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I didn’t even register when Evan left the booth to go down to his mini game. I finally regained the ability to speak, and what I said was, “I grew up listening to you.”

Scooter let out a little laugh. “There’s a way to make a man feel old!”

But it was true. He’d been the voice of the Jacks for KPRD since I was a little girl. He’d never even seemed like a real person to me. Just this phantom voice who was doing what I’d hoped to do.

“Tell me about yourself. Did you grow up here in Portland? Have you always been a fan of the Jacks?”

Scooter Buxton wanted to talk about me? I wanted to talk about him! But instead, I answered his questions, and we chatted for a few minutes, and he did tell me a little bit about his background and family.

“You’re probably wondering why I asked you about yourself,” he said. “Chemistry is the most important thing in the booth. It helps when the two people working together know a little something about each other.”

Then Scooter showed me the control board and gave me a pair of headphones for when the game started.

“You ... want me to announce with you?” I felt an actual anxiety attack coming on. “I haven’t had any time to prepare!”

Had it been two professional teams, I would have had a board created with names, numbers, and positions so that I knew instantly who I was talking about. I would have watched game films to get a sense of their pass game and run game, what their specialty teams did, their defensive maneuvers, the sack reel, things like that.

And while I knew none of that mattered because it was just a pretend game, I didn’t like flying blind.

He picked up on my nervousness. “I understand wanting to be prepared. The thing is, if you do too much of it, you’ll want to share everything you learned. Which can be boring for the audience. Just follow the action. Let the game itself dictate what you should say. I think they’re getting ready to start.”

Scooter put his headphones on, and I did the same. I looked over the list Scooter had given me with the names and numbers of the elementary-age kids who were here to play with their heroes. I wanted them to have their moment in the spotlight; hopefully I wouldn’t mispronounce everything.

I couldn’t believe how panic-inducing this was. I’d called plenty of games live but never any of them in a professional stadium next to one of my personal role models.

“This is Scooter Buxton, and I’m joined today by Ashton Bailey. Say hello to our crowd, Ashton.”

“Hello, everyone! I can’t even tell you how excited I am to be here.”

He gave me a warm smile and introduced the players who were out on the field. The next hour seemed to just fly by. I did as he suggested and followed the game, and we quickly fell into a rhythm of who should talk and when.

It was everything I’d dreamed it would be. My throat didn’t even bother me, and I wasn’t sure whether that was due to finally recovering or all the adrenaline pumping through my system.

The mini game ended, and I faced Scooter as he turned off the microphones. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much of a dream come true this was for me.”

“Well, Evan Dawson asked for a personal favor. And who can say no to Evan?”

“I certainly haven’t.” My eyes went wide as I realized how that might have sounded. “I mean, except for that one thing. And I’m not the one who says no.” Gah! I was making it worse!

Scooter laughed and removed his headphones. “Evan gave me your audition CD. I was surprised to see you have real talent. Good instincts. Which you also showed me today. If this is your dream, I say keep chasing it.”

He walked me to the door while I kept shaking his hand and saying nonsense about what a pleasure it had been and how much I’d enjoyed it. At least, I think that’s what I said. I was possibly delirious with excitement and could not be held accountable for what came out of my mouth.

I’d only gone about ten feet down the hallway when Evan almost barreled straight into me. He picked me up in a bear hug and swung me around. “You did so good! I was so proud of you! I had a hard time concentrating on what I was doing because I just wanted to listen to you.”

“Thank you,” I told him, out of breath from his hug and his excitement for me, from the pride he took in what I’d done. It did something strange to my stomach, making it flip over a million times in a row. “You don’t know what this means to me. Literally the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

He released me and set me back on the ground, but I didn’t let go. I wanted to be close to him.

“When I asked you about your plans this week, there was something I forgot to ask.” He kissed my forehead softly, and I sighed.

“What did you want to ask me?”

“I wanted to ask you if you’d go to the reunion with me.”

“Really?” I squealed. Just when I’d thought this day couldn’t possibly get any better. “Yes! I mean, who didn’t have a fantasy of showing up to a high school party on the arm of the quarterback?”

“I never did.”