“We’re tailgating at the stadium?” I blurted, louder than I probably should’ve. The whiskey-coffee combo might’ve loosened my tongue.
Earl caught my eye in the rearview mirror, his grin wide. “Who do you think I am?” he shouted over the noise with mock offense. “Of course we tailgate at the stadium!”
The whole bus erupted in cheers, and I couldn’t help but join in.
The bus finally came to a stop, the engine rumbling low before cutting off completely. The chatter and laughter around me dimmed as everyone began to gather their things, pulling on jackets and hats, ready to pour into the cold November air.
I looked out the window—and there it was.
The stadium.
Even after all these years, it took my breath away. The OCU stadium had been built in the early 1920s, and held the sense of another era—arched stone entrances crowned with banners, red brick walls weathered but strong, and iron gates gleaming in the sunlight. The tall lights loomed like sentinels against the pale sky, and the carved cardinal statues perched on either side of the main arch looked as fierce and proud as I remembered.
It wasn’t just a structure. It was a home, in its own way.
I’d grown up watching games on TV every Saturday with my brother. He’d be yelling at the screen, and I’d watch, enraptured, as he explained plays like it was life or death. I could almost hear his voice, the sound of his shout—could almost feel the vibration of his excitement beside me.
My chest ached, heavy and potent with a grief I rarely allowed myself to acknowledge.
I closed my eyes and drew in a slow breath, letting the cold air sting my lungs. The hurt was always there—deep and steady—but for once, I didn’t push it away.
When I opened my eyes again, the sunlight hit the red and white flags rippling over the stands, and something in me loosened.
I made a decision, then. I was going to enjoy this day, no matter what.
For him.
17
Graham
IknewQuinnwasintense.It was baked into her personality. Like a fierce little lynx, sharp and stubborn and focused.
But I never expected the version of her that came out during that football game.
Quinn was all in.
She cheered with the crowd, yelled every chant and fight song at the top of her lungs. She never left her feet so she didn’t miss a single play. My entire family were Cardinal fans—we often attended this very game whenever possible—but I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen someone so dedicated.
I could barely look away from her. It was such a deviation from the tense, carefully crafted facade.
She looked free.
“Come on, come on…” she muttered under her breath, shifting from foot to foot as her body convulsed with nerves. She glanced at me; her pale-blue eyes glinted like thawing frost in the sun. “We can do this,” she said, voice determined.
The Cardinals were on the Walleye twenty-five-yard line and had barely missed the marker by a yard on third down. Only seconds remained on the game clock, and Cardinals were down by five. Only a touchdown was going to win this. OCU would have to go for it on fourth down. If they didn’t make at least that one yard, the game was over and they’d lose for the fourth year in a row.
My heart raced in anticipation. Everyone was on their feet, and I wouldn’t have been able to hear Quinn over the roar of the crowd if I hadn’t been so near. So many people were packed into the stadium that we were like sardines, pressed in on one another. But I didn’t mind being so close to her.
“Of course we can do it,” I assured her.
Quinn clasped her gloved fingers together as she glanced back down at the field. We had killer seats on the fifty-yard line. The tickets would’ve been impossible to procure if I hadn’t had my own connections. They were worth every penny.
“We still have time,” she continued, speaking mostly to herself. “We just need that one yard and then we have time to get it in the end zone. They can do it.”
I nudged her shoulder with mine. Even though the stakes of the coming moment were astronomical—the entire game was on the line—I gave her an easy smile. “One yard is nothing.”
She threw me a look. It wasn’t nothing, not in a game like this.
