“A game? As in sinfully tight football pants, rah-rah, go team?” I laughed at her description.

“As in, I’m going to be making sure my new client doesn’t fuck anyone important or get drunk and end up in a bar brawl.”

“I’ve seen photos of your client, Amanda, maybe you should keep him entertained in your room. They didn’t make ’em like that when I was your age.” She giggled nervously, and I tried not to imagine my mother lusting over Oakley’s Instagram feed.

The airport called another group, and I grabbed the handle of my carry-on, then headed toward the gate. “Just be careful, okay? I’m so proud of you for taking what you were given and working with it. I just don’t want you to backslide…”

I scrubbed my free hand down my face. “I haven’t touched alcohol since that night, Mom.”

She sighed, like that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “I just wish you weren’t all or nothing. You never could have just one drink. Just one scoop of ice cream. Just one boyfriend…” I cringed. “And now you’re in the nothing cycle. No fun. No freedom. No food…”

Her voice trailed off. If she thought I was about to admit that I was obsessively counting my calories, then she was losing her touch. I knew it would trigger a demand for me to come home. She wasn’t wrong, I had an excessive personality. And if I couldn’t have it all, then I wanted nothing. There was no happy medium.

“Look, I’m boarding the flight, so I gotta go,” I said. “Love you. Byeee.” I hung up the phone before she could complain anymore.

I had a football player to babysit.

Three hours later, I was sitting behind the wheel of my white rental car. Oklahoma University was just far enough that it made more sense for me to rent a car than to Uber. I punched the address to the Best Western into my maps and started the hour-long drive. I had never stayed in a Best Western, and if I weren’t such a dedicated publicist, I would have booked the nearby Hilton instead. But the team booked their rooms through their travel agency at a killer rate. I didn’t have to stay at the same hotel as the team; Coach Howard had told me I could stay wherever I liked and the university would reimburse me up to the same rate the team was paying for their rooms. However, staying at the Hilton wouldn’t allow me to keep a twenty-four-hour watch on Oakley. So Best Western it was.