Ryan pulls me tighter to him, shifting on the couch so we’re closer to lying down. “I would’ve told you anyway. I knew I couldn’t lose you, and reading your words inspired me. We were always meant to be together.”
My eyes drift up to his. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He cups my cheek and kisses me, not giving a damn that everyone is watching us, and for once, I don’t care either. These people are my family, and we’re lucky to have their support—meddling and all.
“Hey,”Kennedy says, joining me in the kitchen where I’m unloading the dishwasher. Christy, Keaten, and my mom got back about an hour ago, and everyone has separated off into little groups. Christy, Hallie, and Ryan are judging a fashion show Sophia is putting on—mostly with Christy’s clothes. Wilson and Mark have been talking football while Devon catches up with Justin and Jade. Kennedy was chatting with my mom and Keaten, but Mom went off to bed, and now Keaten has joined as a judge for the fashion show. I’m still wondering about her friendship with Christy, but unlike everyone else in this room, I can survive without meddling.
“Hey.” I pause and take her in. “You look cute with your little bump. Are you and Dev excited?”
Her smile could light the city. “So excited.” She looks over at Devon, then up at me. “It’s fulfilling a longtime dream.”
“I get that. In a different way, but I get it.”
“I know you do. So…”
“Yeah?”
She leans against the counter. “When I was going out to visit Dev in May and everyone teased me about wanting him and told me to say something, you defended me. Told them it wasn’t easy when it was risking a friendship. You were talking about Hardy, weren’t you?”
I turn toward the living room, and like he can feel my stare, he turns and smiles at me before focusing back on Sophia.
“Yeah. I was.”
“Look at us now.”
“Part of me regrets not acting on it sooner because I’ve never known happiness like this. Or peace.”
“Finding the person who completes you will do that.” She looks out at everyone, all the love in the room. “We’re all whole on our own, but I truly believe our hearts or maybe our souls are never quite complete without the right person. Maybe it’s someone we build love with or maybe it’s the love we stumble into, but either way, we’re the best versions of ourselves when we have that.”
“That’s very profound,” I say softly.
“Well, I was inspired by that poet you suggested we carry at the library in Brighton. B.W. Cole? He had some relatable things to say about life, longing, and love.” She looks up at me with a knowing smile.
I can’t hide the pink creeping onto my cheeks.
She elbows me gently. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. But I hope someday you feel ready to share a little more of yourself with the world, because you have so much beauty to share.”
She leans up and kisses my cheek, then heads toward where Devon, Justin, and Jade are chatting.
Again, my man turns and looks at me, his eyes lingering on me as he smiles, and this is it. This is all I need to be happy for the rest of my life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
HARDY
Fun fact:winning the Super Bowl is hard.
We’re up against the same team we played last year, and like last year, it’s a fight. Thankfully, we’re fighting the other team this time, and not our own, but it’s possible we were a little too confident going in, and we’ve had our asses checked plenty of times.
I don’t want to say we were sure we’d win. One game at a time is our mantra, but we let how well we’ve done all season and the whispers about us having the odds at winning creep into the back of our minds. And as cocky-by-nature football players, it led to a touch of overconfidence.
But as we walk into the locker room at half-time, score tied at seventeen each, most of the team is worn down and losing faith. We’ve had to fight and claw for every score we earned this game, and every time we got ahead, they evened things up in the next set of downs. That kind of game takes a mental toll. One we can’t afford to have right now if we still want to win.
I’m not giving up hope. We’re still in this. If it’s up to me, we can and we fucking will bring it home, we just have to get our heads back in the game.
Brian and I made the decision not to tell anyone else on the team about us yet. We’ve considered doing it after this if we win. Maybe even if we lose. We were both honest enough to admit we want this win, and if keeping our relationship to ourselves these past few weeks helped us get here, it’s a small sacrifice.
Chet Collins is still acting like a little bitch. Sneering at us and saying we better hope we win this game.
