No pressure.
I take a deep breath.
“Who’s ready to win this and put the Horns out of their misery?” I ask my guys. Their eyes spark with intensity as they shout in agreement.
We had a shitty return on the punt, so we’re looking at seventy yards for a touchdown. We don’t need a Hail Mary just yet, and I’m not ready to chance it when there’s time on the clock.
When we break from the huddle, I clear my head of everything except the play I need to execute.
I smile to myself. Been dying to try this all season.
The ball snaps.
I drop into the pocket and pretend to search downfield. I fake a pass to Ben with my right hand, but the ball is in my left, which I hold out to Winston as he skirts by and hightails it downfield.
A beautiful Statue of Liberty handoff, if I do say so myself.
He runs it forty yards. Fuck yeah.
First down with thirty yards left.
Unfortunately, we get bogged down on the next play and still need twenty-five yards with a minute left.
On the next snap, UT blitzes, and those fuckers come at me full speed.
A brick wall of brown uniforms blaze my way, and I dodge the first guy, but the second one slams into my left shoulder, shoving me backwards.
God, no.
I’ll kick my own ass if I get sacked right now.
Scrambling, I pray to the gods of gravity to keep me upright.
With a heartbeat to spare before I go down on my ass, my peripheral vision snags on that beautiful Bronco uniform in the end zone, and I gun it over the bodies that close over that small window.
I hit the ground hard, the wind getting knocked out of me, but I’m too busy trying to figure out if I nailed that pass to breathe.
A silence descends over the stadium. A million lifetimes condense into that split second.
Then the crowd roars as Trevor catches my pass for a touchdown, and I gasp for air.
Hell, yeah. Looks like we’re winning this game.
* * *
Standing on the sidelines as we nail the extra point through the goal post, I smile as my teammates smack me on the back. The crowd is so loud, I can’t hear anything except the roar of excitement.
I turn to the stands, like I have for so many games, but when my eyes snag on Gabby, I realize I have a family. Damn, I’ve missed her.
She and Sienna and Bree are hopping around and yelling, but like she feels me watching, Gabby turns to me and mouths,Oh, my God! You did it!
And for the moment that our eyes connect, there’s no turmoil between us, no arguments or misunderstandings or hurt feelings. She has no idea how much it means to me that she put all of our shit aside and came today to support me.
It makes me love her even more.
The crowd starts to rush the field when the clock runs out. A mass of fans are headed right toward us. Against the traffic, I bolt toward the stands and leap up to hang off the railing. Gabby’s gorgeous smile greets me, but before she can say anything, I lean up, grab her beautiful face, and kiss her.
As soon as our lips meet, all the puzzle pieces click together.
