Love Behind The Playbook

Chapter 1: Assistant Coach

Sydney's POV

"WHERE IS EVERYBODY! The game is about to start!" I shout from the comfort of the family room sofa as I toss the football in the air and catch it as it makes its way back down.

One by one my family comes charging in. Starting with Luna who still has a lively spunk to her thirteen year old arthritic legs.

"Hey girl, come sit next to me." I pat the couch beside me and she jumps up and nestles her wet nose in my leg. Just as my dad comes in, the TV steals my attention and I start humming my traditional song that I always think summons the football gods to help our team win.

"The stars have arrived, time to get up and cheer. The NFL's best have come to play!"

"The stadium's rockin'! Time to kick up the sound!" Drew starts to sing out loud in a mocking girly tone as he twerks his body around in ridiculous cheerleading motions before shaking his chest to imitate a female's breasts jiggling from side to side. "I've been waiting all day for Sunday night!"

"You're an idiot." I roll my eyes at him before fiercely chucking the ball straight at his face.

He was too busy in his mockery to see it coming and hit the Gatorade bottle in his hand saving his face from the hard impact. I keel over laughing as Luna starts to bark from all the commotion. Drew spilled his Gatorade all over the floor and Luna jumped up to quickly lap it up.

"Got you good on that one," I laugh pointing at him as he narrows his eyes at me with a sour face.

"I didn't see it coming," he shrugs his shoulders which causes me to laugh harder.

"Really...Is that what you want to be caught saying in an interview after the game? I didn't see it coming! You need to work on your skills or you're never going to make the team."

"Sorry bud, she's got a point there," Mom says, throwing a wet rag at his face to clean up his spill, which he luckily caught.

"And all the hot high school cheerleaders you drool over won't even look at you if you don't make the cut," I add, hitting him again where I know it will hurt his ego.

"Hey!"

"She's also got a point there, too," our dad chimes in, earning a swift slap to the back of his head from my mom.

"Ouch," Dad pouts before grabbing my mom's waist and pulling her, making her fall into his lap while he plants a giant kiss on her lips.

"Eww! What have I said about the PDA!" Drew whines like the hormonal teenager baby he is. I guess no one wants to see their parents making out in front of their kids, I get it, it's weird. But I guess I'm different because I don't mind it. I envy it actually. Maybe because unlike my brother, Drew, I didn't grow up seeing a set of parents happy and in love. I still remember the time when it was just my mom and I. She always looked sad and I knew she was lonely even though she never expressed it. She never cared about herself and only worried about me.

My biological dad, John Moore, had broken her heart. She never talked about it or spoke cruelly of him but when I was old enough I googled his name and dug up the dirt on what really happened. He said and did so many mean things, lashed out towards everybody after his bad football injury that took him out of the game. It just so happened that Colin was his replacement and John hated him because of that. And the real shit hit the fan years later when Colin got injured and went to my mom for his physical therapy.

That's when I remember Colin first entering our life. I saw my mom change around him. She was so much happier and Colin made our lives brighter. My mom never wanted me involved in football, afraid I would get hurt like everybody else from her life she cared about. But it was Colin who broke down those barriers and he's been the best and only dad that I could happily have in my life.