American Football: King of the Bay Area

Charlie Gibson’s pupils constricted slightly. He could faintly sense that something was amiss. His professional instincts as a reporter—his sixth, or maybe seventh, sense—went on full alert.

Candice Swanepoel. She was, without a doubt, the hottest new model of the past year. The speed of her rise to fame and the sheer amount of attention she commanded were staggering. Not only did she make her debut on the Victoria’s Secret runway last year, but she also graced the covers and inner pages of major fashion magazines, and her presence was frequently seen at the four major fashion weeks.

A healthy complexion, a sweet smile, a slender waist, and long, elegant legs... With these natural advantages, Candice had garnered immense attention, becoming the next beauty from South Africa to capture Hollywood’s eye after Charlize Theron.

This year, the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show was set to kick off in December. Well in advance, the model auditions and selection process had already become a hot topic of discussion. After the first and second rounds of casting, they were now selecting the most crucial models: one to wear the Fantasy Bra, worth millions or even tens of millions of US Dollars, and another to lead the grand opening of the show.

Currently, Candice had made it onto the final four-person shortlist for the opening model—

Each of the candidates was at the center of the storm of attention. But among them, Candice, whose career was skyrocketing, was considered the Victoria’s Secret Angel with the most promising future.

’But why would a ”star of tomorrow,” a blue-chip prospect like her, know an undrafted rookie quarterback?’

’It wasn’t that Charlie looked down on Lu Ke. It was just the reality of the situation.’

’As a rookie, with only four weeks of the regular season played, he was still just a greenhorn. Forget about grand dreams like the Hall of Fame or the Super Bowl. The number of players who could even last an entire rookie season and make a name for themselves was small enough. Among those, the ones who could prove themselves and join the ranks of future superstar candidates were exceedingly rare.’

’This was true for every rookie, to say nothing of Lu Ke, who was one of the Undrafted Players.’

’Even if Lu Ke managed to establish a firm foothold in the Alliance by the end of the season and become a future star everyone was watching, that was still something for the end of the season. Right now, only the first part of the regular season was complete. There were still twelve long games waiting for him. For rookie players, they were still just ”rookies.” ’

’The simplest, most straightforward example was this: these rookie players simply didn’t get opportunities to attend top-tier social events or appear on the dazzling stage of fame and fortune. Naturally, they had no chance to mingle with socialites or top-tier superstars. Be it models or actors, for a rookie player, it was a completely separate world.’

So for Candice and Lu Ke to be walking side by side right now was truly baffling.

’A romance?’ That thought flashed through Charlie’s mind, but he immediately dismissed it.

’The two of them seemed to have absolutely nothing in common. Comparatively, Lu Ke and Sophie seemed like a more plausible pairing. So how did they end up together? Was it just a coincidence? Was all this wild speculation just his imagination getting the better of him?’

As a reporter for an ESPN-affiliated magazine, Charlie excelled at sports news, but entertainment gossip was his weakness. His intuition just wasn’t sharp enough for it.

After a moment’s hesitation, Charlie decided to temporarily drop Kaepernick and follow his sixth sense to see what was going on. He left the hotel entrance and hurried after them, his pace quickening into a run.

But after rounding the corner, he only managed to catch a glimpse of Candice and Lu Ke getting into a taxi. He raised his right hand to flag it down, but the cab just sped by, and he could only let his arm fall limply.

Standing rooted to the spot, Charlie watched the taxi recede into the distance, his mind swarming with ever more questions. Why did he feel a sense of loss, like he’d just lost his virginity?

...

”Don’t tell me you made a special trip over here just because I lost the game today?” Lu Ke and Candice were sitting side by side in the back seat, his eyes brimming with amusement.

From their brief conversation, Lu Ke had just learned that Candice had arrived in Philadelphia that afternoon. She had a photo shoot scheduled here for the next seven days, taking her to a different location each day. Candice had been on a flight during the game, so she’d missed the live broadcast. The moment she landed, she found out the game’s result, dropped her luggage at her hotel, and rushed right over.

Seeing Lu Ke’s teasing, meaningful expression, Candice shrugged. ”Well, since you put it that way, what can I possibly say? I have to deny it. ’Nope, of course not! I was just bored, thought it would be nice to take a stroll over here, and... well, here I am.’”

Her self-deprecating tone and mischievous expression brought the whole conversation to life. It made Lu Ke laugh out loud, and even Candice couldn’t help but smile. ”Bambi, I’m not worried about one loss, because I know you’re not that easily beaten. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be standing on that field in the first place, right?”

