Page 54 of Play Me

Astrid

The crowd is electric .

“Roy-als! Roy-als! Roy-als!” I yell along with over half of the eleven-thousand people watching the championship game between the Royals and the Bulldogs.

The stadium is packed. Even the overflow areas are filled with rugby fans, many of them wearing Adler on the back of their jerseys.

It took me a moment to get my bearings this afternoon when I saw the outpouring of love for Gray.

He always has fans at games, but nothing like this.

I hope he takes a second to appreciate it today.

“Do you have any idea what’s happening?” I ask Hartley, not sure if he can hear me over the roar around us. I twirl my star earring and watch the chaos below us. I have no idea what’s going on. I need to watch a movie about rugby before next season.

He chuckles. “Yes. We’re in a good spot.”

I glance at the scoreboard, wondering if I should point out that it’s still 21-21 and time is winding down. It seems like a legitimate time to be nervous.

“Let’s go, Adler!” Hartley shouts, but there’s no way in the world Gray can hear him. I can barely hear myself think.

Gray searched the stands until he found our little posse before the game began.

I will never forget the look in his eyes as they grazed over the line of bodies there to cheer him on.

Audrey, Gianna, and I sit in a line in Adler jerseys that Audrey added glitter and sparkles to, so we stand out.

Hartley, Jasper, and Cathy met us here. Thanks to another surgery on his shoulder, Brooks is the only one missing.

“I’m so stressed,” Audrey says, chewing on a nail. “I don’t know what to yell or when to cheer. I just wait for you to do it, and I join in.”

I keep my eyes on number nine on the pitch. “I’m waiting on Hartley, so no judgment here.” Hartley whistles, clapping and shouting as a Royals player speeds down the grass. “Yay! Go faster!”

“Did you just say ‘go faster’ ?” Gianna asks, laughing.

I cringe as the player gets knocked down by a huge Bulldog and is shuffled to yet another Royal. “I’m not cut out for this.” I peer over the guy in front of me to try to find Gray again. “Come on, guys!”

“Go, Gray!” Cathy shouts, shaking her purple and gold pompom.

There’s less than a minute left. The tension is thick in the stadium, with the crowd on their feet as if their leaning and dodging tackles from the stands will help the guys on the field. I do my part just in case there’s rugby magic that I don’t know about.

“Here we go.” Hartley bumps my arm, his eyes glued to the pitch. “Astrid, you better be watching.”

“Watching what?” My heart pounds as I bounce on my toes. “What are we looking at?”

Number two from the Royals throws it into a group of players from both teams, which feels like a terrible plan but no one else seems panicked about it. He falls to the ground and Gray picks the ball up and shuffles it out to another purple jersey.

I yell, clasping my hands tightly in front of me. Ten seconds left.

Our player bursts down the field, causing the crowd to erupt.

A blue jersey finally cuts in front of him just before the tryline, forcing our guy to make a decision.

I think he’s going to cut it to the left.

His body moves that way, as does the blue jersey.

But the ball flies to the right … into the arms of Gray.

Oh my God . “Go, Gray!”

Audrey clutches my arm, her nails biting into my skin. “Go, Gray!”

He races forward, splitting two blue jerseys, before he leaps across the tryline on his stomach.

I scream, jumping up and down, as the time hits zero. Gianna and Audrey form a group hug, all of us bouncing around too much to do much but knock a beer out of a guy’s hand who was sitting beside Gianna.

“Roy-als! Roy-als! Roy-als!”

We join in the chant, tears streaming down my face as I watch Gray run around the pitch in celebration with his teammates.

I glance at Hartley. He’s chuckling, standing like a proud parent—practically beaming. He looks over his shoulder at me and grins.

“I wish our parents could see this,” he says, biting his bottom lip and struggling to stay composed. “They were so proud of him.” He smiles. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“You brought my brother back to me. I can’t thank you enough.”

Fucking emotions . Tears stream down my cheeks as Hartley pulls me into a hug. It’s not as warm as Gray’s, nor as strong, and it doesn’t smell as good either since I got Gray to start using fabric softener. But this hug feels different. It feels important. It’s one I won’t forget.

“Miss Lawsen?” A man wearing a security suit pokes his head around the side of Jasper. “Follow me.”

“Go,” Hartley says. “He’ll take you down to Gray.”

I look over my shoulder at my friends who shoo me away.

“Tell him we’re proud of him,” Hartley says as I walk by.

Jasper smiles at me as I slide by him, and Cathy pulls me into a quick hug. Rivers of mascara streak her cheeks. I hope Gray gets to see that today.

The guard says nothing as we pick our way down the stairs and through the crowd. I stick close to him through a gate and step onto the grass. Despite the mass of bodies and the pure pandemonium, my gaze immediately finds Gray’s.

I run to him, ignoring the guard telling me not to run and meet Gray in the middle of the pitch. He gathers me into his sweaty arms, hauls me into his soaked chest, and swings me around in a circle.

I feel like I’m floating in a dream.

“You’re amazing,” I whisper into his ear. “We’re all so proud of you.”

He finds the spot he loves in the crook of my neck, and presses a kiss there, letting it linger a few long moments. Even though we’re surrounded by players and their families, and by the media and the team staff, it feels like it’s just the two of us. Maybe it is just the two of us.

“Good work today,” Breaker smacks Gray on the back.

Gray pulls away and looks up at him. Something happens between the two of them, something I can’t hear or understand. But Gray nods at him.

“You too, Break.”

“I want to apologize to you, Astrid, for the other day in the locker room,” Breaker says. “I was an ass.”

What? “Um, yeah. Thanks, Breaker. I appreciate that.”

Gray clasps Breaker’s hand before he walks away.

“I didn’t expect that,” I say, shaking the shock out of my system.

Gray grins, his dimples setting deep in his cheeks. “I did.”

Yup. Something happened between them.

I stretch my arms over his shoulders and gaze up into those pools of expensive chocolate—like the kind you get on Valentine’s Day. “How do you suggest we celebrate this victory, Champion?”

“I suggest we celebrate by moving in together.”

His response catches me off guard. Instead of answering, I just stare at him like a goof.

“If you don’t want to, I understand,” he says. “And there’s no pressure. But I was just thinking that I can take better care of you if we officially live together.” He pauses before a slow grin crosses his lips. “You know, since I love you and all.”

I start to laugh in disbelief, but the sound fades into a hiccup, which turns into tears.

“Is that a yes?” he asks, his eyes shining.

“That’s a yes. Because, you know, I love you, too and all.”

Gray lifts me again and spins me around, my giggle trailing behind us. He puts me down and glances back up in the stands.

“They’re all here,” he says like he doesn’t believe it.

“Yeah. They’re all here.”

His attention drifts back over to me, and he drags his thumb down my cheek. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“So you don’t hate me anymore?” I tease.

He laughs, taking my hand, and rubbing my ring finger on my left hand. I don’t know if that’s a hint or a subconscious gesture, but I’m glad he knows me well enough to know that I need to go slow. He’s my person, and I have no doubt that I will be Mrs. Gray Adler one day.

But this day? Today I’m happy being his number one fan.