As discreetly as he could, he took out his phone and, under the table, changed the vibration pattern to pulsating.
Ella gasped, and Zee wrapped his leg around hers as speaker after speaker droned on about the success of the university.
Her nails dug through the light material of his slacks, and he almost missed it when they rolled to the awards part of the ceremony.
“And now to present tonight’s inaugural awards, the first one honouring Zee Riddell, two legendary athletes, please welcome to the stage, Roger Miller and Nico Rodriguez!”
Zee’s cheeks flamed as his old teammates and rivals shot up from their chairs.
“Surprise, old buddy!”Roger said.
“The look on your face!”Nico pointed at him before he ran up on stage, following Roger.
“Good evening, we are pleased to be here to honour our coach,” Roger started, leaning into the microphone.”
“And less pleased but equally honoured to be here to celebrate the achievements of Zee Riddell, even though I still kind of hold a grudge that Zee took home the gold right from under me,” Nico said.
The tight expression on his face made him uneasy but Ella pulled on his arm.
“Zee!Please.”
“Not yet, my love.”He stalled the app, giving his submissive a break.
And because he tried to focus on what they were saying.
Something about a scholarship in his name.
“See?Told you we had things up our sleeves.We got an award named after you too!”Gilbert said from across the table.
“Think I would come all this way for an award named for me?”Coach Howard’s mouth twitched.
“I thought you’d be honoured,” Zee mumbled.
“You’re the reason I’m here,” Coach said, slapping him on the back.
Ella squeezed his hand and his eyes blurred with tears.
Zee’s face heated as his name was announced and he stood, leaned down and brushed his lips to Ella.
“I’m so proud of you, my love.”
The look of love and pride in her green eyes is what got him on the stage to accept the plaque from his rival and teammate.
Words stuck in his throat but he kept his gaze on Ella, saw how she sat straight in her chair, focused only on her and the words came.
“This is a surprise and an honour.As a swimmer who grew up as poor as the dirt, I know how hard it is to maintain academics when your home life isn’t the best and I am thrilled that this scholarship will help a student who might be in a similar situation.But I couldn’t have done it without the support of my coach, Fredrick Howard.Coach Howard pushed me to do my best, no matter where my head was at, every day at the pool and I am forever grateful for those lessons.”
He stopped, knowing he rambled, took a breath and continued.
“I couldn’t have done what I did in the pool if I didn’t have the love and support of my wife, Ella waiting for me at home.Ella, you are my everything.I can’t wait to see what our team does this year.Coach Howard, come up and say a few words!”
The audience broke out with applause and cheering as Coach came on stage and embraced Zee and then Nico and Roger huddled around him to more cameras going off and cheers from the crowd.
But he wanted to go back to Ella.
Racing down the steps of the stage, he reached her and pulled her into a tight embrace, kissing her with all the relief and pride he felt.
***
