Explosions

Charlie was there for J.J. when they lost on the road to the Giants. She picked him up from the airport and listened as he went on and on about what went wrong and what needed changed. It always happened this way, and she let him say what he felt needed said.

The next week, however, was huge, and she knew it. She knew that there would be a hard fight from Ryan as he faced his former team, the Buffalo Bills. All week, she could feel it at the stadium. There was a confidence and a swelling around the guys as the week drew on.

Sunday was finally here.

Charlie stood near the window of the skybox suite where she and her coworkers sat every home game. She could see the team gathered around Ryan. He was shouting. They were shouting in response. She couldn’t hear him, but she knew he was out to prove himself. A smile crossed her face unknowingly.

Unfortunately, after Ryan threw an interception, the Texans were down 10 to 7 at halftime. J.J. had gotten a penalty for roughing the passer earlier in the game, one he knew was inexcusable. Charlie took a deep breath as they exited the field, and it took all of her strength not to go meet them in the locker room and tell them it was going to be okay. Instead, she sipped nervously on her beer next to her. Halftime seemed to go on forever.

When they finally came back out, she paced by the window nervously. Her fingers tapped on her legs, and her eyes scanned the field. First play of the second half, Ryan’s arm pulled back, but he threw another interception. She shook her head.

Another two plays by the Bills, and her heart was pounding. She had never been this anxious about a game before. The third play, J.J. jumped up and tipped the ball. It landed squarely in his hands.

“Yes!” she screamed.

He began running with it. He was running faster than Charlie had ever seen him run. He crossed the thirty, then the twenty, then the ten. He had made it to the end zone, nearly untouched.

The crowd went nuts and so did the sky box. Charlie stood at the window, clapping her hands and grinning from ear to ear. J.J. turned to the sky box and blew her a kiss, as he had taken to doing now when he’d made a big play. Just like that, they were up. A field goal from Randy Bullock a little later gave them the lead they needed to boost their confidence, and Charlie was beaming.

Then J.J. was making a tackle, and Charlie immediately knew something was wrong. As he came up to push the player away, he collapsed. Charlie stood up and got close to the window. Two trainers rushed out onto the field.

“Come on, come on, come on,” she whispered.

J.J. sat up and motioned that he was okay. The trainers helped him up, and after he shook himself off, he was fine. Charlie put her fingertips to the window. Surely, this wouldn’t be good when they got home. But he never missed a snap.

The game was getting down to the wire. They were only up by six – a touchdown would win Buffalo the game. There was just over a minute left to play, and as their quarterback, E.J. Manuel, stepped back, J.J. put pressure on him. He lobbed it up and threw it right into the arms of Daryl Morris, one of J.J.’s fellow defenders.

The stadium erupted. Ryan and the rest of the offense ran back onto the field. J.J. stopped to hug Ryan, and Ryan threw his fist up in the air. He’d let them get under his skin in the beginning, but he’d found his groove in the end.

He took a knee, and the game was over. J.J. rushed back onto the field, and Ryan took his helmet off. He raised it high above his head, and the team joined him in doing the same.

---

Liza crossed her arms, staring at Ryan. He shrugged his shoulders, paced back and forth for a little bit, then sat down in the chair across from her.

“Run this by me one more time,” she said.

“They’re trading me to Buffalo,” he sighed.

“New York?” she asked.

“Yes, Buffalo, New York,” Ryan replied. “So I’m moving in a month.”

“Is this your excuse to break up with me?” Liza asked.

“Okay, let’s get one thing straight,” said Ryan. “I like you, but we were never dating. We’ve been out a few times, but that’s it.”

“We’ve done more than just go out a couple times.”

“Well, I’m sorry I led you to think that we were an item. I just don’t see us continuing, even if I was staying in Cincinnati. If we were, I couldn’t ask you to move to Buffalo with me. We’re not that close.”

Liza shook her head and knotted her hand in her hair. She sat there a second, blinking slowly and thinking. She finally sat back in her chair and took a deep breath.

“You’re right,” she said.

“Look…Liza, you’re a really sweet girl,” said Ryan. “I’ve enjoyed being with you, but right now, at this moment in time, I just don’t think it’s going to work out. I can’t ask you to give up your life here to move with someone you barely know. I think it’s in both of our best interests if we just go our separate ways.”

“I know, I know,” said Liza. “You’re right.”

She stood up, and he did the same. He put his arms around her, and she hugged him back. He kissed her cheek.

