McKenzie
MCKENZIE
Four years later
It’s game day.
I’ve been to a lot of game days over the last few years, but today feels extra special. It’s the last game of the season at Tyler’s new school.
Last year, I accepted a job offer with a big-time sports network. After working the past few years as a sports contributor on a Nebraska radio station and writing articles for online magazines, I was ready for something more.
I’d been applying at several stations and sent a few audition tapes to the big stations just as a shot in the dark. I wasn’t expecting to hear from any of them no matter how many times Tyler insisted that I was every bit as deserving as anyone else.
So I was more than surprised when I got a call for an interview, then a second interview, a camera test, and finally. . . a job offer.
My dream job.
There was no way I could turn it down.
But the problem was. . . I would need to relocate to California. I’d have to leave Nebraska and ultimately leave Tyler.
Tyler didn’t even blink when I told him I got the job. After he congratulated me, he got on the phone, made some calls, and found a few schools in California that were looking for a new coach. He did some interviews and within a few months, he also had a job in California. Still as a head coach but at a smaller school.
He took a huge step back in his career, not to mention a pay cut, for me to be able to live my dream. And he didn’t question it once. He just did it.
I have so much confidence in our relationship that I’d even suggested we do long distance for a while until he could get hired at a bigger school, but he shot that idea down quick. “I’m not going to be away from you. My whole life has been about my career. I’ve lived my dream. It’s your turn now, and I’m going to be by your side and watch you succeed. Being in another state is not an option.”
I didn’t bring it up again after that.
There was nothing holding Tyler to Nebraska after Kylie graduated and moved to Seattle to be with Jake, who was signed to the NHL there.
So, we packed up, sold the house, and moved to California. It’s been almost eight months now, and neither one of us regrets it. We’re closer to Kylie, and the warmer weather isn’t bad either. Of course, I miss my family, but I’ve been able to fly them all out here to visit at least once. And they text after seeing me on TV. Their support has been everything to me. My brothers even came around to Tyler. . . eventually. There were a few tense dinners, but once they realized we were serious, they dropped the tough guy acts and accepted him into our family.
Tyler’s parents were also shocked when we told them we were dating, but they got over it quickly. They even flew out to California to see our new place when we got settled in.
Kylie was a little harder to forgive and forget, but no one blamed her for that. During her senior year, we did one family dinner a week. She brought Jake most of the time, and the four of us would have a meal and talk. It was weird at first, but eventually, she got used to seeing Tyler and me together. By the time she graduated and was getting ready to leave for Washington, we’d become friends again. Even now, we text almost every day. I’m the one she video-called after Jake proposed last year, and I’m the one she calls to help with wedding plans. For a while, I thought I’d lost her forever. I’m so grateful she was willing to give our friendship another chance.
“Did Dad seem nervous about the game this morning?” Kylie asks me in between cheers from the crowd. She’s come down to visit for the weekend and to watch Tyler’s last game of the season. His team has been doing great. He’s definitely got more work to do with them, but for his first year with a team that had none of his own recruits, he killed it. They’ve won more than anyone expected them to this season, and they have a tendency to make rookie mistakes on the field, but that’s something Tyler is working on.
“No. Not really. He seemed pretty confident they were going to pull off a win.” I look up to the scoreboard and see his team is currently winning by two touchdowns with only four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. “Why? Did he say something to you?”
She shakes her head and tosses a piece of popcorn in her mouth. “Nope. Just wondering.”
Her knees bounce slightly, and I raise an eyebrow at her. “Are you nervous about the game?”
She’s been acting jittery all day, and this is her second box of popcorn, which is a dead giveaway.
“No. I mean. . .” She glances at the scoreboard. “It’s just, like, a close game.”
“It’s not really that close. And based on what I’ve been seeing today, it’s doubtful either team is going to score again.”
“Yeah. Totally.”
She’s definitely acting strange, but I don’t want to pry. If something is going on, I trust that she’ll tell me when she’s ready. Communication has been a huge thing for us over the past four years.
“I’m glad we got our nails done this morning,” she says with one minute left in the game.
“Hmm?” I look down at my freshly done nails. It’s a small luxury I can afford all on my own these days. “Oh, yeah. Mine were looking rough. I’m glad you suggested it.”
She nods and pops another piece of popcorn into her mouth. I have no idea how she’s eating so much of that.
I focus my attention on the field and watch as the clock runs out.
Tyler’s team takes the win, and the players and coaches rush the field in celebration.
Kylie and I stand from our seats and make our way down to the field, just like I do after every game. We squeeze through the crowd until I manage to find Tyler. He’s at the fifty-yard line, and he’s looking directly at me. Almost as if he was waiting on me.
He reaches out and grabs my hand, pulling me closer. I realize his entire team has surrounded us in a circle. My eyes dart in every direction, trying to figure out what’s going on.
When my eyes land back on Tyler, my heart starts to race.
“What’s going on?”
He takes both of my hands. “. We’ve been through a lot together, but every bad thing we had to endure brought us to this place where we get to be happy like this forever. I want to make forever official.”
I gasp.
“I’ve always told you that I wanted you to be my wife one day. You are the love of my life, my person, my best friend. Please, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Tyler gets down on one knee and slips a ring box out of his pocket. The players shift a bit, and a few cheerleaders come into the circle holding posters that say, “Will You Marry Me?” The rest stand shaking their pom-poms.
Tyler opens the ring box. “Will you marry me, baby?”
“Yes, yes! Of course, yes!”
He takes the beautiful ring out and slides it on my finger before he stands and kisses me. Everyone cheers, but I barely hear it.
His wife.
He wants forever with me.
We’ve talked about marriage, of course. But I never knew when it would happen and wasn’t rushing it. Tyler and I are meant to be. I know that in my heart. But that doesn’t mean I’m not happy as hell to be wearing his ring on my finger.
“I love you so much,” I say as the team heads back to the locker room. The cameras are now pushing into our little bubble to get interviews. Thankfully, none of them are too pushy and let us have this moment once they realize what just happened.
“I love you. Meet me in my office?”
“See you then, Coach.”
He smiles and gives me one more kiss before he jogs off behind his team. I turn back to Kylie, who’s grinning like a madwoman.
“You knew about this, didn’t you?” I ask her.
“Duh. And it’s been killing me to keep this secret.”
“Yeah, I bet.” At least now I know why she’s been acting strange all day.
“Well, let’s see it.” She grabs my hand to see the ring. I barely even looked at it when Tyler slipped it on my finger, but it’s absolutely stunning. A round solitaire on a slim diamond band, it’s simple but gorgeous and exactly what I would’ve picked out for myself.
“Damn, the old man did pretty good, didn’t he?” she says.
“Yes. Yes, he did.”
She shoulder bumps me as we make our way to Tyler’s office. “I hope you know I’m not going to be calling you Mom.”
I let out a loud laugh. “Sorry, you have to. It’s in the stepmom handbook.”
“Ah, shit. Well, this is gonna get weird then.”
As soon as we get to Ty’s office, and while we wait for his press conferences to end, I call my mom. She’s elated for me. She’s been wanting a wedding for years now. It’ll be weird walking down the aisle without my dad by my side, but I know he’s watching over me. I choose to believe that he’s happy for me, and that belief has helped me get through a hundred percent of my hard days.
When the door finally opens, my future husband walks in. A random memory pops into my head. My birthday four years ago when I made a wish to find true happiness. I think my wish has come true. This is it. I’ve got everything I could’ve asked for and more. I am happy. So happy.
Tyler takes my hand and leads me out of the stadium so we can start the rest of our lives together.
The End
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