The Game by Vi Keeland by Vi Keeland

A few minutes later, we sat down to eat Bella’s fettuccine alfredo with chicken.

“How long did it take you to buy this place?” Wyatt asked with his mouth full. “I mean, did you buy it the first year you made it to the pros?”

“No, I bought it about three years ago.”

“But you could have afforded it then, right?”

“Wyatt,” Bella scolded. “It’s rude to ask people what they can and can’t afford.”

I shrugged. “It’s alright. I had some good advice on how to spend my money when I first got started, and it should be passed along. Wyatt’s got a great leg. If he makes it, maybe he’ll remember what we talked about. Yes, I could’ve afforded to buy a place like this my first year, but I didn’t. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because someone I’d been close to for years, he actually coached my pee-wee football team, told me that forty percent of all NFL players have their careers ended prematurely by injuries. And more than sixty percent have surgery that changes who they are as a player. He told me never to expect my career to last more than the current season. So I used fifty percent of my first-year salary, after the government took their piece of the pie, to buy an annuity. You know what that is?”

Wyatt and I both scooped out second helpings. He shook his head.

“You give your money to a company today, and they agree to pay you more money than you gave them over a long period of time. So if my first year was my last, I knew I’d at least have a paycheck I could live off of for twenty years, if I had to.”

“Oh…”

I grinned. “Not so exciting, is it?”

“Not really.”

“I used the rest of the money to pay off my mother’s house, rent a decent place, and buy a flashy car I didn’t need, which I’ve since sold.”

Wyatt finished off his plate. “Is it okay if I take some selfies with your MVP trophies to show to my friends?”

“Help yourself. I might’ve taken a few selfies with them back in the day, too.”

Bella and I cleaned up dinner together, and then Wyatt and I watched reels of the team the Bruins were playing this weekend to look for bad habits among the defensemen that I might be able to take advantage of. Bella caught up on some work on her laptop, and before we knew it, it was almost eleven.

“You ready for bed, Wyatt?” Bella said.

He nodded and turned to me. “Can you pick me up from practice again tomorrow?”

“Sorry, buddy, I can’t. We leave for the west coast in the afternoon. When we have to travel a long distance and there’s a big time change, we sometimes fly out on Friday so we have Saturday to adjust before the game.”

He frowned. “Oh, okay.”

“What about Monday?”

Bella turned out the light in the living room. “Your mom will probably be home by then, Wyatt.”

“Oh, right.”

“You have a game next week?” I asked.

Wyatt shook his head. “It’s our bye week. Next game is a Friday-night game, two weeks from tomorrow.”

“I’ll try to make it to that, okay?”

He smiled, but then tried to play it cool. Such a teenager. “That would be a’ight. I mean, if you can...”

I mussed his hair. “Get some sleep, and have a good weekend. There’s a great gym downstairs, if you want to check it out. I’ll tell security to leave you some guest passes at the desk.”

In the bedroom, Bella started to get ready for bed. She’d brought an overnight bag and unpacked a T-shirt and sweats, but I stripped out of the T-shirt I was wearing and tossed it at her, then swiped the sweats from her pile.

She gave me a look. “Uh, you know, I feel like you’re trying to tell me something. But we use words for that, so you couldn’t be.”

I smirked and walked over, locking my hands around her waist. “Bella, would you please wear my T-shirt, preferably with no bra and panties?”

She laid her hands flat on my chest. “I can do that. But…no hanky panky. Wyatt’s right in the other room.”

“He’s at the other end of the hall. I intentionally gave him the farthest room from ours.”

“Still, I don’t want him to hear us.”

I grinned. “You are kind of loud.”

She smacked my chest. “Not unless you’re making me be loud, which you won’t be.”

I pouted. “But I’m leaving for California tomorrow. I’m not going to see you for at least a few days.”

She laughed. “I’m going to go brush my teeth.”

After she finished, I took a turn using the bathroom. When I came out, she was sitting on the edge of the bed wearing my T-shirt. I walked over and lifted her legs up onto the mattress and guided her to lean back. Then I climbed on top of her and kissed her neck. “I figured out a solution.”

“Let me guess, you’re going to quickly soundproof the room?”

“No, but that’s a thought for the future, in case anyone else ever stays over.”

She chuckled. “I’m almost afraid to ask. What’s your solution?”

I shrugged. “Long arms.”

“Long arms?”

“Yeah, I have them.”

“Okay…”