Page 106 of The Jock

Eventually, Justin broke the kiss and pushed their foreheads together again. “Wes, there’s someone here to see you.” He dropped down to the grass, took Wes’s hand, and turned.

Graham Van de Hoek was right there, his hat on his head, his smile as big and wide as the Texas sky as he stood in front of his son.

Wes stilled. “Dad?”

Graham grabbed Wes, rocking him in his arms, his cheek pressed against his son’s. They were mirror images separated by time and the sun.

Wes curled into his dad’s hold, and Graham held him, wrapping his hand around the back of Wes’s neck as he whispered into his ear. Justin saw the shape of his lips, saw Graham tell Wes he was so proud, and that he loved him, and that Wes had grown into the man he’d always dreamed Wes would be. And again, that he was proud, so damn proud, of who Wes was.

Wes came out of his father’s hold and wiped his eyes on the bottom of his jersey. Graham kissed his forehead and stepped back, smiling at Justin. Justin wrapped Wes up again, letting Wes hide his face from the cameras for a moment.

Colton appeared, tapping Wes on the shoulder and handing him a football. He waved the entire team over, and they leaped into action, forming a circle around Wes and Justin as if they’d been waiting. Colton made room in the circle for the two fathers. Justin eyed Colton and then Wes, standing in front of him.

Wes took the football in both of his hands. He faced Justin and breathed in. “This is the ball I scored the last touchdown with.” He held it out. Justin wrapped his hands around it, cradling it like he was touching Wes’s beating heart.

Wes dropped to one knee in the grass. “I promise you, Justin, that I will love you and cherish you as hard as I play this game. Harder, even.” He grinned. “I want to spend every day for the rest of my life loving you. What do you say? Can I be yours? And will you be mine?”

He dropped to his knees in front of Wes and kissed him. “Bien sûr, cowboy,” he said, beaming. “Forever.”

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