“If I’m ever in Buffalo, I’ll give you a call, Ryan,” she said. “Good luck.”

Ryan smiled and said, “Thanks. Good luck with your nursing.”

Liza smiled, and Ryan watched as she left his apartment. He let out a long sigh, partly in relief of her departure. He went into his bedroom to grab his keys. A photo on the floor caught his eye, and he stopped. He didn’t think he’d left it out. He picked it up and shook his head.

It was such a familiar photo to him but so foreign now. It used to hang in his locker in St. Louis. Looking at it now, he had to sit down on the floor. He ran a hand through his hair and stared at Charlie’s beautiful smile.

In the photo, she was looking at the camera, and he was looking at her. It had been freezing that night at the skating rink. Even four years later, he could still feel the sting of the wind on his face. He sat there on the floor for a while, tracing his fingers over the photo.

---

J.J. showed her his bruise before they got home. It spanned almost his entire thigh. It looked so painful, but he shrugged it off. Charlie could tell that he was in pain, though, by the way he limped slightly.

The entire team was at J.J. and Charlie’s house that night. Some had brought their wives or girlfriends, but all had brought food and drinks to share with everyone. Charlie was sitting with J.J., Brian, DeAndre, DeAndre’s girlfriend, and Ryan. Brian was telling a joke about something the Bills had done in the second quarter of the game, but Charlie watched as Ryan rolled his beer around in between his hands.

Her mind was drifting as they all began laughing, and she snapped out of it. She smiled and stood up.

“You want another round, guys?” she asked.

Everyone agreed to it, and Ryan stood up as well.

“I’ll help you,” he said.

She made her way back to the kitchen, stopping to get a hug from Randy, then one from Arian. Ryan followed behind her with a couple empty bottles. Both were silent as beer bottles clinked and hissed as they opened. He touched her arm to stop her for a moment.

“J.J. told me what happened,” he said. “I know we haven’t really talked much in the last few weeks either, and I just wanted to say sorry.”

“For what?” she said. “You didn’t do anything.”

“I know, but they don’t need to drag your name into the media that way,” replied Ryan.

“I’m dating J.J. Watt,” said Charlie. “My name’s already been in the media. Just don’t let them get to you.”

“I don’t want them to get to you,” said Ryan.

There was an awkward pause while Charlie continued opening beers.

“Good game today,” she said with a smile.

“Well, we won,” Ryan agreed. “Wasn’t exactly good though. J.J.’s interception though – that was great!”

“Ryan, you can’t let games like this get to your head,” said Charlie. “You’ll psych yourself out.”

She picked up the bottles, but he stopped her.

“You’re doing that thing again,” he said.

“Doing what?”

“That thing where you say something negative in a not-so-demeaning way.”

Charlie set the bottles down and crossed her arms. She answered, “I don’t follow.”

“What you basically just said was ‘you almost cost us the game’,” Ryan explained. “I know you maybe didn’t mean it like that, but”-

“Okay, well…you did. You hyping up everything in your mind almost cost us the game. If J.J. hadn’t gotten that interception, do you think we would have won?”

“No, and if we didn’t, that’s on me. But you don’t have to put it on me, Charlie. I’m still trying. You’re not out there, but if you think you can do better than me, go ahead.”

“We’re not doing this,” said Charlie.

“Doing what?” asked Ryan.

He met her eyes, and he nodded.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Now I’m doing that thing.”

Charlie smiled and said, “It’s okay, Ryan.”

“We better get these back to them,” said Ryan. “They’ll think we drank them all.”

He picked up as many beers as he could carry, and she took the rest. They passed out the beers to their little gathering, and Charlie sat down on J.J.’s lap. Ryan sat back down next to DeAndre when his girlfriend, Tamika, spoke up.

“Ryan, you know what?” she said. “We gotta get you a lady.”

“No, that’s alright,” chuckled Ryan.

“No, I’m serious,” she replied. “I’ve got a friend – her name’s Kelsey. Why don’t I give you her number, and you just call her?”

She scribbled some numbers on a piece of paper and handed it to him. Charlie glanced down at the paper for a brief second, then at Ryan. He accepted it and shrugged.

“Okay,” he said. “No harm in calling, right?”

Charlie watched him put the paper in his pocket, and her teeth clenched together. J.J. put his hand on her waist. She looked back at him, and he smiled. She did the same, and she leaned back against him. She couldn’t remember anything else they said. Her mind had wandered too far.