Though we’d kicked their asses 45-7 in the season finale, the Bears arrived to our home turf with a few new wrinkles of their own.Somewhere in the intervening weeks since we’d last faced each other, they’d discovered a speedy returner—someone Dalton apparently hadn’t studied much on film because he kicked the opening ball right to the guy who lit up our bombers, racing by them like they were standing still.By the time our guys had reacted, their returner only had Dalton to beat to score on the opening kickoff.Fortunately for us, Sneed had some speed in him, so he managed to chase the runner out of bounds, but the Bears’ starting series was on our twelve-yard line.
It took them six tries, but they finally scored a touchdown, putting us behind the eight-ball right out of the break.
When it was his turn, our returner wasn’t quite as successful, but he gave us decent field position when we started on our own forty.I was hoping Coach Wiley would call one of our new plays in our opening series, but instead we shocked them with one of our favorites: a fake to Danny on the crossing route and a long ball to Callahan streaking down the right hash—sixty-yard touchdown.
From there, both defenses stiffened up, and the game remained knotted at 7-7 until the end of the third quarter.The Bears were on their own forty-five and driving.Using one of Coach’s new plays, Bax showed blitz, then at the last second backed out, but it was too late for their quarterback, who’d committed to the pass over Bax’s head.Bax batted the ball out of the air and right into his own hands, then he picked up seven yards before the Bears O-line tackled him at the thirty-eight.
Now it was Coach Wiley’s turn to dial up a play out of the new playbook.Tarvi lined up in the Wildcat formation behind Dally, with Danny and me lining up wide right and wide left.Biting on the run, the Bears loaded the box, so we caught them flat-footed when Tarvi tossed the ball to Danny.Instead of the wild running around in the backfield that we’d done to them in the last game, this time I ran Danny’s usual crossing route.He threw a perfect spiral, which I caught in stride.Then I showed the sold-out stadium that Tarvi wasn’t the only one who could turn on the jets.
We ended the third quarter up a score, breaking the Golden Bears’ momentum.In the fourth, Taco and Finn got in on the turnover fun too, and the rout was on.We scored three more touchdowns in that quarter, winning the game 35-7.More importantly, we were headed to the National Championship.
Long after we’d met up with my family for another celebratory dinner, long after we’d celebrated in the big house on Jock Street, and shortly after the first of what I intended to be several private celebrations, Saylor and I lay quietly in her bed.She was drawing lazy patterns through the hair on my chest, and I was reciprocating over the silky skin covering her ribs.
In the soft darkness in the deep hours of the morning, she whispered, “The pros are going to pick you up.Two touchdown passes—one of them half the length of the field—and a rushing touchdown that showed off your speed in the semifinal game guarantees it.”
My fingers stilled on her body.“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, babe.We have one more game to play, followed by a load of preparation for pro days and a shit-ton of D-I players for teams to choose.Nothing is guaranteed.”
Saylor grinned into my chest.“It is if the scouts watched the same game I did.”
“Aw, fuck, babe.”I lifted myself up enough to look into her eyes.“Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
“Maybe,” she drawled in a tease.Then she pushed herself up to look me in the eyes, her expression as serious as I’d ever seen it.For a minute, my breath backed up in my chest.“I truly wasn’t ready for you, Cash Donovan.But you’re kind of relentless.”
I huffed out a laugh.“Only when I want something.”
A smile ghosted her lips.“You kept coming at me and coming at me.No matter how many roadblocks I tried to put up, you just kept coming.When you went against your instincts and stepped back to let me fight my own battles with Barry, that told me you believed in me.”Gazing up at me from beneath her brows, she planted a kiss over my heart.“When you did that, you touched my heart all the way to the bone.”She climbed up to press her chest to mine, our lips a breath apart.“I love you, Cash Donovan.No matter what happens, I’m all-in with you.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Cash
We won theFCS National Championship.
It was a dogfight with the defending National Champions from South Dakota, but on a last-second Hail Mary, I dropped the ball right into Callahan O’Reilly’s hands like we’d done throughout the second half of the season after I took over from Mick Patterson.’Han was determined to win no matter what and dragged four defenders with him across the line into the end zone.When the final buzzer blared, we were up 27-24 with no need for Dalton to finish the game with a PAT.
We arrived back on campus to a hero’s welcome with a parade down Main Street, a trip to the Governor’s Mansion, and a massive pep rally when Coach Ellis hung our championship banner in the rafters of the field house.I thought nothing in the world could beat the euphoria of winning that game
Then Saylor invited me to the SCR Mardi Gras party.
Even though I was now an alum, I was still on campus studying for the MCAT and working out for NFL pro day tryouts for the pro scouts, because I wanted to stay close to her for as long as possible.At the masquerade, I managed to talk her into meeting me outside that upstairs bathroom where our story began.Like that first night, I pressed her against the wall and kissed the hell out of her.Shortly afterward, we left the party.
I didn’t take her straight to her place though.Instead, I drove us to the bronze statue of a filmmaker in the yard between the Film building and the now frozen duck pond.When I dropped to one knee, she gasped, and when I opened the box with the pear-cut diamond flanked by four pink tourmalines, tears glittered in her eyes.
“We’re young, and we don’t have a crystal ball for the future, but the one thing I’m certain of—whatever the future brings—is that the only person I want to face it with is you, Saylor.”
Taking my wrists, she tugged me up to stand in front of her.“Is there a question in there?”The quaver in her words stole some of their sass.
A grin split my face.“Will you marry me?”
“Yes.”Going up on her toes, she said it again against my lips.“Yes.”
I almost dropped the ring when she pressed her mouth to mine.Several more kisses followed nervous laughter as I rescued the ring and slipped it onto her finger.Only then did I take her back to her place.
Custom dictated that players who were expected to go in the late rounds of the draft should await the news with their families, but SoCal was too far away for Saylor to go with only three weeks until finals and her graduation.So we hung out at my place with my parents, Taco, and Dalton.Dally was at his parents’ place in Eastern Montana, hoping to hear his name called as well.
To no one’s surprise, Callahan O’Reilly went in the third round—a high placement for an FCS tight end, but the guy had earned it.’Han was a beast.Bax and Finn both went late in the fifth round, and I had no doubt Coach Ainsworth was losing his mind about his defensive guys going that high.
Even though I’d come into college as a top prospect, my convoluted route to this day meant I was probably looking at free agency—not a great place for a quarterback, but I’d kind of resigned myself to it.Then in the middle of the sixth round, my phone rang.
