Katrina might be worried all the time about these kids, but she’d done a fine job giving them the right tools they’d need to succeed. Leo had the work ethic in place. Now it was up to Grant to tap into it.
When Grant had told Leo he was taking him to practice today, Leo’s eyes had widened. He was so excited, even though Grant had told him he couldn’t work out with the team or anything.
“It’s just watching, ya know?”
“I don’t care,” Leo said. “I’m excited just to be there to see the team go through practice. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to seeing a pro team do this.”
Grant slung his arm around Leo’s shoulders. “At least until you make a pro team yourself.”
Leo let out a snort. “Yeah, like that’s ever gonna happen.”
Grant had stopped him there. “With an attitude like that, it never will. If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect anyone else to? How will a college coach believe you’ve got what it takes to make the team?”
Leo had looked embarrassed. “Okay, you’re right. I’m fast and I’m good enough. I know it. I’m just getting a late start, is all.”
Grant slapped him on the back. “That’s better.”
Grant introduced Leo to all the guys in the locker room, then placed him with one of the assistant offensive coaches, who promised Grant he’d explain everything there was to know about football.
Grant was certain Leo was going to get one hell of an education today. There would be yelling and cussing, and if Katrina knew that, she’d likely be horrified. But this was a player’s world, and Grant was confident Leo could handle it.
In fact, during one of their drink breaks, Grant spotted Leo glued to the coach’s side as the coach was screaming obscenities at one of the wide receivers. Leo was doing his best to suppress a grin.
Yeah, the kid was doing fine.
So was the team. Rookies looked acceptable; the few guys they’d signed during free agency were a good fit. They’d shored up holes in the defense, and JP McClellan was back on the offensive line after an injury last season. Grant felt confident in his team this year.
Grant had been studying the playbook when Cole Riley came over.
“How’s it going, Cassidy?” Cole asked.
“It’s going so great that I think you’re going to have a good year, because I’m going to be throwing to you a lot.”
Cole grinned. “Of course you are, man. Because I’m a superstar wide receiver. And you’re the superstar QB.”
Grant laughed. “Yeah.”
“Isn’t that Katrina Korsova’s brother? The one you introduced me to the other day?” Cole asked, tilting his head toward the sidelines.
“Yeah. He’s interested in playing football, so I brought him along with me today to give him some insight.”
“Cool. So you’re dating Katrina? Since when?”
“Since, I guess that shoot I did with her in Barbados.”
Cole nodded. “She’s hot.”
“She’s smart and funny and beautiful. A lot more than just hot.”
Cole held up his hands. “Hey, you don’t have to convince me. I married smart and funny and beautiful.”
Grant laughed. “How is Savannah?”
“She’s great. She’s in Los Angeles right now, working on an image rehab for a basketball player.”
Grant slapped Cole on the back. “You got lucky getting her to marry you, since you’re such an asshole.”
“Don’t I know it.”
He and Cole met up with the other receivers and quarterbacks to go over a few plays with the coaches, then it was back to practice. The drills were going well, and they had a game plan for this weekend.
When practice ended, he fetched Leo from the coach.
“How did it go?” he asked as they left the locker room and headed for the parking lot.
“It was fantastic,” Leo said. “I mean, I mostly stayed out of the way and watched, but Coach asked me some questions. And when he found out I haven’t played football yet, but that’s what I want to do—like really wanna do—he gave me some tips on how to bulk up, and what I should be doing to prep for the upcoming football season. And he said if I really wanted to make the team, I should start working out at least four days a week and keep running.”
Grant smiled. Coach had given Leo sound advice. He wasn’t blowing smoke up Leo’s ass by saying it. “That’s great.”
“Yeah. And then he made me run drills with the receivers. Did you see that?”
He had, but he figured Leo would want to tell him all about it. “Is that right? How did that go?”
“They smoked me, of course. But Coach said I was fast.” Leo turned and started jogging backward. “Can you believe that? He said I was lightning fast. That’s good, right?”
“That’s really good. He thinks you have potential.”
Leo was beaming. Grant was glad he’d invited him along today. The kid needed a lot of big boosts in his self-esteem, especially as it related to football. He really wanted Leo believing in himself, that he could do it.
Today helped.
“So, you like baseball, too, right?” Grant asked Leo after they’d pulled out onto the highway.
“Sure.”
“My brother, Tucker, plays for the Rivers.”