Playing the Game

Chapter 8: Cowboys and Patriots

Chapter 8

Elizabeth stopped dead when she walked inside the old barn.

"You said no football." She groaned, glancing up at me.

"I said I wouldn't talk football. I made no promises about the decor." I shook my head. "You want a beer?" I asked, walking towards the mini fridge.

"Sure." Elizabeth replied, sitting down on the couch without hesitation. "You really like the Cowboys."

"Hell yeah I do." I grinned, tossing a beer towards her.

"Patriots all the way, baby." Elizabeth shrugged, opening up the bottle against the edge of the table.

I raised my eyebrows, impressed.

"I bet that's just because you like Tom Brady." I snorted. "All the girls think he's a babe."

"Excuse me. That jackass is a Republican born and bred, I have no interest in him. I like the Patriots because their on field dynamic is impressive and their defense is tight as hell." Elizabeth told me, sitting up slightly. "Don't demean me by saying I'll only like a team based on their quarterback."

"Damn." I laughed, taking a sip of the beer. "Thought you hated football."

"Just because I hate it doesn't mean I don't know it." Elizabeth shook her head. "Tell me this place."

I explained about owning the land that was on a ton of oil. And I told her how this barn used to be where my family lived a few generations back. My grandfather moved closer to the heart of the town but left this building standing. A few years ago my dad and I fixed it up into a little hang out spot but it sort of became my personal hideout.

"I like it. It has character." Elizabeth told me, taking a sip of her beer. "Ugh." She grimaced, looking down at the label. "Corona." She grimaced.

"You got a problem with my choice of drink? Damn, girl, can I do anything right?" I shook my head.

"Budweiser, man, Budweiser. What kind of football player drinks Corona?"

"A Texas football player, Elizabeth." I replied, holding up the bottle in a toast. "Deal with it."

"Guess I'm gonna have to." Elizabeth laughed, folding her legs up underneath her. "How's your sister?"

"She's fine. Mom and dad were upset with me for following her on her date." I rolled my eyes. "But whatever."

Elizabeth shook her head, reaching down to set the beer on the floor. "Maybe you shouldn't have stalked her and let her be." She suggested.

"Maybe, you should stay out of my business." I winked.

Elizabeth nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"Is that your natural hair color?" I asked curiously. "It's mesmerizing."

Elizabeth's eyes widened and I winced. I cannot believe I just said that.

"Yeah, all this chaos is natural." Elizabeth shrugged, waving her hands around her face. "My brother's the exact same way."

"You look nothing like either of your parents." I shook my head in amusement. "Genetics are funky."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at me.

"Yeah no shit I don't look like either of them." Elizabeth frowned. "I'm adopted."

My eyes widened. "Oh!"

Elizabeth laughed, picking up her beer again.

She seemed to talk a lot easier with a little bit of alcohol in her system.

But hey, I wasn't complaining.

"My parents wanted a big family but couldn't have kids of their own, so they adopted twins." Elizabeth explained.

"So where are you from?"

"I don't really know." Elizabeth shook her head. "My birth parents aren't alive anymore, that's all I know. But Tommy and I think we've got a little bit of African in us because our skin is darker than most, maybe Scottish because of the hair and freckles, maybe something in Asia because of the shape of our eyes, but we don't really know."

"That's fascinating."

"We've always planned to get genetically tested but I think we're both kinda scared it'll turn up some weird genetic disease or whatever." Elizabeth told me before taking another sip of her beer.

She was really talking away now.

But I liked it, I really did.

I'd tried so hard to get her to open up and here we were.

"What about you, what's your family's story?" Elizabeth suddenly asked.

"Ridiculously boring." I shook my head. "We were some of the first American settlers in Texas. Generations of farmers until my grandpa became a lawyer and my dad followed in his footsteps. Nothing fancy."

"I think family's with deep history are especially fascinating. Especially in the South."

"You think?"

"Yeah." Elizabeth nodded, wincing as she stretched out her knee.

"What happened?" I asked, pointing to the scar running down the center.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Elizabeth laughed, shaking her head.

Her face was lit up and her eyes were bright, it was breathtaking.

"Alright, so I know we said no football..." Elizabeth trailed off. "But you've got a game tonight right?"

"Yes ma'am." I grinned, loving the direction this conversation was going.

"And you're the quarterback?"

"Number 4." I said proudly.

"Do you know all of your plays?"

"For the most part."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at me.

"A quarterback's gotta know the plays like his own phone number."

"No shit, sherlock."

"Alright hit me with the most complicated ones. Let's see how well you know them."

"How will you know if I'm right?"

"I won't. You will."

I shrugged, giving in.

As I explained to her various plays that I'd been told to memorize over the past two weeks, Elizabeth's eyes lit up even more.

She took it all in, and the way that she was nodding along and understanding, I could just tell that she was imagining it all in her mind.

Whether she liked it or not, this girl had a thing for football.

Before I knew it, it was already 5:45 and I had to get going to get to school in time to get ready for the game.

Elizabeth's face dropped when I told her that we had to get going.

"You wanna come to the game? It can help you avoid going home?" I offered, standing up from the chair.

Elizabeth hesitated.

"I uh... No, I really don't like football games." Elizabeth said softly. "Can you just take me back to my car?"

I thought that was total bullshit. This girl clearly loved football.

But the door had been closed.

I had it open for so long but she put her walls back up and there was no point in trying to get in.

She was completely silent on the way back to the school and didn't say a single word before leaving my truck.

I walked into the school with a pit in my stomach and a feeling like something just wasn't right.