Super Bowl.”

My jaw hits the floor. “But what about the owners? It’s in my contract to give interviews. I can’t refuse to give interviews.”

“I’ve already talked to the team owners. They like my plan. Besides, you aren’t refusing all interviews outright. You’re refusing any that aren’t with Lexi. EAN won’t want to lose interviews with top players that make it to Super Bowl. Especially if the Blazers were to win the Super Bowl. You’d then become a shoe-in for MVP.”

It’s a brilliant plan. Nothing could motivate me to win more than this. “Hal, I’m glad I hired you. You’re a smart man,” I say, relieved. “You know how to manipulate a situation.”

He shrugs, “What can I say? It’s my job to make sure people like you.”