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“Oh, baby, you’d better make good on that promise because I assure you, we’ll win.” I walk backward as I talk, and with a final wink at her, I turn and head toward the locker room.

It’s not a complete blowout, but we are pretty much destroying Chandler State. This win will knock them out of playoff contention and secure our spot as the division champions.

We’re in the fourth quarter with five minutes left on the play clock. Our defense is in right now, and State has the ball on the forty-two-yard line on third down.

Their quarterback snaps the ball, but our defense reads the play quickly, and two of our linebackers rush up the middle in a cross-dog blitz that State doesn’t see coming. This block makes it fourth down, and with nothing left to lose, they run another play. One of our top defensive ends stops the play by leaping over the center and sacking the quarterback.

A whistle blows, and we see a yellow towel thrown onto the field. A false start is called on the defense and goes under review. We’re all standing impatiently while the refs review the play on the monitor. A few minutes later, the lead ref announces there was no false start, and we resume play.

Running back to the sideline, our defense is hyped up, getting in our faces and smacking our helmets to pump us up. The energy on the sideline is like a playoff game. Wins against our rival team are a big deal. We’re ready to lock this in and head home.

Pitz played the first quarter and did okay, but the score was neck and neck, so Coach put Callaway in.

Bo is an enigma. This kid is something special on the field. There’s no doubt he’ll go pro and likely before his senior year. I know he’s already heavily scouted, and he’s a true freshman. Barring any injuries, this guy will be a huge name in pro football someday.

Our offense runs out onto the field and gets into a huddle on the thirty-five-yard line. Bo calls a play-action pass, which is a fake pass off to me, but he’ll turn to the other side of the line and throw the ball off to Casey. The goal is to get Casey as far down the field as possible and this play should give him the time to do that. It’ll all happen so fast that it’ll make the defense think I’m in possession of the ball and moving down the field.

We break and get into position.

Bo shouts, “Red one! Red one! Alamo!”

Then he claps, and the ball snaps from the center right into his hands. Bo turns to me on his right and fakes the pass. He spins around as I take off running down the field with my arms folded, as if I were holding the ball. From my peripheral vision, I see Casey pass the fifty-yard line and turn slightly just in time to catch a beauty from Bo. With the ball in hand, Casey takes off with one of the cornerbacks right on his heels. The cornerback reaches for the back of Casey’s jersey, but Casey jerks out of his hold and makes it to the thirty-yard line before one of their safeties comes at him from his right side and tackles him.

Casey gets up from the tackle and runs back to the huddle. “Let’s fucking go!”

He has a huge smile on his face, and we all slap his helmet and laugh. Casey has worked hard for this spot, and he’s been proving himself in every game we’ve played.

Bo calls the final play. With one minute forty seconds left on the clock, he hands it off to me with Archie blocking the defender. I score the last touchdown of the game, securing our win.

As I rush off the field toward the sideline, I look up. Instead of seeing my girl waving her arms, my eyes collide with the one who took her away.

Britney.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

CHARLIE

Arbor,Lily, and I are jumping around in the stands, watching the team bounce around the end zone, celebrating their win. I’m so unbelievably proud of Beck, Casey, and all the guys. I know it’ll be a big party on campus tomorrow night.

We decide to stick around so we can congratulate the guys after the award ceremony. A gold cowboy hat is passed back and forth between the teams for whichever one claims the win each year. The Stallions have had the hat for the last three years, so it’ll return to campus with us. You would think it was a championship game with the way we celebrate this win.

Our seats are near the first row because we used my family tickets. My mom, dad, Beck’s dad, and his sister watched the game with us, but they’ve already started to make their way down to the family waiting room to see the guys after the game.

Eyebrows were raised when our families saw I was wearing Beck’s jersey and not my brother’s. I don’t really think they were that surprised though.

Arbor nudges my side and points down to the team bench, where I see Beckham waving his hand, motioning for me to come to him, so I go down as close as I can. The brick wall between us is low enough that he can reach me as I make the last step to him.

He’s sweaty and smelly, but I couldn’t care less. I lean down and wrap my arms around his shoulders and drop my head to kiss his lips. We laugh and kiss like there’s no one around.

When I pull back and smile at him, he quietly says, “We did it, baby. The hat is ours for another year.”

“I’m so proud of you guys! Casey must be going wild right now about his catch. I can’t wait to see him. Should we go down to the family waiting area or go ahead and take off?”

Waving one of the stadium security staff over, Beck asks, “Where can I let my girlfriend and her friends enter the field for the award ceremony?”

I blink at his affectionate term. Yes, we’re together again, yet we haven’t had any official talks. His public proclamation feels good while I also feel like we’re rushing back into something we haven’t completely worked through.

My brain has all these thoughts while my heart is leaping out of my chest.