The Trouble With Quarterbacks(28)
“What are your parents like? Your mum? Is she really pretty? Must be to have made a lad like you.”
I swear he sort of goes rosy on his cheeks as he looks away.
“There’s not much to say. I grew up in Florida. My dad has an orange orchard, and my mom teaches.”
“She’s a teacher as well? Like me?”
“Yeah. She teaches physics, up at the high school. She studied aerospace engineering in school though.”
“Bloody hell. She sounds brilliant. I haven’t got the head for maths or science. It’s why I stick with the youngsters. Best to let them think I’m smarter than them, though I swear there are a few who could outpace me in a round of Jeopardy.”
He laughs like he doesn’t quite believe me (he should), and then I continue on, “How’d your mum end up teaching then?”
He shrugs. “She just sort of fell into it. She had a job working for NASA. She wanted to go to space and was even accepted into their astronaut training program and everything, but then one of her friends introduced her to my dad.”
“She gave it all up for him?”
He aims a lopsided grin at me. “Well, it’s not like she was about to leave for Mars the very next day or anything, but yeah, they dated for three weeks then he proposed. Said he wouldn’t be able to live without her if she went up into space.”
“I think I’m crying.”
I sniff to prove it.
He laughs and shakes his head. “They’ve been married twenty-six years.”
“What a story. Sheesh. My parents met at a bar then a few months later, my mum got knocked up with me and they sort of both agreed, Well, we might as well give it a go, right? Never had a proper wedding or anything, just exchanged rings and went round to my gran’s for some tea and cakes afterward.”
“Do you think they regret it? Getting married just because your mom was pregnant with you?”
I think of the way my mum dotes on my dad, the way he’s always teasing her and making her groan in annoyance and swear she’s had it up to here with him, though we all know she secretly loves it.
I can’t help but smile. “No, I don’t think so. They’re happy in their own way, even if it’s not quite in the perfect fairytale sense, you know?”
He nods. “Do you have any siblings?”
“Just me. The parents love to joke that I was all they could put up with. Very wild child, so to say. I argue that they’re just laying it on, but I’ve seen photos and I do look rather untamed most of the time. Sort of big-eyed and round-cheeked and quite rambunctious. What about you?”
“Just a sister. You know, Briggs’ mom. She lives in the city too.”
I smack my forehead. “Duh. Of course you’ve got a sister. Stella, right? That’s Briggs’ mom? I think I’ve only met her the one time right after winter break.”
“Yeah, I don’t see her much either. She and Bobby, her husband…they’re…well, we don’t really speak a lot.”
“Did you have a falling out?”
“No. They’re just busy with work, and I’m busy too, I guess. I don’t know. I think they could probably pay more attention to Briggs, but maybe that’s just me being judgmental. I don’t know what it’s like to be a parent.”
No, he’s spot on. Briggs is such a tender child, and I know how little time he gets with his parents. I’m glad Logan sees that too.
He shrugs and pushes up off my bed then.
“I’m going to go pour you some of that broth if you can stand it. It’ll make you feel a lot better if you can keep it down.”
“Oh, all right. I’ll try to stomach it for you.”
The moment he walks out of the room, my body seems to remember how crappy it feels. With him in here, distracting me, it’s like my food poisoning took the back seat. Now my stomach rolls and reminds me how awful I feel. I turn on my side as his mobile buzzes again.
The screen illuminates, and I’m more than a little curious to see who’s bothering him so late on a Sunday evening. I know it’s wrong to go around poking into people’s private lives, but well, I’m already facing that way and it would be more inconvenient for me not to look. I see the preview of an incoming email pop up, along with all the notifications he’s missed sitting right underneath it.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Charity Golf Game - THEY WANT YOU!
Logan, I’ve attached the invitation from Tiger’s team. They’re desperate to have you. Let me know how we can—
And then it cuts off.
Below it, another email.
From: [email protected]
Subject: SI Interview Request
Jeff is requesting a follow-up interview for the feature we did before the Super Bowl. They’re suggesting—
Then below that, a text.
DARIUS: Training bumped to 6:30 AM tomorrow. Did you see the email Coach sent? I’ll swing by and pick you up on the way.
Next, there’s a final email header.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Jimmy Fallon
I can’t see a preview of that email because it’s fallen off the screen, and it’s not like I can reach out and scroll to read it. It’s one thing to look and another to actively snoop.