Page 1 of The Marriage Playbook

CHAPTER 1

LIAM

“Heads up!”

Liam Sims reached up just in time to catch the neat spiral pass that was heading right for him. He grinned with pleasure at the familiar feel of the football as it connected with his hand, at the reassuring slap of palm on pigskin that signified a job well done. He jogged over to Mark Lawrence, the quarterback, and held the ball out to him. “Nice pass.”

Mark grinned and took the ball back. “Just warming up,” he said. “It’s been a long off-season.”

“I’m sure you were in the gym every day,” Liam said.

“You weren’t,” Mark observed. “Coach noticed, you know. You might have some explaining to do on that front.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I was sitting on the couch,” he said. “You know me, I like to work out privately.” He had spent the off-season going for a lot of long runs and lifting in his home gym.”

“But you’re supposed to meet with the team trainers,” Mark pointed out.

“I know how to keep myself in shape,” Liam laughed. “I’ll prove it to them in practice today, and they won’t be able to say anything about how I spent my off-season.” He clapped his friend on the shoulder and jogged over toward the rest of the team.

He wasn’t going to be in any trouble and he knew it. He’d been with the Miami Stingers for five years. In that time, he had become one of the undisputed stars of the team. He knew perfectly well that a major chunk of the ticket sales every game were people who specifically came to see his next miracle catch and run into the end zone. His name was in the headlines more than any other member of the team.

The other Stingers were stretching near the home end zone. Liam took a position in the center of the group and began his own stretches, knowing that there would be an intense workout to follow. He’d prove himself by keeping up with the rest of the players—surpassing them, even. He knew he could outrun anyone on this team, and as soon as they began, everyone else would know it too. He sized up the few people he didn’t know, new drafts for this year, and smiled to himself at the thought of putting them through their paces.

When the stretching finished, Coach Reeves blew his whistle and the players began a basic jog up and down the field. After a few laps, Liam increased his pace. It was time to put his skill on display.

As he reached the 50-yard line, he noticed that someone was keeping up with him.

It was one of the new players. Liam had never seen him before, and glancing over, he thought the kid couldn’t be more than twenty-two years old. He must have been recruited right out of college.

Liam pushed himself to run a bit faster, wanting to leave the kid behind—to show him who was truly the fastest member of this team. Young kids always wanted to prove themselves. It wasn’t the first time Liam had dealt with this sort of thing.

But the kid continued to match Liam’s pace. That was new. Usually they realized quickly that they weren’t going to be able to keep up, but Liam had to concede that this one was faster than most.

He switched to high-knees. The kid switched along with him, even though the coach hadn’t called for it. Liam waited for the sound of a whistle to return them to the drill they were supposed to be doing, and after a moment, it came, but he didn’t switch back. The kid would do so. He was new, so he still needed to do exactly what the coaches told him. His place on the team wasn’t secure the way Liam’s was.

He didn’t switch back to regular running. He kept going with the high-knees. Liam felt a dark cloud begin to form in his mind, anger at the kid for trying to compete like this. He must be aware of who the star of this team was. What did he mean by setting his sights on Liam on his very first day?

There was another whistle, long and loud, and this one even Liam couldn’t ignore. The team was being summoned into a huddle. He turned around and jogged back toward the bench, doing his best to ignore the kid. He couldn’t help noticing, though, that the kid performed several showy tuck jumps on his way in.

What a clown. Doesn’t he understand that isn’t how we do things in the big leagues? Maybe that kind of showboating was appropriate on a college team, but here you have to earn the right to act like a big dog.

The team huddled up, and Coach Reeves began to hand out some drill assignments. Liam automatically moved toward Mark—as the team’s best receiver, it was standard for him to warm up Mark’s throwing arm.

But Coach Reeves held up a hand. “Sandusky, you go with Sims and Lawrence,” he said to the new kid. “Lawrence, throw Sandusky some long bombs. I want to try starting him in the first game of the season.”

The kid—Sandusky—preened and went over to Mark. Liam walked over to the two of them more slowly. If this kid was going to be starting, whose place was he going to take? He thought about the other receivers—he needed all of them on the field. He wouldn’t be at his best if they had to give a spot to someone this green.

“Garrett Sandusky,” the kid was saying to Mark. “I just graduated from FSU. Always knew that I’d be a Stinger someday, of course. Never really thought of ending up anywhere else, and I let Reeves know that when he started scouting me.”

“Took your spot on the team for granted, then?” Liam asked. “That’s always a mistake.”

Sandusky raised an eyebrow. “I know who you are,” he said. “You’re that old player—Leo Sims, right. My dad was a fan of yours when you were in your prime.”

Liam stared. This had to be a joke. And it wasn’t a very funny one. “I think you know my name,” he said. “It’s Liam Sims. And frankly, if you don’t know that, you can’t know that much about football.”

Sandusky chuckled. “I guess I don’t pay that much attention to the older generation of players. I mean, you heard Coach. He already thinks I’m ready to start. He’s probably thinking about retiring you soon.”

Liam gritted his teeth. He was only thirty-two years old. Sandusky might think he was some kind of hotshot, but he’d learn quickly. “Why don’t you step back and watch the first few passes,” he suggested. “I don’t want you to get in over your head on your first day.”