Page 100 of Reverse Pass
“Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you. Yes, looking forward to it, sir.”
He ends the call, and we all look up to him, waiting to hear but he’s like a deer in headlights staring at the screen again. I follow his eyes and realize the team picking next. I had secretly hoped it might be the Denver Rampage, but for all the right reasons this was going to be the better pick for him.
“And? Don’t keep us in suspense, Benjamin!” Mama Beth chastises him.
He blinks and looks down. “It’s Seattle. I’m going to Seattle.”
A moment later and the representative from Seattle is on the TV. He sits down again, as the Highland athletic media department has their camera pointed at his chair so they can show his reaction live.
“And for our next pick, Seattle selects Benjamin Lawton, wide receiver out of Highland State University…” the man announces, and tears prick his eyes as if he’s finally realizing that it’s really real. That he’s going to the NFL.
Mama Beth and Nora jump up to hug him, pinning him tight and he looks to me, grabbing my hand and I lace my fingers with his. I mouth the words ”I love you” and he grins at me and then back at the camera.
“Thank you. I can’t wait.” He nods to the camera, and I can’t help but imitate the grin on his face like it’s contagious.
His friends and everyone around us erupt into cheers and he’s swarmed with hugs and people wanting to congratulate him. I step out of the way, letting everyone get a piece of him in this moment. Wanting to be able to watch him soak it all in.
Joss walks up behind me and hugs me.
“I know you’re excited for him, but I also feel like you need this hug too.” She gives me a knowing look, and I hug her back.
“He deserves it though. And even still, I can’t believe it. Seattle? With Waylon? Like a dream for Ben.” I shake my head and smile, watching as he’s engulfed in another round of hugs.
I see his phone ring again in his hand and he picks it up. A video chat from Waylon who is screaming at the top of his lungs, and he and the guys on the team holler back and forth at each other through it, sheer joy and chaos.
Joss and I just laugh.
“Jocks, am I right?” And I watch as her eyes shift away from Ben to one in particular.
“Mmm. It was your idea in the first place.” I side-eye her.
“And aren’t you glad you listened to me?” She gives me a devious little grin.
We stand there for several minutes just taking in the chaos next to each other when Ben suddenly looks around, worried.
“I think he’s looking for you.” She nods.
I walk back toward him where the crowd is thinning and when he sees me his eyes go soft, and he smiles. He comes forward and grabs my hand, lacing his fingers with mine and pulls me over to the side away from the rest of the crowd.
“Congratulations! Can you believe it? Seattle. How thrilled were Waylon and Mackenzie to hear?” I grin at him.
“Marry me.” It’s more a statement than a question, and I can’t believe that I heard him correctly.
“What?”
“Sorry, that came out wrong. Marry me? I’d get down on a knee but that’s going to attract a lot of attention that I’m not sure you want. We can do it more official later. With the ring and the kneeling. But I don’t want to do this without you.”
“Ben, I think you are very fucking high on the fact that you just won the football lottery right now, and you need to take a breath.” I smile at him nervously because as much as I want to say yes, this feels like a blindside out of the blue. We’ve barely been together six months, and that was counting the unofficial time.
“No. I’ve known this is what I want. I just wanted to know what my future looked like first, for you to know what it looked like before I asked.”
We stare at each other for a minute, our eyes searching, and I can feel my heart kick up in my chest. My mind racing with the idea of being married to him, of what Beth and Nora will say. Of what my family will say. I can already see Joss over his shoulder looking at us, and I can imagine her planning my honeymoon and dragging me to the lingerie shop and I laugh.
“What? Is that a good laugh or a bad laugh?”
“Good.”
“So, you will?”
“Yes, but you should… you should be sure Ben. Let today’s news settle and think about it before—“
He picks me up off the ground, and I instinctively wrap my legs around his waist, and he spins me around, kissing me and smiling until we both almost fall over.
“I won’t fucking change my mind, Violet. So, get used to the idea of being my wife.”
“I love you,” I say softly because I have no other words to express how much I feel for this man. How much I want him. How much I need him. How much I’ve always been his even if I didn’t know it yet.
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