Time slows and it’s like seconds drift into minutes until she nods. It’s so small, if you weren’t looking for it, you’d definitely miss it. But I’m looking. I’ve always been looking. She looks over the balcony edge, and her side silhouette could bring me to my knees.
I free one of my hands and use a finger to gently put it under her chin, pulling her focus back to me, tipping her face up to mine.
“Do you want me to kiss you?”
Only inches separate us. I swear I can feel the beat of her racing heart, or maybe it’s mine. She’s looking at me like there’s something she has to discover, lifting corners and checking behind things. Hunting for the truth that maybe we’vebothbeen dodging. She must find what she’s looking for because a smirk pulls at one corner of her lips, and she’s pressing into me.
Fuck. She’s going to kiss me.
Blair’s lips are a moment away, a place I’ve wanted to go since I met her.
“Hey,” Someone rounds the corner. At the sound of the voice, the feel of the steps, we both step away from each other. “Zack said I had to bring one of these out.” A teammate holds up an espresso martini. “He said he got new coffee beans for Blair to try.”
The universe is conspiring against me.
Her hand easily slips from mine like she’s afraid to leave evidence behind.
“Thanks,” she says, accepting the drink with a smile that is nowhere close to what she was just giving me. Her cheeks are flushed—guilty or frustrated or both. Mine too.
The guy doesn’t notice a thing. He leaves. The air stays thick.
Blair ducks her head, breathing out a shaky laugh. “Of course.”
I can’t take my eyes off her mouth—the almost of it all.
“We should…go back in,” she says, but her voice wavers like she’s not sure she means it.
I nod, because if I speak, it’ll be her name and a plea.
We step inside. Music swallows us. People pull her away. She glances over her shoulder, and the look says: Later. Please let there be a later.
I’m left standing there, heart still leaning toward her like we never stepped apart —knowing one more second alone and I would’ve finally tasted her.
Cosmos Hold Off Ducks, Continue to Redefine NFL Special Teams Play
UPSTATE, N.Y.—The Upstate Cosmos beat the Detroit Ducks 26–14 on Sunday afternoon, riding a now-signature mix of gutsy play-calling, power runs, and a little bit of chaos.
For the third week in a row, the Cosmos leaned on an aggressive, field-goal-optional approach—and once again, it worked.
They went 2-for-4 on two-point conversions this time; not quite the clean sweep they pulled off against Seattle, but enough to keep control.
Blair Miller, in just her third game as the first woman ever on an NFL roster, added two more extra points to her total. She also attempted herå first career field goal—a 35-yarder late in the fourth quarter. The ball had distance but drifted wide right.
“I told her before the game, ‘They’re gonna let you try one. Be ready,’” said injured kicker Benny White, who watched from a suite with friends and family. “She was ready. That’s all you can ask. She’s got nerves I haven’t seen in this league in a long time.”
Miller’s jersey remains the best seller in the league for another week.
White, sidelined indefinitely with a femur and tibia injury, has remained a vocal supporter of Miller. He stood for the kick, clapped when it missed, and cheered her on from the suite.
Miller was mobbed after her second extra point in the fourth—not because it was desperately needed, but because her teammates clearly want her to win as badly as the scoreboard does.
The Cosmos are on a three game winning streak with one field goal attempt and the same amount of misses. Their offense seems to thrive in unconventional situations, while their kicker is rewriting league history every week. And their special teams unit, once the question mark of the preseason, has become the heartbeat of one of the most unlikely starts in the NFL this year.
The Cosmos are headed to Illinois for an away game versus the Chicago Cougars next week.
Eleven
Blair
