Little Daisy

Coach Riggins

She's making supper when someone knocks.

"Nose goes!" Carden yells and Tim groans, not even bothering to try. He pulls the door open, revealing Smash.

"Hey Smash." Rae calls, leaning back to see him from the kitchen. "Are you eating with us?"

"Damn Riggins, you got a girl that cooks for you. How'd you set that up?" Smash asks, grinning and waving at Rae.

"What do you want, Smash?" Tim asks suspiciously, blocking the door so Smash can't get in.

"I wanted to talk to you. Have dinner." Smash nods towards Rae's general area. "Talk about how you're messing this team up."

"Oh, you mean the team that I'm not on?" Tim points out. Rae rolls her eyes and walks over to try and push Tim out of the way. He refuses to budge against Rae's shoving.

"Look, I got no fullback cause of your drunk, selfish ass." Smash accuses. "And we're having dinner tonight so I can talk some sense into you."

"Hope you like meatballs." Rae says cheerfully, still struggling against Tim's large frame to no result.

"Ooh, I love me some meatballs. You need help?" He offers, squeezing past Tim easily and following her to the kitchen.

"You can stir the gravy please." She says, smiling at him. Tim looks to Carden for some support. The teenager shrugs helplessly.

"What I'm saying is, Coach Taylor needs to see you take it up a notch." Smash insists, stabbing another meatball.

"I talked to coach, he said no, that's it, and it's out of my hands." Tim says flatly, arms folded, refusing to eat.

"So that's it, you just gonna give up?" Smash asks, squinting at him and gesturing with the speared meatball.

"I don't know what else to tell you." Tim says, shaking his head. "He said no." Carden and Rae are both watching in interest, as the boys go back and forth, like they're at tennis match.

"Look, look, we a lot different, you and me. Me? I'm the Smash, I'm primetime, I'm 24/7." He boasts.

"Right." Tim says, rolling his eyes, annoyed as always with Smash's big talk and bravo.

"And you? You that brooding, rough, whatever." He says, struggling for the right words. "Look, the point is, neither of us can be who we are without football. It's the keys to the ignition. Right Rae?" He asks, winking at her. She just raises her eyebrows, eating her meatball. "And if you don't fight for that, you're just wasting a whole lot of potential, that's all." He says, shrugging, Tim watches him, face unreadable. He blinks then gets up and kisses Rae's head. He disappears to the bathroom.

"Very cute speech. Touching, really." Rae compliments Smash. He looks at the bathroom door then at Rae.

"Is he gonna listen to me?" Smash asks her. She shrugs, taking another bite of her meatball.

"I love the kid, but fuck if I know." She says, laughing slightly.

"Darling, I love you." Rae says quietly as they watch a man wrestling with a calf and everyone around them cheers.

"What's the but?" He asks, taking a drink of his beer.

"But why are we here?" She says and he grins down at her.

"This is Texas, Rae. Rodeo and ribs and beer and football." He says, gesturing grandly to the stands full of people.

"I like none of those things." Rae reminds him and he gives her a look. "I'm just telling you things you already knew."