Forget Me Not. Crystal B. Bright
them to annihilate the opposing team. He couldn’t give up any part of his dream, even to his friend, even if that friend had played as quarterback in college.
He stared at Dennis for a moment. “It’s the Super Bowl, Den. It’s my first one.”
“Yeah, mine too.” He leaned in and lowered his voice. “Remember back in the day, you and I would do this kind of thing together all the time.”
Gideon nodded. “I remember. And I know you want to make MVP. I get it.” He pointed to himself with his thumb. “I’m responsible for this team.”
“That’s cool.” Disappointment laced Dennis’s statement. “Make sure you keep throwing me the ball, okay? I’ll make sure to get it in the end zone every time.” In Dennis’s dramatic fashion, he took a big step to the side to illustrate his point.
“Maybe for the new season we can share the motivation duties. The guys are already hyped up. We need to go into this game in control.” Gideon wanted to set a tone for his team. Acting out of control would kill their synergy.
Dennis’s smile softened. Gideon saw his shoulders slump under the shoulder pads.
Gideon turned away from his disappointed friend and glanced into the bustling locker room. Dennis didn’t understand the importance of leading a team in the Super Bowl, not merely playing in the game. Gideon had to be the puppet master. If a play failed, it would be on him. He couldn’t let his team down, not today.
“Sure. You’re the boss.” Dennis offered his neon smile again.
“I promise I won’t let you all down.” Gideon wrapped his arm around Dennis’s shoulders as they headed toward the team.
“Hey, now that you and Hil are over and this is our last game of the season, are you going to try and hit up that cheerleader?” Dennis winked and licked his lips.
Gideon didn't have to guess which cheerleader his friend wanted him to hit up as he called it. Brittany or Tiffany or Brandy. Something with an E sound at the end of her name. The bouncy, bubbly brunette had made it known she wanted Gideon. At practices where cheerleaders weren’t needed, she popped up and managed to run into him. When he worked out at the team gym, she would be waiting for him outside. One time after practice, as he’d soaked in an ice bath, she’d shown up in her bikini ready to join him.
Gideon had never liked a desperate woman. This cheerleader reeked of neediness.
“Man, I don’t want any part of her.” Gideon shook his head. “For one, it’s against the rules. Players can’t date the She-Wolves.”
“During the season.” Dennis pounded his fist on Gideon’s shoulder. “After the season…”
“I still don’t want her.” Gideon shook his head. “But you, you have at her. Be sure you treat her right.” No matter what Gideon did, his mama’s words always crept into his mind and out of his mouth.
“She only has eyes for you, brother. Bet you five big ones that when you come out of the tunnel, she’ll run into you.”
Gideon snickered. “No way. The cheerleaders know not to interfere with our entrances, especially for this game.”
Dennis held up his large hand with his long digits splayed. “Five big ones.”
Gideon nodded. “You’re on.” He glanced at the team. “Hey, everyone! Listen up!” He waited until the team members stopped their actions and moved around him and Dennis.
He couldn’t keep his mind on what he would have to do in these next few hours while he knew his mother would have to have heart surgery soon. The phone call home to talk to his mother and his brothers hadn’t calmed his nerves. His team didn’t need to know about his worry.
“Friends,” Gideon began, “we didn’t get to this position by luck.” He strolled around the locker room, making sure to look each one of his teammates in their eyes. “We got here with heart. We got here because we’re all dedicated. We trained our asses off. We ran drills until we dropped. Hell, I think even Thumper put on a clean jock one time.” He pointed to the large lineman standing behind the group.
“Nope!” Thumper responded and moved in closer to the group to share his stench.
“Damn, dude! Get the hell back.” Stephen, a running back, covered his nose and waved his hand in front of his face. “Offensive lineman is right. Your smell is brutal.”
Gideon and his teammates laughed but also made space around Thumper. Since training camp, Thumper had convinced himself that wearing the same cup and jock strap without washing the duo kept him in high playing form. As a result, he reeked. Coaches had to keep him away from the press and charity events.
Not Gideon. It didn’t escape his attention that as quarterback, he’d become the face of the team. The press ate up his boy-next-door look, as one magazine described him.
He could care less about his appearance or what the female fans thought of him. He had a job to do, a game to play, a chance to be taken seriously as an athlete.
“To win, we’re going to have to remember our training.” Gideon didn’t raise his voice, a trait he’d learned from his mother. If spoken with conviction, people will listen. “We’re going to remember how we got here. We’re going to play like this could be the very last time we will ever play this sport we love again.” Gideon peered over his teammates’ heads when he saw the locker-room door opening. He focused on his team. “Play hard, men. Play with integrity. Win for Virginia.”
“Do it for the Gipper, man?” Dennis asked and then laughed.
Gideon smiled. “I don’t know what your girl’s name is now.”
The group of men around them laughed.
Dennis put his hand on Gideon’s shoulder and pulled him back. “I got this.”
“Got what?” Gideon felt his eyebrows knit together as he watched his friend move to the center of the room.
“We are Wolves!” Dennis shouted the encouraging words in the middle of the crowded locker room. He illustrated his exclamation by howling like a wolf, something their fans did on a regular basis for the team.
Gideon shook his head. He should have known Dennis would kick up the guys into a frenzy. He would have to be that calming voice of reason, even if his insides screamed along with Dennis.
The team, dressed in their standard red-black-and-gold uniforms, cheered while pumping their fists in the air.
“Fuck ‘Sharknado’! We all know a shark can’t beat a wolf, am I right?”
The team laughed and cheered at the same time.
“The Maui Sharks are going down!” Dennis raised his fists in the air.
Gideon put his hand on Dennis’s chest and faced him. “That’s enough.” As the quarterback, he had to be the leader. He had to set the mood for how the team played during this important game.
“Okay, guys. Huddle up.” Coach Brick, who must have walked into the locker-room area, waved his hands in the air signal the men to come together. “Christ, I can’t wait until this game is done so that you can take a damn bath, Thumper.”
The team laughed again.
“I bathe. It’s my jock that’s fragrant.” The big man cupped his crotch and grinned through his big, bushy red beard.
“Serious time, guys. Don’t think about this being the Super Bowl. Think about this as the game of your lives. Like Gid said, you’ve all trained for this. Stay smart. Stay sharp. Think two steps ahead of the other team. We can win this together. All in.” Brick put his hand palm down in the center of the circle.
The team put their hands on top of his.
Without prompting, the team shouted in unison, “Wolves rule!” Then they howled, leaning their heads