for a while…studying me. My knees started bouncing on my toes with nervous energy until he finally broke his silence. “Okay. I’m happy.”
I turned back to the field ahead and let go of a deep breath, not wanting to fight with him. The last thing I needed was Ashton as an enemy. I nodded after a while. Needing this to be over and for us to be cool again, I didn’t argue anymore. Maybe later on tonight or in the morning when I woke up, I could find the words. Should I ask to stay the night with him? Mornings with Ashton always seemed to feel new and…exciting.
“Look…” He scratched the back of his head. “I’m tired, had a long day.” Thank you! Me, too! “I’ve got to check in on these damn pledges in the morning before training.”
I nodded, face to the field. “Okay.” I was ready to turn down myself. My ass started to ache from the run and the tensing I’d been doing throughout this whole conversation. I stood to go, and so did Ashton.
“I’mma head in to crash. I’ll hit you.” When his mouth met my cheek, I nodded at the same time, playing off my shock.
Without leaving time for me to respond, Ashton took off in the direction he came in. I watched him leave the bleachers without looking back for me. Something in my chest felt…bad.
With all the talking around me and being out of breath from my excitement, I shouted into the phone to my uncle June. “Yeah, man! Of course, I did. The fuck you think I did?”
“Watch your damn mouth, Ashton Spencer!” my mother spit back.
So fucking ecstatic, I had to remember they were all on the call with me on speaker.
“My bad, Ma! I’m just so…” I couldn’t speak, so overcome with happiness.
“I know, baby! Your aunt Tab here is proud of you,” my aunt Tabitha shared animatedly.
“What you score on the broad jump?” I recognized Boobie’s voice in spite of all the chatter around me.
My eyes grazed over to my agent, who was still talking to the representatives from the Connecticut Kings.
The fucking Kings!
They wanted to interview me here at the Combine. The Kings! The shit was unreal. I mean, I knew I’d make it here. I’d always been confident in myself, and I had the best training team around me, too. But being here amongst countless players, showcasing top tier skills felt surreal now that it was all over and I’d gotten all my scores, which was the advantage of being one of the last to go.
“One hundred-ten inches,” I answered. “That’s two inches farther than the threshold for QBs.”
“Damn! That’s what the fuck I’m talking about!” he shouted.
I was fucking hyped.
“What about the…the…” June sucked his teeth. “Damn! I’m so fuckin’ souped up, I can’t find my damn words! The forty-yard dash and the three-cone?”
“Four-point-four eight for the forty-yard dash, which is point-two seconds better than my fastest time at…Blakewood.” I panted, fighting for oxygen, I was so worked up. “And…six-point-nine. That’s two-point…five seconds above the…threshold for QBs.” I needed to calm down and breathe or else I’d pass the hell out before talking to my dream team.
“Shit, my nigga!” June shouted.
“I ‘on’t know what those numbers mean, but they sound great, baby! I wish we could be there with you,” my mother cried.
That broadened my already bright as hell beam.
“I know,” I replied to her longing. “But I gotta go calm my ass down before I talk to the Kings. When Tamir gave me the final numbers, I called y’all right away.”
“Hol’ up, my G!” Boobie yelled. “What about the short shuttle, ten-yard split, and twenty-yard split?”
“Oh, ummm…” I scratched my head, looking down at Tamir’s chicken scratch handwriting on the paper he handed me. “For the ten-yard, one-point fifty-five seconds, and that was fifteen seconds above the threshold for QBs. The twenty-yard was two-point seven, which is point-fifteen seconds above the threshold. And…uhhhh…” I squinted my eyes looking. “…for the short shuttle, I did three-point nine. And that was point-three seconds above the threshold—but look, I gotta go. I’ll hit y’all later!”
“Okay.”
“A’ight, my nigga!”
“Okie-doke, baby!” They all shouted at the same time.
“Alright. Love y’all!”
I ended the call and typed fast as hell into the phone to the one other person I wanted to share the news with.
The phone rang on the other line as I peered over at Tamir Cook, who was still yapping it up with the Kings people. When the phone rang for