Page 12

Chapter 11

You’ve Been Caught

C oming out of the team meeting, sitting on an easel in the hallway, is a large black-framed whiteboard. On the top in large letters, it says, “You’ve Been Caught,” with a large fish hook wrapped around it. Cute. They’re playing off the fishing theme for the Tarpons. Underneath it, it says, “Welcome back, Tarpons! To kick off one of our new marketing initiatives, QOTD, make sure you stop and answer the question. What’s your favorite moment from the offseason? Remember, cameras are recording.” Standing next to the sign are the new people, Danica and Ross, and sure enough, a video camera stares us in the face as several of the guys pause to think about their answers.

“Well, that’s an easy one for me.” Reid grins at Bryan, who comes up next to him to see what the sign says. Then he smiles back at the camera. “My beautiful wife and I welcomed the most perfect daughter in the world. Doesn’t get much better than that,” he says proudly, rubbing his hand over his chest.

Bryan pats him on the back.

A few more of the guys join us, and we all stare at the question, trying to come up with an answer. I’m not sure being put on the spot will be easy for me, then again, if I have something to say, it might be.

The truth is, I really didn’t do much this offseason. I took the boat out, played with Vivi, and worked out. I didn’t go anywhere or do any home projects. I just took it easy and healed my body from last season.

“We all know what yours is, Brennen, those farm animals you bought,” Rico teases, and Bryan groans.

“Bro, you got farm animals?” J.J. asks, like that’s the craziest thing he’s ever heard. He’s not in our group chat, as he’s on the D-line as a defensive end.

“You should see them.” Rico grins. “His wife brought home goats and chickens. Brennen built a chicken run so they can travel from one part of the yard to another.”

The guys around us chuckle.

“You are never allowed over to my house again and just see if I bring you any of Lexi’s pies this season,” Bryan practically growls, and the guys all standing around us go from chuckling to laughing.

Rico throws up his hands. “Ain’t gotta go there, bro. It’s all just fun. Besides, you have an unlimited supply of eggs now, and who doesn’t want that? Eggs are expensive.”

“Fun for you,” he mumbles. Bryan does not like the farm animals. It’s been funny to hear his stories. “But yeah, the eggs have been nice. Lexi uses a lot of eggs when she bakes, so they really weren’t a bad investment.”

“Those goats are cute too,” Rico teases, bumping him in the arm.

“Do you want me to make your life difficult?” he asks. “Just answer the question.”

The guys around us chuckle again.

“My favorite thing was heading back home to Philadelphia to spend some time with my family. We rented a house out in the mountains and just chilled. My sister brought my nephews, we rented ATVs, rafted the river, and sat in the hot tub every night under the stars. It was the best.”

It sounds like it, and suddenly, I’m wondering why I didn’t do anything over the break. I could have gone to see Lance or my parents, but I didn’t.

“Spending time with family is the best,” says Darius. Darius married his high school sweetheart, and they have one son, with another baby on the way. If you ever want to see a man proud of his family, talk to Darius.

“For me, it was reconnecting with Sophie,” Jonah says. There’s a stupid grin on his face, as there should be. If anyone deserves to find some happiness, it’s him and Vivi.

“I bought a house,” Ryder chimes in, and we all turn to look at him. I guess his meeting with Coach didn’t last long.

“So that’s what you did with your signing bonus.” Rico pats him on the back.

Ryder is a rookie this year. First round of the draft, most teams know which direction the other teams are going to go, and we brought Ryder in after the Combine. The Tarpons wanted him and would have done whatever it took to get him.

“Yeah, it’s a bit of a fixer-upper, but I love working with my hands and building things,” he says.

“Working with your hands? I bet the ladies say that too,” Rico teases, and a few guys snicker, while a few others groan.

“Would you move along?” Sully says as he stands behind us, pushing Rico out of the way. “I swear, you are a menace.”

“I’m just speaking the truth!” He laughs as he turns to walk toward the locker room.

“What about you, Sully? What did you do during the offseason that was your favorite?” Bryan asks him.

Sully’s cheeks turn a little red, and all of us focus on him, wondering what he did. What did he do that he didn’t tell us about?

He clears his throat. “I did some hiking,” he mumbles as if this isn’t the juiciest tidbit.

“Hiking? Where?” Bryan asks.

Sully rubs his hand over the back of his neck and then stands a little taller. “Machu Picchu. I hiked the Inca Trail.”

“You did whhhhat?” Miles asks. Miles is a linebacker, and I find I’m surprised that even he doesn’t know. Our offensive team is pretty close. Not much happens that we all don’t know about, which makes me think of Lily. They don’t know about her, but it won’t be long before they do, and I grimace on the inside. It’s not that I’m embarrassed to have her there. I just know these clowns and they’ll make it into more than what it is. I don’t even know how long she plans on staying.

“I did the four-day Inca Trail hike. While I might be athletic, you won’t catch me doing a lot of what other people do. I’m a big guy.” He shrugs. “Hiking is perfect for me.”

“When did you go to Peru, and how did we not know about it?” Miles asks, looking at him suspiciously.

“I went during the week of Memorial Day.”

“Who did you go with?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest like he’s somehow offended that he wasn’t invited.

“I went by myself.”

Miles flinches. “What? Why?”

“Why not? I love to travel, the food there was amazing, and it was something I wanted to do for myself.”

“Did you know that Machu Picchu was never really the lost city of the Incas? It was abandoned after the Spanish invasion, but scholars have yet to find any mention of it in Inca literature. They don’t actually know who lived in the city that held seven hundred and fifty.”

“Camden, not now,” Miles says.

Camden is a walking encyclopedia. He continually amazes us with his intelligence and his athleticism. I’m certain if others knew, they wouldn’t think it’s fair that he was blessed with both brains and brawn.

“Do you do this a lot?” Bryan asks.

“Yes.”

Jaws drop all around us, but Bryan, being the captain he is, turns his gaze my way to pull the focus off Sully.

“What about you, Tyler?”

“Not much. Hung out with Jonah and Vivi, fished a lot, and spent some time with an old friend.” I can feel Jonah staring at me, but I refuse to look at him. If I do, I’m certain someone will pick up on it and then shit will hit the fan.

“You have friends outside of us?” Miles asks.

“You don’t?” I throw back at him.

“Not really,” he answers.

“Well, that’s just sad.” Sully shakes his head at him.

“Well, look at that. We all learned something new today,” Bryan says.

“And so did your fans,” Danica chimes in, and all our gazes snap to her. We totally forgot she was standing there. Poor Sully has an indescribable expression on his face as he looks at her, and then it’s gone. He gives her a smile, and then one to all of us.

“From the tree of silence hands the fruit of tranquility,” Sully says as he holds out his hands, spins around, and walks off.

None of us knows what he’s talking about.

“Maybe these clips won’t be so bad after all,” Ross says, grinning from ear to ear.