“Hey, back.” I give him a girly smile, barely suppressing a giggle. “What are you doing? Your team is on the other side of the field.”
He glances back at the Ravenwood players. “Oh, I thought something seemed off. I need a good luck kiss.” He glances at my mouth, then lower to my throat.
“Okay.” I twist my fingers into his jersey and step closer to him. He leans in, brushing his lips against mine in a gentle kiss.
“Thank you,” he breathes over my lips and then dips his head down, kissing the base of my throat.
When his eyes meet mine, I reach out, taking his hand and bringing it to my lips, kissing his palm. “Make this moment matter.”
His smile gets bigger and his eyes crinkle. “Thank you, Baby.”
“Anytime, Stud.”
Ford nods, winking at me. He backs up a few steps, then turns and runs back onto the field. Jack and Tyler are still standing there waiting for him. When he reaches them, they turn and run across the field together. Leah grabs my hand, and it’s like life comes back into focus. The roar of the fans. The loud music. I can feel eyes on me from everywhere. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. “Are you okay?” Leah asks.
“I’m good, thanks.” Leah nods, squeezing my shoulder.
“Go, Titans!” Leah yells, calling for a cheer. I ignore the stares. They’ll be off me and on the field as soon as the whistle blows.
The game is rough. Players on both sides keep getting personal fouls. Ford has had two late hits resulting in roughing the passer penalties. It should have given us a significant advantage, but our defense has also had several personal fouls, most of them unnecessary roughness. It’s the fourth quarter with two and a half minutes left. The score is 17 to 20.
We’ve made two touchdowns, and one field goal, and Ravenwood has made two touchdowns and two field goals. We have the ball, and Coach Anderson has been calling running plays for the past five minutes, slowly pushing the ball downfield, eating up time. With under two minutes left in the game, Ty finally makes a run that’s over five yards, putting us inside the twenty-yard line, and giving our team another first down. They struggle the next three plays, only making it a total of six yards. Coach Anderson takes a timeout to stop the clock. Music plays, and Leah has us do one of our short dances, but no one is paying attention to us. Everyone’s on pins and needles, waiting to see what play the coach will call. We finish dancing just as the ref blows his whistle.
I glance across the field, expecting to see the kicking team take the field to try for a field goal—instead, Ford, Ty, Jack, and the rest of the offense line up. The crowd goes wild. Ford calls the play. He takes a few steps back and turns to hand the ball off to Ty, but when he turns back, I see it’s a fake, and Ford still has the ball. He follows behind Jack, who makes a hole for him to run through. I jump up and down, screaming with excitement as I watch Ford dodge defense players and run as fast as he can into the end zone, making a touchdown. I’m still shouting and still bouncing on the balls of my feet. I turn, throwing my arms around Aubrey and squeezing her. The entire stadium erupts into deafening cheers. The kicking team makes the extra point, and the buzzer sounds, ending the game. I don’t even drop my pom-poms as I run out onto the field. I find Ford and Jump, throwing myself at him. He catches me, wrapping his arms around me.
“You were amazing!” I holler, giving him a quick kiss. Everyone around us is celebrating. Ty comes up behind Ford, I hold my hand out, and he jumps up, high-fiving me. I lean my forehead against Ford’s. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m on cloud nine.” He kisses me again.
“Ford!” someone hollers. I glance behind me to see his dad standing next to his coach and several other men. I push on Ford’s chest, and he reluctantly lets me down.
When I try to walk away, Ford grabs my hand, tightening his hold. I squeeze back, telling him I’m not going anywhere. So I straighten my skirt and try to smile.
“Congratulations, Ford,” a man wearing a red jacket with a U logo says.
“Thank you, Coach Smith.”
“U of U would love to have you. I’ll leave my information with your coach and your dad. Call me anytime. I’d love to answer any question you have.” Coach Smith holds out his hand to Ford.
Ford shakes his hand. “I will. Thank you for coming out to the game.”
A couple more coaches congratulate Ford and say something similar tohim. Ford’s dad stands there the whole time, mediating the interactions. A crowd has formed around Ford while he talks to all the coaches. It makes me nervous, and I fidget. Ford notices and gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. Once the coaches from all the schools finish talking to him, the news outlets want a word with him. Jack and Tyler appear from somewhere and stand next to Ford. I try to let go of Ford’s hand so I can bleed into the background, but he tightens his hold, so I stay.
Finally, the crowd disperses after what feels like forever, and we make our way out of the stadium. “I’ll see you at my house,” I say once we get to the parking lot, but Ford keeps his hand in mine, waking with me.
“I rode to the school with T. Will you give me a ride home?” He tilts his head, giving me a cheesy smile.
I tap my finger against my chin, pretending to contemplate, then huff, looking exasperated. “I guess. If I have to.” I tease.
Ford reaches behind me, pinching my butt. “You’re such a smart ass.”
I let out a squeak, jumping away from him. “Why, thank you.”
When we get to my car, I open the hatch with my key fob, and Ford shoves his football pads inside. Without thinking, I jump in the passenger seat before realizing this is my car,not Ford’s. “Jeez, I must be tired,” I mutter and open my door, but before I get out, Ford hops in the driver’s seat and starts the car like it’s no big deal.
When we pull up to his house, his dad’s SUV is parked in the driveway. “Great,” he mutters, scrubbing a hand through his hair.
I squeeze his hand. “What do you want to do?”
