Read Tackled (Alpha Ballers #1) for Free Online

myself every hour or so since I’d gotten the news last month. The Patriots! Of all the teams to cover, I got to stay in Massachusetts and follow the team around the country?

    Dream job right here. I still couldn’t believe that I had gotten it over all the other people that definitely wanted it. I mean, I had a great background in journalism, and I’d written about sports all through college, but I didn’t have nearly as much real world experience as I’m sure other applicants had. I still didn’t know quite what had gotten me the job over them, but so far I hadn’t found the right way to ask that question. And I wasn’t sure if I really wanted the answer.

    The Patriots! As a girl from a small town in New England, they were my team, through and through. Everyone at school when I was growing up had Patriots gear, though the Celtics were a little more popular at the time. I liked basketball, but football was my first sporting love.

    I couldn’t remember the number of times I’d sat with my father and watched Patriots games as a kid. He was a huge fan despite all the ups and downs the team had gone through over the years. We went to a few games, but even back then they were a little too expensive for us. Plus, it was way more fun for us to camp out in the living room and watch side by side, me on the couch and my dad in his favorite lounge chair. My mother, who wasn’t into sports at all, had always made us snacks and let us eat lunch and dinner in the living room on game days. It was a really big deal.

    Those Sundays watching the Patriots with him were some of my fondest memories.

    In fact, when I found out I got the Globe job covering the Patriots, I hadn’t called my friends first, hometown or college - I’d called my dad. I hadn’t told him that I was even in consideration for the gig, cause I didn’t want to get his hopes up in case I didn’t get it, but he’d been overjoyed to hear that his little girl was going to be following his favorite football team around the country. I hadn’t gotten a chance to see him since I got the job, but I couldn’t wait to.

    Finally, the alarm decided to do its thing and I had no choice but to get up and start getting ready if I wanted to get to Radio City Music Hall on time. New York City! I’d arrived yesterday and promptly tired myself out walking all around, my eyes wide open and practically climbing out of my head trying to take it all in.

    Of course, that was purely on the surface level. If we got a little deeper, to where sports allegiances lived, I hated New York City with a burning passion stronger than anything I’d ever felt for a boy.

    New York City had two professional football teams, though only one of them should really be considered one, I liked to say to anyone who would listen. The Jets were the typical second team in a big city - their fans constantly groused about being passed over while their terrible team continued to languish in the basement.

    The Giants, though, they were another story. The Giants had destroyed perfection, and not through any skill or talent, but because of sheer luck. And for that, the Giants should never win another game again.

    Yikes, I could feel my bile rising as I started to get into my internal Giants monologue. No time for that, Lily, big day ahead! Just because this was New York City doesn’t mean I didn’t have to represent New England and my team.

    I got into the shower, loving the fact that hot water was instantly at my beck and call. This was pure luxury…even though it could hardly be considered such. Tough times at newspapers and media outlets around the country meant I totally missed the days when journalists would get to live it up while covering cool events like the draft. Now it was a Howard Johnson’s, and a continental breakfast if we were lucky. Still, the nearly-unlimited hot water did make it tough for me to complain at the moment.

    After I showered and toweled myself off, I got out and