Page 14

Chloe

As I stand on the sidelines watching the gold and red confetti fall, I feel the vibrations through my feet, I watch my brother congratulating Tanner on his engagement and celebrating with a few of his college friends.

He did it. He fucking did it.

He won the Super Bowl.

A knot formed in my throat as I watched the scene play out just a few feet away. Devin held Georgia close to him and threw his head back laughing at something she said. He was glowing with happiness, and the pride I felt for him was indescribable.

I swiped at the corner of my eye, trying to stop the tears from falling, but it was useless. Looking up didn’t help either. The lights blurred above me. They were too bright and too perfect. Much like tonight.

This wasn’t just a win for the Walker family. This was everything Devin worked for. Everything he sacrificed for, and it was never for self-gratification. It was always for us. He held our family together when our dad bailed and the bills sacked up. He carried me when I couldn’t stand on my own. Pulled me from bad decisions and never once threw it in my face. I knew I wouldn’t be standing here today with the life I have now if it weren’t for him.

Devin never gave up. Not on our family. Not on me. Not on his dream. That was always the way with him. He loved harder, deeper and louder than anyone I’d ever known. And it paid dividends. Now he’s got a ring on his finger and five kids clinging to him while he celebrates the biggest win of his life.

The rest of his friends from college filtered onto the field and I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about how Covey U changed his life. The friends he made, the girl he met, the deal he got. It all came from that school. I wished I could say my college experience was as monumental at shaping me, but we all couldn’t be so lucky.

Pushing through the crowd, I watched Devin with his friends and children, knowing this was a moment he’d want to savor for the rest of his life.

“Guys!”

I called out over the noise, and although it took a few tries Devin eventually glanced over. Waving my phone at him, I said, “Let me take your photo.”

That got his attention. Devin grinned and gestured for his friends to come close. One by one, they closed in, surrounding him. None of them hesitated to scoop up his kids in their honorary uncle roles. Even Aiden, who has the emotional range of a rock most days, hoisted Delaney onto his shoulders as Alyssa wrapped her arm around his waist.

I stepped back, making sure to get all his friends in the shot. “Adam, Hayden, Thea, Jackson, Tanner, Aster…”

I whispered their names like a tick box exercise. “Alyssa, Aiden, Matty, Britt and…”

I couldn’t find her. Where was she?

Tipping my chin over my phone, I got a better view and saw Reign grabbing hold of Cole and running to Devin’s side for a picture.

“There,”

I said to myself before yelling, “Say Covey U!”

They all shouted, out of time and some off key, but I caught it anyway.

Click.

The image froze on my screen. Perfect. Chaotic and messy happiness all in one frame. I already knew this would be an image on Reign and Devin’s mantelpiece for years to come.

As Devin's friends started talking to each other, Devin pulled Reign in for a kiss. Her hair had been pulled back into a messy bun and her nose was a little red, like she'd been crying. He rested his forehead on hers and they were talking as though they were the only two people in the stadium. They weren't posing for the cameras. They'd never cared about that, and even though they'd been offered countless reality show deals, they'd always turned them down because none of that mattered. It was all just noise to them.

I looked away, but only for a second.

I didn't know why their happiness stung a little. Maybe because it was so raw, so real, and so theirs. They'd built something steady in a world that didn't offer much stability. There was safety in the way he held her face. There was trust in the way she leaned into him. It was messy and loud and perfect, and for a split second, I wondered if I'd ever have something like that.

I wanted it. I really did. Not the Instagram version of love, full of curated captions and matching outfits. I wanted the kind that felt like home. Like landing somewhere soft after a long fall. The kind that knew your dark corners and chose you, anyway.

Shaking my head, I shoved the thought down, past all the old ache, and tried to focus on the joy around me. But the air shifted again. That pull in my chest returned like the universe was tugging on a thread I'd already tried to snip.

That was when I saw him.

Across the field, walking through the sea of red and gold.

My breath caught. My mind immediately went back to those late-night diner shifts in college when he was there.

Dean.

What the hell?

I haven’t seen him in years… and why the hell is he wearing a Crossbills jersey?

I backed up, watching as he approached Devin, taking my brother out of his own world and they clasped hands, falling into a shoulder-hug like they'd known each other for years.

Was the ground moving?

My legs trembled and I felt like I was one step away from falling.

Dean.

Here.

On this field.

After everything.

He played… with my brother?

How did I watch an entire game and not notice him on the field playing right next to my brother?

When he pulled back from Devin, he said something I couldn't hear, then he turned.

Instinctively, I stepped back and took in a breath, my heart beating faster than I ever thought possible because he saw me. I knew it when his smile disappeared, and his lips started to move. Even though I couldn't hear him, I knew what he said.

Chloe.

The way he used to say it. Low and sexy, like it was a secret just meant for us.

I froze, unable to move, even as my chest threatened to cave in. We hadn't seen each other in over six years. Not since that weekend. Not since the last time he kissed me like it was forever and then left me with nothing. No goodbye. No answers. Just silence. All he left behind was a void I'd spent years trying to fill with excuses for why he never came back to the diner to see me.

He stepped forward, but I didn't move. I couldn't. I felt locked in place, every muscle coiled with disbelief and something seriously close to heartbreak. Then, out of nowhere, a little boy crashed into his side. Dean caught him with ease, lifting him into the air before hugging him close.

He looked the same age as the triplets. Five, maybe six. With dark curls and big brown eyes, he looked just like Dean and when he kissed the boy's temple, I couldn't breathe.

Was that his kid?

No. No, that couldn't be—

But the way the boy clung to him, the way Dean held him like muscle memory, like his, it told me everything.

Oh my God.

He had a child.

A son.

My ears rang, and it had nothing to do with the stadium noise. My stomach twisted violently, and my heart shattering like glass. Dean had a child. A five-year-old. Which meant it was right after me. He left me and... started a family?

I couldn't think. I couldn't feel anything except the dull roar of betrayal layered with confusion. When did this happen? Why didn't I know? Why didn't he tell me?

I was still standing there like a ghost, surprised he remembered me. I was just the girl who didn’t make the cut, which was the story of my life.

Never quite good enough.

Dean didn't say anything. He didn't come closer. But he kept glancing at me with that same haunted expression, like maybe this wasn't how he wanted me to find out.

Too late.

I turned away before I could crumble because this night belonged to Devin. This field belonged to my brother's triumph.

And I wasn’t about to ruin that for him.

THE END