I was sitting at a table at the Jason’s Deli at George Bush International during my hour layover. I opted to pay the one hundred and fifty-six dollars to fly to Oklahoma City instead of taking the bus full of loud, rambunctious football players. Having a little distance from Oakley also gave me the chance to plan for how I was going to keep him out of trouble.

I have never been to an away game. Actually, I had never even been to a home game either, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I was hoping that this was going to be one of those situations where what I was imagining was way worse than reality. That the guys were going to be so tired from traveling, practicing, and playing that they would all just go straight to the hotel and go to sleep like giant, super muscular angels.

Oh, who the fuck was I kidding? Oakley was no angel, and after hearing the coach talk, I was starting to realize that this weekend might be my biggest challenge so far. I sighed and pulled out my phone to look up the itinerary for the weekend. Today was dedicated mostly to travel and getting settled into the hotel. Later tonight, there was a dinner planned for the team that I wondered if I could get out of since I knew Coach Howard would be there. Friday was a team breakfast, workout, practice, team lunch, a small block of free time, and then the game was that night. Saturday consisted of breakfast, and then the team would leave by bus, and I would head to the airport a little before noon.

I punched everything into my shared calendar with Oakley and finished up my fruit and yogurt parfait just as they started to call my flight. I was looking forward to the last little bit of time to myself, as I wasn’t planning on leaving Oakley’s ass alone for a single second. If the coach wasn’t going to be there, I was. I even managed to get the hotel to give me the room right across from Oakley’s.

As I waited for them to call my boarding group, my phone started ringing. I checked the caller ID and smiled while answering. “Mom,” I greeted. “Any bodies to bury this weekend?”

“Where are you flying to?” she asked. “I saw a charge on your credit card.” Her voice was a bit shaky and nervous. I couldn’t blame her. We hadn’t really had that much of a chance to talk over the last two weeks, and spontaneous activities were what landed me in Texas in the first place.

“I’m going to an away game in Oklahoma,” I explained, my nose involuntarily wrinkling at the statement. I was certain that there was nothing wrong with the small state just north of Texas. I just honestly had zero desire to go there.