Page 2 of The Game Plan
Reese tapped his gold helmet against Preston’s. “You had it. None of us were worried.”
He caught a glimpse of another member of the offensive line from the corner of his eye. “Isn’t that right, Donovan?”
Spenser Donovan, the Kings starting tight end, looked over at them. “Isn’t what right?”
“None of us were worried about Preston’s kick,” Reese replied.
Spenser shook his head. “Nah. Brookes has this kickin’ thing down.”
Preston shook his head and laughed.
“Hey, everyone,” Carter Davis, one of the Kings wide receivers, said as he joined their group. “Everyone is still down to come to the party on Tuesday, right?”
Oh shit, I forgot about that.
“Of course,” Spenser said. “Wouldn’t want to piss off the coach.”
Carter had married the coach’s daughter Amelia less than a month ago. As a wedding gift, Magnus had insisted on paying for the down payment for their new home and made his onlystipulation that Carter and Amelia throw a housewarming party so the team could celebrate with them.
Like the wedding wasn’t insane enough.
The whole team was at the wedding, and they partied hard that night. Reese barely remembered the next day or two afterwards.
“I’ll be there, for sure,” Reese replied, taking a swig of water from the bottle in his hands.
“Great,” Carter said, dabbing his face with a towel, sweat dripping down. “Don’t forget about weights that morning, too.”
“How can I forget when you always remind me?” Reese quipped, the group laughing as they followed Reese into the locker room.
Their coach, Magnus Fisher, stood in the middle of the room, waiting for everyone to file in.
Once everyone was in, Magnus said, “Hell of a job out there today, guys.”
Cheers filled the locker room, along with some yells and other sounds of celebration.
“All right, settle down,” he said, holding up a hand. “This one was tough, but we pulled it together to get the win.” He looked around the room, taking in the entire team. “Next week is a big one. Goin’ to need everyone’s head in the game so we can take down the Fortune and win the division. One game at a time. Who’s ready?”
The locker room exploded with cheers and yells, the energy in the room sending an adrenaline rush through Reese.
“Knoxville Kings on three!” Magnus shouted, putting his hand out. The entire room condensed on the coach, putting their hands out.
“One, two, three!”
“Knoxville Kings!”
Six a.m. on Tuesday morning,Reese walked into the weight room at Neyland Stadium. Even on their day off, a majority of the players were already there to work out.
“Mornin’, Vaughn.”
Reese turned to the voice.
“DJ,” he said, shaking his hand.
DJ Reed, the quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers, stood in front of him. The teams often worked out together before the college teams left for class, the professionals doing their best to mentor the young players.
“Working out early on your day off?” DJ asked, going back to the bench press.
“Yeah, can’t slack this close to the big game. Have one left to win before we get there.”