The Cheat Sheet

Nathan, also 28, is Bree’s love interest and a second protagonist in The Cheat Sheet. He is the quarterback of the NFL team the Los Angeles Sharks, but he feels as though he did not fully earn the position since he was drafted in the seventh round as a backup quarterback and only became starting quarterback after the previous starting quarterback broke his femur. Nathan proved himself by leading the Sharks to the Super Bowl and keeping the starting quarterback position, but he still experiences intense self-doubt. He comes from an affluent family, with his dad being a tech CEO and his mother spending her time at a country club in LA. His family has put pressure on him to succeed athletically since he was in high school, forbidding him from working and discouraging him from even spending time with Bree, his best friend, for fear of distraction. Nathan fell in love with Bree in high school but had his heart broken when she pushed him away during college. He wanted to ask her out when they reconnected in the coffee shop, but Bree had a boyfriend at the time. Ever since, he has pined for her while hiding his feelings. Still, Nathan tries to take care of Bree when he can, helping to pay her studio rent and eventually buying the building himself to help assuage her financial struggles. His generosity is integral to his character, as it matches Bree’s own generosity in keeping her studio open even as it negatively impacts her financially. This is one of the many attributes the couple has in common, which helps draw them together romantically.

Nathan’s background informs his view of himself and his place in the world. He thinks his privilege makes him unworthy of feeling overwhelmed, even believing that he does not “deserve” to rest (257). He thinks that because he comes from an affluent background, his success is unearned. This feeling also characterizes how he treats Bree and others in his life. He wants to help Bree because he finds her more deserving of success and kindness and care than himself. He values his friendship with Bree so highly that he cannot bring himself to risk it by being honest about his romantic feelings, though Jamal and the others in his life try to help him see that she feels the same way about him. However, once his romantic intentions are revealed, Nathan goes above and beyond to romance Bree, even planning a surprise wedding after the Super Bowl with all of their loved ones. As a romantic interest, he is caring, attentive, and devoted; he is an idealized man who, despite participating in a classically “masculine” sport, manages to push back against toxically masculine ideals.

Jamal is Nathan’s teammate on the LA Sharks. He exhibits many stereotypical behaviors associated with professional football players, including confidence, a party-oriented lifestyle, and flirtatious banter that he occasionally uses on Bree. Bree’s birthday gift to him, a mirror, reflects his obsession with his physical appearance, a trait that causes him to “slip off to look in the bathroom mirror a lot” on nights out (62). Jamal is a running back for the Sharks, a position that often results in flashy plays that lead to massive yard gains or even touchdowns. While Nathan views himself as the team leader and shoulders the responsibilities of the team and their success, Jamal relishes the chaos of fame. He laughs raucously at the rumors of Nathan’s erectile dysfunction, encourages Derek to throw the party that ends up larger than Nathan was comfortable with, and encourages Nathan to express his romantic feeling for Bree. Jamal is not a perfect foil for Nathan, but their differences do highlight the different perspectives on the fame and public perception that results from playing in the NFL. Nathan hides from the fame except in the public appearances necessitated by his career, agent, and family pressures, as evidenced by his feelings of overwhelming nervousness at the cheers of the crowd during NFL games. Jamal, however, “flexes both arms and gladiator-yells” at the start of the Super Bowl (280), clearly illustrating his comfort with the attention and its energizing qualities for him.

Lily is Bree’s older sister. Lily lives two hours outside of Los Angeles with her husband, Doug, and their three sons under the age of six. Bree describes Lily as her “polar opposite” (80). Bree has curly, wild hair, while Lily has long, straight, blonde hair. Bree lives a carefree lifestyle with Nathan and the other football players, while Lily is a devoted wife and mother. Bree is almost jealous of Lily but not of her life; she wants someone to love her “like Doug loves [Lily]” (80). Lily is Bree’s voice of reason, the person that she texts or calls to discuss all and any issues surrounding her feelings for Nathan. Lily rightfully thinks that Nathan returns Bree’s feelings, but Bree struggles to listen to her and believe Lily’s words. 

Lily and Bree have a typical big sister-little sister relationship. When Dylan arrives at Bree’s apartment with a ton of beauty projects to help her get ready for the magazine gala, Bree thinks, “Lily would be so jealous. I text her a picture like the annoying, gloating little sister that I am” (170). Like a typical younger sister, Bree wants to make Lily jealous about her experience in a light-hearted way. Lily, like a typical older sister, is very protective of Bree. While Lily is arguing with Vivian at the Super Bowl, Bree thinks, “Lily feels the need to go to bat for me and Nathan—which is adorable and hilarious to me because I don’t waste one feeling on Vivian” (281). Each sister fulfills the typical role associated with their birth order while demonstrating their love for each other through their actions.