She gives me a watery smile. “Do you think Poppy remembers me?” she whispers, her voice pained.
I nod. “Yeah, I do. Want to see her?”
When she agrees, I call Gabby on my cell. A few minutes later, she and Poppy come through the door, and my heart fills with warmth. God, I love them. I kiss Gabby and grab her hand.
“Cricket, this is my girlfriend Gabby.” Now that I understand how Gabby felt before I announced we were together, I use the g-word whenever I can. I never want her to doubt me again.
And someday soon, I’m planning to level up to the w-word.Wife. Because Gabriela Duran isitfor me.
My daughter stares at her birth mother and grins. She reaches out an arm to Cricket, but when Cricket tries to hold her, Poppy makes grabby hands for Gabby until the two women are standing side by side so my gremlin can hug them both.
I have no idea how we’re all going to work through this, but with Gabby in my life, I know we will. For the sake of my new family.
Epilogue
GABBY
Huddling into Rider,I smile. We’re freezing our tails off, but I don’t care. This is too cool.
“Do you realize we’re sitting in the same seats I had a year ago when you beat UT?” I mean, the exact same seats.
“No kidding?” His eyes are lasered to the players on the field. Pretty sure he wants to leap down there and play with them.
I tuck the Broncos blanket around us. Lowering my voice to a whisper, I add, “This game isn’t as good, but I might be biased.”
The Broncos are losing.
“Give the boys a chance. There’s still time.”
I stare at his stoic profile. He’s so serious when he’s watching a game.
The team is honoring him today by naming a scholarship after him during halftime. Coach Sully is here, and several of Rider’s teammates came too.
Another student skids to a halt when he sees my boyfriend. “Holy shit, it’s you. Man, I’m a huge fan. Like, huge!”
The last twelve months have catapulted Rider into mega-athlete-stardom, but he still tries to talk to everyone who approaches him, especially when he’s on campus.
“Hey.” Rider gives him an easy smile, which I know takes effort since he’s trying to pay attention to the game. The team has had a tough time transitioning to a new coach, but I think they’re finally coalescing under the different style of leadership.
Rider chats with the fan a few minutes and signs some autographs, but when the timer on his phone goes off, he excuses himself and turns to me. “Don’t forget. Stay put or I’ll never find you.”
I point to the seat beneath me. “I’ll be right here.” After he kisses me on the forehead, he stares at me a long moment. “What?”
“Nothing. Just feeling lucky I have you. You look amazing in my jersey, by the way.”
I won’t lie. I’ve always wanted to wear his old Broncos jersey. “Well, I’m incredibly proud of you. Go get more accolades.” I wave my hand toward the field. Then I whisper in his ear, “When we get to the hotel, I’m gonna take everything offexceptthe jersey.”
“Mm. Love the sound of that, Gabriela.”
I never thought I’d get so turned on by the sound of my name.
He plants a kiss on me that gets the students around us cheering. I laugh and playfully shove him away.
Without his body heat, it’s cold and my butt goes numb as I sit here, but I don’t care. I’m having too much fun. His NFL games in Dallas are amazing, but there’s something really special about being on Bronco turf.
I’m almost teary-eyed when I think back to standing in this spot during his UT game last year. If I hadn’t given in and gone to that game, I would’ve missed so much—the Cotton Bowl. His championship. The Heisman. All his hard work paid off when he went number one in the draft.
My heart swells with pride and love for that man.
