I still wasn’t entirely sure that I was willing to do that, but this was me calling their bluff that I couldn’t get a meeting.
They sat in stunned silence for about ten seconds.
Then the explosion happened. Don was up out of his chair, yelling obscenities. Coach stood too but managed to direct his obvious frustrations at Don’s temper.
As they yelled at each other and yelled at me, I sat calmly in my chair and watched. After a couple of minutes, I stood, walked out of the office, and winked at Mary.
She laughed into her coffee mug. “See you next week, Emmett?”
I tapped the surface of her desk. “I don’t think so, Mary.”
Mary beckoned me closer. “Ned’s going to be back in town tonight. He’ll have VIP guests with him at all the training camp events.”
“All of them?” What a coward. If there was a crowd, he knew I wouldn’t approach him.
She nodded. “Every single one.”
My options were limited.
Every day in training camp, Ned waltzed through with his ugly sunglasses on, parading an endless line of celebrity guests along the field. He’d taken to using three security guards. The only good that came out of that was the locker room fodder it provided.
But I couldn’t come anywhere near him, and he knew it.
My agent was ready to have a meltdown because I refused to tell him what I planned to do.
So I kept my head down for those four weeks.
I did press. I practiced my ass off. I did endless hours of reps and routes with our new receivers and built the chemistry where I could. But in my head, there was a giant countdown clock over all of it.
Those were the moments I ordered things for Adaline.
She always thanked me as soon as she got them.
That tether to her, even for brief messages, kept me sane.
We were one week away from the season opener, and I thought I had all of it under control.
Or as much of it as I could, anyway.
Ned arrived at our last preseason practice before we’d travel to Green Bay for the first game of the season, but it was the first time I’d seen him without the entourage, without the fawning fans, without his full parcel of meatheads blocking anyone who came near him.
Coach and I were standing midfield, staring at the playbook.
“I don’t like how those would hold up against the blitz, though,” my offensive coordinator said, pointing at the page I was studying.
“Yeah, but if our blockers pull them to the right,” I said, “I can roll out to the left and get rid of the ball faster. Won’t matter as much if the pocket collapses.”
Coach nodded. “You’d have space to run too, if you needed it.”
“Five yards or less,” I said. “If we get caught on third and long, you know I’m not fast enough.”
My offensive coordinator laughed. “Your tall ass couldn’t sprint your way out of a paper bag if you got stuck.”
The guys around us laughed. I flipped off Darius when he mimicked the way I ran.
Ned was on the sidelines, and I eyed him underneath the brim of my hat.
Coach cleared his throat. “Not now, Ward.”
My OC looked between us. “Not now what?”
“Nothing,” I said, slapping him on the shoulder. We decided on a play, and Coach barked out his orders. I focused my attention on the task at hand, doing my best to keep Ned out of my mind for the time being. Coach was right. It wasn’t the right time.