This. This is what they wanted from us.
When I finally make it to the bottom of the stairs, security ushers me onto the field. The crowd is almost deafening.
Colton’s gaze meets mine, and he offers me a soft smile.
“Take that sweatshirt off so they can see what you’re wearing,” he says into the microphone, and I blush.
“Fuck off,” I murmur back as I do as he says, pulling the hoodie off my shoulders and exposing his name on the back of the jersey I’m wearing.
The crowd loses it when they see it, and it only grows as Colton takes a step forward, the mic dropping to his side, his other hand curling against the back of my neck.
“I’m so sorry I left without an explanation, but I promise it’s a good one. I did it for us. For you.”
That makes me shudder in relief as he pulls me forward, and his lips meet mine. The kiss is rough, all tongue and spit, possessive and domineering. I can’t help but sink into it, realizing how much I missed this while he was gone and knowing that I forgive him already. If he says it’s a good explanation, then I believe him.
My hands sink into his hair, and I pull him into me, everything else fading into the background. And when we pull apart, our lips are wet, our bodies vibrating with need.
“I missed you,” he mouths, and I swallow back my emotion.
“I missed you, too.”
His hand reaches out, and he places something in my hand.
I turn my palm up and see my grandma’s lucky coin sitting there.
“Youdidsteal it. Why?”
He leans forward and whispers in my ear. “I wanted your kind of luck. I wanted just a second of what you had. But now I don’t need it.”
“Why?”
“Because I have you. And that’s as lucky as I can possibly get. I love you, Myles.”
Tears blur my vision as I pull him in for another kiss, and I hear the crowd go wild.
This all may not have gone exactly as I planned, but it did end the way I wanted it to.
Him with me, and me with him. For the whole world to see.
The game is over. Colton is riding the high of winning, and I’m still riding the high from him kissing me and professing his love in front of everyone. I didn’t go back to my seat in the crowd after that. I sat with the team, most of them welcoming me with slaps on the back and fist bumps. A few didn’t acknowledge me, but they didn’t sneer either. So, to me, it ended well. A turning point in sports, I think.
Colton meets me outside the locker room, his hair damp from the shower, his body smelling like soap. But more than that, he looks happy. Free.
I need to know what happened.
“You look good,” I tell him, and he grins.
“It’s all the winning I’m doing.”
“Fuck off,” I laugh, and he brings me in for another kiss. It’s met with catcalls and jeers, but they’re mostly all in good humor. So we let it go, linking hands and walking to our cars in the parking lot.
“When did you get back?” I ask him.
“Right before the game. Everything had to happen now. Before things got worse.”
“What things?”
He glances around and bites his lip.
