CHAPTER 59 Sophie Summers
Bedazzled Jerseys and Celebrations
A Little Over a Month Later
I’m wearing a totally bedazzled Miller Banks jersey and sitting with Cassie, who’s wearing her matching bedazzled Tanner Banks jersey.
We snagged front row seats in the end zone for the first home game of the season even though we were invited to sit in a suite. I don’t want to sit in a suite miles away from the field when I can sit right here practically on top of the action.
And the best part? During warm-ups, Tanner ran over to Cassie just as Miller ran over to me.
I bent over the railing as he climbed up to kiss me. “Score some points for me!”
“Only if you promise a private score later.”
“Promise.” I giggled and leaned closer to him. “Maybe I’ll even let you penetrate the backfield.”
He wiggled his eyebrows before he laughed and ran back out onto the field .
Cassie and I laughed about the two of them coming over to say hi, and then we headed up for our first round of game snacks.
Admittedly, it may be hard to see from this angle when the plays are on the other side of the field, but which team is running into which end zone changes each quarter, so we’ll get the second and fourth right in front of us.
Cassie has bitten most of her nails off as Tanner takes the field. It’s his first regular season game since he got hurt exactly one year ago today—during the first play at the first home game of the season.
It’s been a long road to recovery, and this is the first game where Cassie is sitting in the stands as a fan watching the quarterback, who is now her husband.
A year ago, she didn’t even know who he was. And now? He’s the stepfather to her children.
What a difference a year makes.
I remember watching that game last year on television at the apartment I shared with Tyler—a man I haven’t even spoken to since I went back to give him my key.
I remember seeing Miller and thinking how much I adored him.
I remember watching as Tanner went down, and I remember watching Miller rush out to make sure his brother was okay.
He wasn’t okay.
But Miller was there by his side through it all, and now look where we all are.
I never would’ve guessed when I was watching that game that I’d end up sitting next to Tanner’s new bride—the physical therapist who nursed him back to health after his ACL injury—and that I’d be carrying Miller’s baby and planning a wedding with him.
What a difference a year makes for us, too .
Cassie and Tanner know about the baby. Miller told Tanner the night he went back to camp after he came to see me in Vegas, and I told Cassie a few days later when we met for lunch.
She’s like a sister to me, and Tanner is like a brother to me, and I just want the very best for the two of them.
On the first play, Tanner throws a pass to Spencer for a seventeen-yard gain, and I see Cassie visibly relax after that.
Cassie is drinking beer, and I’m drinking Sprite.
We’re eating nachos and having a great time as the first quarter gets underway.
The Storm puts the first points on the board as Tanner tosses the ball to Spencer again midway through the quarter, and Cassie and I go absolutely crazy as we cheer for our men.
The Cowboys come back with a field goal on the next drive, and the Storm answers with a field goal of their own, putting the score at ten to three at the start of the second quarter.
The direction of the field switches, and the Storm has the ball as they move closer and closer to us. Cassie and I cheer as they hit the red zone, and now I’m the one biting my nails as I keep an eye on Miller and the defender who’s been on top of him the whole game so far.
He’s had a couple of carries, but I can tell he’s eager to get his hands on the ball.
I hear Tanner call the play, and then Miller runs across the field behind him.
The ball is snapped, and Tanner hands it off to Miller.
The fullback blocks the defender coming after Miller, and he’s able to break away and run straight up the middle toward the end zone.
Somehow he’s absolutely wide open, and I’m screaming like crazy as I watch him close the gap.
He crosses the white line into the end zone, and the crowd goes crazy as he scores a touchdown.
He drops the ball as Tanner races toward him, and they celebrate with a shoulder bump as they both jump high into the air back-to-back .
Miller runs out of the back of the end zone with his brother hot on his heels. The two of them race for the stands, and they both jump the wall at the same time—Tanner toward Cassie and Miller toward me.
It's a common celebration to jump the wall after scoring a touchdown, and having these twin brothers celebrating with the women they love at the opening game of the season is a picture-perfect moment in their careers.
He’s wearing a helmet, and I’m still screaming as I cling onto him for a few beats. The guy next to me is slapping him on the back, and the same thing is probably happening on Tanner’s other side, but it all happens so fast that I can barely register that they actually just did that.
Cassie and I are both laughing as they jump down and head back to their team. We high-five each other as we continue cheering for our men.
The Cowboys throw an interception right to one of our guys, and he makes his way down the field toward us before he’s tackled at the thirty-yard line.
Cassie and I get to watch up close again as Tanner hands the ball to Miller. He doesn’t score on this play—instead, he’s taken down pretty quickly by that same defender, but he gained a couple of yards.
Tanner throws to Madden Bradley next, who does score, and we go wild again.
I don’t know why I spent so much time resisting the running back. Maybe I couldn’t have predicted what life would be like today when I looked ahead a year ago, but I sure love this little life that’s mine.