later, the door flew open again. Hedgehog stood there in Batman pajamas. Seriously? I couldn’t keep from smiling. He didn’t smile back. He looked hella suspicious, but then, who could blame him after that afternoon?
He said, “Oh. It’s you.”
“Uh, yep. Pretty sure it’s me.”
“What do you want?” He crossed his arms, but unlike Tray who’d set new records in intimidating, he just looked cute, kind of like an owl behind those glasses. I noticed a couple guys peeking out of their living room like maybe they’d gotten tickets to the zoo too.
I said, “Uh, look, if you’re going to play flag football, you need to understand the game.”
His big eyes snapped behind his glasses. “You think? I got there today, and they just threw me on the field, never told me a single thing, which is completely illogical since they should have motivation to see me succeed. I’ve read about team sports, and the word team seems implicit. But—”
I held up a hand, trying not to smile. He really was a riot. “Okay, I got it. Well, I’ve been assigned to teach you, and, uh, also to make you a, uh, little more ready to play. You know, like maybe able to run and jump better and stuff.”
He scowled. “How are you planning to do that? Run with me under your arm?”
I had to swallow a laugh. “No. You see, I’m a, uh, personal trainer. I’m going to train you.”
And then the strangest thing happened. That Poin’s face lit up like a beer sign on Friday night.
Chapter Three
Sean
“Are you serious?” I asked in disbelief.
“Uh… yes?” said Bubba, if not with total conviction, with enough for me to realize he meant it.
It was strange because normally, I would have been intimidated by a near-stranger standing on our doorstep who was as large and tough-looking as Bubba. But I didn’t feel that way at all. His eyes were sincere, and he’d laughed on the field earlier today—not at me but with me.
“And what fee would you charge?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t too much.
He shook his head as if he didn’t quite understand. “Nothing? I mean, I’d do it for free. For the good of the team.”
Oh. That sounded promising. But could he do the job? I looked him over. He was exceptionally tall and large overall. His coat and jeans hid the contours of his physique, but from what I could tell—and from what I’d seen of him in his sweats—he was quite muscular and fit. And I thought I’d heard he played on the Madison football team. If I looked even a little like him by the end, I’d be much improved.
“Excellent!” I beamed. “I hoped someone at the gym might be able to offer some guidance, but this is a thousand times better. Can I assume you’re well-versed in the weight-resistance exercises commonly used in gyms?”
His eyes narrowed a little as if I were pulling his leg. “Yes? I mean, I’ve gone to the gym my whole life.”
“Perfect! Wait here one moment, please.”
I shut the door in his face, then remembered my manners. It was cold out, and it was nearly dark. I opened the door again. Bubba was standing there, hunched up against the chill. He looked up.
“Sorry. You’d better come inside.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him in.
I took him into the living room where four of my frat brothers were lounging around studying and another was watching Jeopardy on TV as Quiz Bowl preparation. They all looked at Bubba as if I’d walked in with an alien life-form. Which I suppose I had.
“Wait here,” I told him. “I’ll be right back!”
“Uh… okay.”
I ran upstairs. I shared a room on the second floor with Dobbs, one of our house’s many Quiz Bowl fanatics. In fact, he was the team captain. I liked Quiz Bowl too. It was one of the few extracurricular activities I’d participated in throughout my school years. But I’d quit the team when I volunteered to join flag football, and frankly, I wasn’t sorry. It was time to try new things with my life, think outside the box.
Excitedly, I grabbed the folder from my desk and ran back downstairs.
I hated being around the TV when I was trying to concentrate, so I took Bubba’s arm again and led him into the kitchen. It was hard finding a private space when you lived in a house with twelve guys, but fortunately, on this Saturday afternoon, the kitchen was empty.
I plopped down at the table