“Third and long,” Dorian said.
The section fell silent as the crowd dialed entirely to the game.
Trent leaned forward. “He’s gonna take that poor guy for a ride.”
I followed to where everyone else was looking. Sawyer crouched low on the line, his fingers brushing the turf, that massive frame waiting. He rolled his shoulders and dropped into position. I tried not to catalogue how good he looked doing literally anything, but my brain was a traitor with a damn zoom function solely focused on him.
The ball snapped, and everything happened fast.
Sawyer surged forward with so much force, I gasped. The guy across from him met him head-on. It lasted half a second, maybe less. Then, he was driven backward like he weighed nothing at all. I stood without thinking as everyone else did the same.
Sawyer didn’t stop. He kept going, cleared the lane like he’d planned the whole thing two plays ago. The ball was gone before I even realized it left West’s hands.
A clean pass. A clean catch.
Touchdown.
The stadium lost its mind.
Gracie shrieked, her glitter sign shaking in the air. Trent jumped up, yelling something unintelligible. David didn’t move, but there was a quiet sort of pride in the way he nodded.
Sawyer pulled off his helmet, a victorious grin already spreading across his face, and suddenly, he was moving. Not walking, not jogging—running straight toward me as if I were the only person in that packed stadium.
“Is he—?” I started but couldn't finish the thought.
Dotty whooped. “Oh yeah, he’s coming for you.”
“He wouldn’t.”
“He absolutely would.”
And he did, right over the barrier as if it were nothing, as if the crowd and cameras and security had ceased to exist. Still breathing hard from the game, hair damp with sweat, hestopped directly in front of me with an expression that made my heart stutter.
His hands found my face before I could process anything, and when he kissed me, the rest of the world dissolved.
The cheering crowd, the blazing lights, the thundering music—all of it melted away until nothing remained but us and this overwhelming feeling that rewrote everything I thought I knew about wanting someone.
“Had to celebrate with my girl,” he said with a wink.
He pressed his forehead to mine and then gave it a quick kiss before hopping down, not acknowledging his family other than a quick wave as he jogged backward.
Dotty let out a breath like she’d been holding it the whole time. “Okay. So that happened.”
“That happened,” Gracie shouted with her sign, now completely upside down. “He kissed her!”
I dropped into my seat before my knees decided to do it for me. Everything inside me was scrambled—my pulse, my brain, my entire sense of reality.
Colt didn’t say a word, but I felt him watching me.
The rest of the game played out in pieces. I clapped when they clapped, stood when everyone else did, but my eyes stayed locked on Sawyer.
The Rebels had a six-point lead after a late field goal in the fourth, but the other team had possession and thirty yards to the end zone. Enough time to ruin everything.
There was another down, another huddle. I mouthed numbers along with the play clock, hoping I could hex the other team.
Snap.
The pass never left the quarterback’s hand when he was sacked. At least, that’s what Dotty told me happened.
