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The man leans in so Beck can hear him over the noise and then waves me over. “Take this row all the way down until you reach the top of the locker room tunnel. There is a gate at the end, and I’ll radio the guard down there to let you and your friends onto the field.”

“Do we need an additional pass or anything to get onto the field?” I ask.

Beck pulls me in again. “Baby, you have my name on your back and a family pass around your neck. They’ll let you in.” He gives me one more quick kiss and turns to walk away, but looks over his shoulder and says, “Hurry up and get your sweet ass down on this field!”

I shake my head and smile, then turn to Arbor and Lily. “Well, you guys want to go with me or?—”

“Are you out of your mind? Of course we want to go down there with you!” Lily screeches. “I’ve had my eye on Chris Schuster, and I feel like he needs a congratulatory hump—or hug or whatever.”

Arbor and I just laugh, and the three of us start to make our way to the entrance of the field.

When we reach the guard, he already has the gate open, and he lets us in with a nod.

We each say, “Thank you,” as we pass, and Lily nearly trips down the steps because she’s so excited.

“This your first time on the field?” I ask.

“College? Yes. In high school, I was a cheerleader, so I was on the field all the time. But this is so much more fun! I’m surprised the crowd didn’t rush the field, honestly. Do we just walk over to where they are, or do we wait by the benches?” Lily asks.

Arbor cuts in and says, “We can go over to where the team is, right, Char?”

I’m in the middle of them so I grab both of their hands and look at each of them and say, “Let’s go see those boys and congratulate them properly!”

And then we start running toward the team.

The team is still jumping around, high on their win. Bro hugs, bouncing, and cheering wildly. It’s always great to win, but this was a big one, and I love to see these guys soak it up.

The announcer calls the coach over to where the camera crews are and where the hat will be brought out. Then the team gathers around.

The announcer asks, “Coach, how does it feel to win the Golden Hat four years in a row?”

“It feels real good. Real good, Hank. These boys played their hearts out today, and they put everything into their performance. We dominated on offense and defense. We never let them run us over. The seniors on this team …” He starts to choke up a little. “This is their final game against State. They not only won today, but they haveownedthis hat every season of their time at Walker. That’s something to be truly proud of, and I couldn’t be prouder of all these guys.”

The team surrounding him starts to cheer, and we can barely hear the rest of the coach’s speech.

The announcer breaks in and says, “Let’s get this trophy out here so you can take it back to Walker again!”

He steps back as officials bring out the Golden Hat to present it to the coach.

They hand it off to Coach as red and white confetti starts to rain down on the team and us. I look at Arbor, who is laughing and trying to catch some of the confetti in her hands.

“This is so much fun!” She drops to the ground and starts moving her arms and legs in a sweeping motion.

Lily looks at me, raises her eyebrows, and smiles. “Don’t let us get run over, Charlie!” Then she drops down next to Lily.

“You two are wild!” I say, laughing.

When I look back at the team, Archie has the hat on his head.

He holds his index finger up and shouts, “There’s only one! Only one, baby! Let’s go!”

Then he takes it off and hands it off to Beck, who kisses the hat, then sets it on his head. I can’t help but laugh at them as we watch them pass the hat around to each guy on the team. The photographers call out to the team and ask them to get together for a team photo. Some guys stand, some crouch, and some lie right down on the field. Coach stands in the middle of it all with a huge smile on his face.

Beck breaks away after the photos are taken and starts to walk toward me.

I turn to Arbor and say, “Be right back!”

Then I take off running to him. When I reach him, I leap up, and he catches me in his arms. I wrap my legs around his waist while he puts his hands under my ass, and I kiss him. I intended it to be a simple kiss, but he slides his tongue into my mouth, deepening it. I’m getting lost in the moment, but in the background, I hear some cheering and even see a flash go off in my peripheral vision.