Chapter 41 #2
The cheers from the crowd and the sidelines filter into our little bubble of happiness and joy and we break apart, laughing as we both catch sight of Riley and Ethan at the same time, standing with the rest of the team, all of whom are watching us with one huge, collective grin.
“My kids are down here?” he asks, pressing kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, wherever he can reach.
I slide down his body until my feet are on the ground, laughing when he makes a disgruntled noise, pulling me close like any distance between us is unacceptable. “I got them from their seats. I thought my grand gesture should be a family affair.”
Cam cups my face in his big hands, threading his fingers into my hair. “I love you so damn much. Be mine, Maddy.” He glances over at his kids and then back at me. “Be ours.”
“Always,” I say quietly, pressing up to kiss him again, content right down to my toes. There’s nothing in the world that could ruin this moment.
“Lowry, get your ass off the damn field!” Coach Campbell’s irritated voice cuts through our happy little bubble.
Except maybe that.
But Cam just laughs, kissing me again before his eyes travel behind me, amusement filling his eyes. “Look, baby, we’re on TV.”
I glance up and then toss my head back and laugh. “I’ve always wanted to be a star.”
He dips his head, his mouth close to my ear, warm breath ghosting over the sensitive skin. “You look so fucking good with my name on your back, Wildcat. I’d really like to see you wearing nothing but this jersey later on.”
A shiver works its way down my spine as he kisses the spot below my ear because hot damn, me too. “That can definitely be arranged.”
“I fucking love you,” he says, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. My most unexpected, happiest ending.”
My heart swells as I cup his face in my hands. “I love you, too. And your kids. I want all of you to be mine.”
He closes his eyes, taking a slow, deep breath. When he opens them, he looks at me like I’m the center of his entire universe. His only reason for being. “Baby, we already are.”
“Off. The. Field.” Coach’s voice is low and a little dangerous.
When we look at him, a vein is pulsing in his forehead, and his jaw is so tight I wonder if he’s cracking molars right now.
Cam chuckles like he’s amused and wraps an arm around my waist, tugging me closer like he can’t stand any distance between us. “Right. Fucking. Now.”
He spins around and stalks to the sidelines, and I snicker as we follow closely behind. “Sorry, Brookie. I was grand gesturing.”
When we reach the sidelines, he turns back, narrowing his eyes at me. “I hate that fucking nickname. And your grand gesturing gave us a delay of game penalty and for sure there’s going to be a fine involved,” he says, pinning Cam with an exasperated look.
Cam just shrugs, like nothing in the entire world could dampen his joy right now and seriously, same. “Worth it.”
When I cackle, Coach casts his eyes to the sky, muttering something about football players being the literal death of him. “Get off my field.”
Okay, well, that dampens my joy. And pisses me right off.
“Hang on.” I drop my arm from around Cam’s waist and put my hands on my hips, leveling Brooks with a glare. “You can’t eject him from the game. It’s the AFC Championship. The team needs him.”
Brooks rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t ejecting him from the game. I was giving you time to figure out whatever this is.” He waves a hand between us. “Why does everyone always assume I’m being mean?”
Cam snorts. “Because usually you are.”
A shadow passes over Brook’s face, but it disappears as quickly as it came. “Well, this time I’m not. Chase can keep playing,” he says, referring to Cam’s backup who he sent in for this set of downs. “This is important,” he says, looking between Cam and me, intensity all over his face.
“No,” I say stubbornly, turning to Cam. “It’s the AFC Championship, Cameron. You’re playing. I’m not going anywhere. We’ll do us later. You need to do this now.”
He smiles, sliding his palm up to cup the back of my neck, the possessive gesture making my stomach swoop. “You’ll stay?”
I grin, kissing his nose even as my heart tugs at the vulnerability in his tone. I’ll spend the entire rest of my life making up for leaving him this week. “Just try to stop me.”
“I love you,” he murmurs, cupping my face and kissing me again, and I want him to tell me a million more times because I will never, ever get tired of hearing it.
We break apart as the music in the stadium pipes up, signaling the end of the half, and all the players make their way off the field.
Cam smiles and kisses the top of my head. “Looks like we’ve got a little more time.”
“Dad!”
We both turn as Riley and Ethan saunter up, followed by Drew, Tyler, and Sophie.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, throwing my arms around Sophie.
Sophie shrugs, beaming. “Tyler gave me an all-access pass at the beginning of the season. I wanted to see your grand gesture from the field. It was perfect, Mads. Rom-com level amazingness.”
“Right?” Riley practically squeals, tossing her arms around me. “Peak romance, Maddy.”
“Kind of gross,” Ethan says with a grimace, before breaking out into a smile. “But kind of cool too. And I like that Dad is smiling again. He was really insufferable without you.”
I grin up at Cam. “Insufferable, huh?”
Cam laughs, leaning down and kissing my head for the millionth time, like he can’t stop. I’m fine with it. “How do you know the word insufferable?”
Ethan shrugs. “Heard it in a movie.”
This time we all laugh, and Cam runs a hand over Ethan’s hair before tugging me closer. “He tells no lies. I was miserable without you. Nothing in my world was right without you there.”
“I’m here,” I say, leaning against his shoulder, speaking to both Cam and his kids.
“I’ll always be here. I promise. I love you,” I say, looking up at Cam.
“And I love you both, too.” I look at Riley and Ethan, and their triplet grins make my heart pound as I tighten my arm around Cam. “You’re my family now. All of you.”
“And you’re ours,” Cam murmurs, leaning his cheek on my head, and I am sure that no one has ever been this happy.
“So what exactly are your intentions with our girl, Cameron?”
When I look up at Sophie, her eyes are dancing with amusement, the grin on her face huge as she looks between Cam and me.
I look up at Cam, his eyes catching mine, and in his face, I see love and family and home. I see chaotic mornings and lazy weekends and more kids for all of us to love. I see the brightest future and forever and everything I ever wanted. “To love her until the end of time.”
Cam’s words have my eyes burning, tears pushing their way up my throat even as a grin spreads over my face. I press my forehead to his, our breaths mingling and our hearts beating out the same rhythm that sounds a lot like forever.
“That sounds perfect to me,” I whisper, tightening my arms around his neck. “I think I would like to love you for that long too.” With our words hanging in the air, in front of our friends, our team, our kids, and sixty-eight thousand cheering fans, Cam leans down and kisses me.
And nothing in the world has ever felt so right.