The Guy Named Harrison: Book One

71

Carrie looked up from her iPad as the bathroom door clicked open and Harrison came walking out while pulling a blue Panthers shirt over his head.

He was freshly shaven with the beard of his trimmed nicely instead of the bushy mess it had been before. And his hair was nicely parted to its normal side.

Harrison jumped onto the bed, knocking Carrie's iPad from her hand and forcing her to lose her place on the article she was reading.

"Harrison!"

He gave her one of his lopsided grins that she'd grown to love. "What were you looking at?"

"The predicted playoff bracket. We're the number 1 seed on the NFC side."

He nodded. "That's pretty much official. Denver has to win tomorrow to secure the sixth seed in the AFC. Everyone else is already in."

Grabbing his phone, Harrison laid next to her and pulled up the playoff bracket. As Carrie said, the Panthers had the first seed in the NFC. They secured a bye from the Wild Card game and home field advantage for the division game and if they were to move on, the conference championship game.

"It's three games to win the Super Bowl right?"

"Yeah. Three to win."

Carrie watched as he pointed out all the teams on the bracket. "We get the winner of the Giants-Cardinals game next weekend. Then the Falcons, who have a bye just like us, get the winner of the Cowboys-Packers game."

"That's going to be a good game because Green Bay upset Dallas last year in the divisional round."

They looked at the AFC side. "So the Patriots get the winner of the Raiders and Texans. And it looks like the Steelers get the winner of the Chiefs and most likely Broncos game. The Broncos have the Browns tomorrow so they really should win."

"Hey you never know."

"That's right. Any team that's on the field is there to play."

She admired his passion for the game. He never underestimated anybody and he never admitted he was good. Although everyone knew it, Harrison would never compare himself to other players or act all arrogant and cocky like some other players. He was a real role model for young players.

Even the rookies looked up to him as a role model. Now in his 7th season and a seasoned veteran, the rookies often learned from him. In the preseason, Coach Rivera put him in towards the end of two of the four games where he worked with the young defense.

Harrison continued to read through the playoff buzz as she played with his hair. It was so short now. He'd lost his curls after getting it cut after practice a few days ago. They were hardly curls. And they were only visible when his hair was as long as it was, being almost to his shoulders. Then the ends started to curl just a bit.

She didn't notice he turned his attention from his phone to watch her. He really enjoyed the massage. Carrie playing with his hair felt so good.

"You like that don't you?" She asked as he smiled.

"I love it. You can keep doing it."

Carrie kissed his lips gently before flipping him on his stomach. "What are you doing?"

She pulled his shirt up to the top of his back and proceeded to massage it. "Don't get used to it. It's going to be a role reversal when I get further into this pregnancy."