First Down: A Sports Romance by K.T. Quinn

Author:K.T. Quinn [Quinn, K.T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

24

Kimberly

We flew to Philadelphia Saturday afternoon. We didn’t have a private jet, but we chartered a big Airbus, so the team had the plane all to themselves. I sat in the front with the other trainers and staff.

It was a long flight. All of the other trainers still hated me, and pretty much ignored my entire existence. At the back of the plane, I could hear the players shouting and joking with one-another. It made me wish I was back there with them.

That was the worst part about this week: I missed Dallas. After spending so much time with him, having it abruptly end was torture. It left an ache in my chest that refused to go away.

We took two big buses from the airport to the Canopy Hotel, which was located in downtown Philadelphia. The buses parked in a back alley and we entered through the kitchen like celebrities. Which, of course, most of the players were. One of the team assistants was waiting in a conference room with individual room keys.

“Dresden, let’s see… You’re in room fifteen-oh-nine,” he said.

I frowned. “Everyone ahead of me has been on the sixteenth floor.”

“The players are on sixteen,” he explained as if it was obvious. “Staff is on fifteen.”

I took my keycard and went up to my room. It was nice. The bed was almost as comfortable as the one at Dallas’s house.

I looked at my watch. It was five. Too early for dinner, but I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. So I changed into my running gear and went outside.

Yeah, I know I go for a lot of runs. But I actually like running. It’s one of the few ways I can turn off my brain and focus on the motion of my legs, stride after stride.

It was also a great way to visit a new city. Towns looked different to a jogger than they did from a tour bus window. The sounds of downtown washed over me as soon as I stepped outside: cars honking and the HUM-CLACK-HUM-CLACK of a train. It was a lot louder than Salt Lake City, which was pretty calm for a big city.

I picked a direction at random—east, it turned out—and started running. Four blocks later I ran into Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, both of which were crowded with tourists. When I hit the Delaware River, I turned north and ran for another few miles, zig-zagging through the downtown blocks to avoid as many red lights as possible.

This was my first time visiting Philadelphia. Everyone talked about how cold the Northeast was, but it wasn’t any colder than back home. Don’t get me wrong—it was definitely cold. Low-forties as the sun set, and it would get down to freezing tonight. But I was used to this kind of weather from Utah.

By the time I got back to the hotel, a bunch of NFL players were leaving to get dinner. Kincaid gave me a high-five and jokingly told me to put a jacket on.

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