If he were afraid of failure, Lu Ke would have given up after being rejected twice in his freshman and sophomore years. If he were afraid of failure, he would have given up during the pain and torment of his time on the practice squad. If he were afraid of failure, he would have already given up before the draft, the tryout camps, or the first game of the regular season.

For Lu Ke, he had never been one to fear a challenge, nor had he ever been afraid of failure.

Candice knew this clearly. ”Today, I made a special trip just to tell you that you’re never fighting alone, and you’re not moving forward alone. On the field, you have your teammates. And off the field, you have your supporters.”

With that, Candice flashed a sweet smile. She made fists with her hands and struck a cheerleader’s pose, cheering him on.

But Lu Ke didn’t respond, and Candice’s pose became awkward. She sheepishly lowered her hands, her eyes wide as she looked at him, puzzled. ”What’s wrong?”

Lu Ke still didn’t answer. Instead, he tapped on the back of the driver’s seat. ”Sir, could you please pull over for a minute? I need to grab something from the supermarket.” The taxi pulled over to the side of the road quickly and neatly. ”Just a moment, I’ll be right back,” Lu Ke said, then turned to her. ”Wait for me for a second.”

Lu Ke opened the car door, got out quickly, and then, under Candice’s stunned gaze, jogged away, his figure growing smaller in the distance.

Candice blinked, feeling like her mind couldn’t keep up with Lu Ke’s tempo. Before she could even react, he was already out of the car and moving away. ”Bambi?” she called out instinctively, her mind filling with questions but no answers. ”Lu Ke! What... what just happened? You’re leaving? Just leaving all of a sudden? Lu Ke!”

’Even after knowing Lu Ke for so long, Candice still couldn’t fully grasp his train of thought. Then again, if she *hadn’t* known him for so long, she’d almost think she had run into a crazy person. But could someone please explain what on earth was going on?’

In her line of sight, Lu Ke laughed cheerfully, raised his hands, and then slowly pressed them down, mouthing the words, ”Be more ladylike.”

’He actually had the nerve to be joking at a time like this? And was he teasing her for not being a lady?’

Candice couldn’t help but bite her lower lip. Her eyes went wide, and she grimaced as she raised her right fist in protest. But she saw Lu Ke throw his head back and laugh joyfully. His backward steps didn’t pause; he turned, sped up, and ran into the supermarket, his figure finally disappearing inside the doors, out of sight.

”Miss, do we need to leave?”

The driver’s voice from the front seat broke the tense atmosphere. Candice let out a snort of laughter. Looking into the rearview mirror, she shook her head. ”No, that’s alright.” Then, she lifted her chin haughtily and said in an arrogant, I’m-the-boss kind of tone, ”I can give him ten minutes.”

But in reality, Candice waited a full twenty-five minutes before she saw Lu Ke, carrying a paper bag, jogging back and rushing into the car. He quickly closed the door. ”Go, let’s go now. Sorry, I didn’t get you a ticket, did I?”

”Well, ’gentleman,’ are you sure you didn’t just run into a pretty girl in the supermarket and suddenly found yourself unable to move? Is that what took so long?” Candice said, crossing her arms with a deadpan expression.

Lu Ke replied seriously, ”If that were the case, I would have texted you to leave without me.” Before Candice could clench her fists, Lu Ke opened the paper bag from the supermarket and handed her a green drink. ”You said earlier that you just dropped your luggage at the hotel after your flight and came straight here, so I figured you probably haven’t had lunch yet.”

Watching Lu Ke’s actions, Candice was stunned.

Lu Ke looked up, noticed Candice’s pause, and asked quizzically, ”Airplane food is all stuff you have to avoid, right? Or did you have a special diet meal prepared for today?”

Lu Ke handed the drink over. ”This is freshly squeezed kale juice. I had them make it with the ratio you used before. I watched them make the whole thing, so it’s one hundred percent all-natural. No problems.”

Kale—high in fiber, low in fat. It wasn’t just models; top Hollywood stars and professional high-level fitness trainers now all recommended eating kale as an important part of a diet for fitness, weight loss, and body sculpting.

Then, Lu Ke pulled two bananas from the paper bag. ”If you have a shoot this afternoon, you won’t be able to eat solid food until tonight at the earliest, so I figured you’d need these. I only got two. Is that enough?” When he looked up, he saw Candice’s completely astonished face. She was utterly speechless, her expression frozen, and he could see she was deeply moved.

Lu Ke chuckled. ”Don’t look at me like that, or you might just fall for me.”

”Lu! Ke!”