Epilogue
OTHER RINGS
Jason
When the next season starts, my dad comes to my first home game, and we grab a bite to eat after our win. The week after, when I’m out of town playing in Chicago, Dad goes to Beck’s home game. They check out a new food truck to celebrate his win.
The next day, once we’re all back in town, the three of us go out to lunch and take Snickerdoodle for a walk.
But sometimes, we dog-sit Snickerdoodle when Dad is busy with his new woman. Dad didn’t slow down much at work—he loves what he does, so I backed off on that push. I couldn’t resist the chance to set him up, though, when Zena asked me if my dad was single. Her older sister is a baker around my dad’s age. Zena had a feeling they might be perfect together, especially since her sister had had no luck on the apps.
Now, Dad is seeing Zena’s sister on the reg, and I can’t wait for Thanksgiving with the whole crew.
Beck and I are back at it with Monday Morning Quarterback too. But this year, we have a new addition to the show, a segment at the end called “A House Divided.”
We took Megan up on her offer to play into our romance and rivalry. During the segment, we take listener calls from any couple or family—even roommates—who live in a divided home with warring fandoms. Stars Wars versus Star Trek . Marvel versus DC. And, of course, Hawks versus Renegades.
And we share our chore list with the listeners every week. I don’t think we pacify everyone, but we adopted the Cheyenne and Mitch model, and letting people in on our housework incentives to keep besting each other has helped some worried fans come around.
We still have haters. Some fans still think we share team secrets, but I’ll never convince those people we don’t.
You can’t please everyone. But that’s life. Falling in love with Beck helped me get over my old habit of trying to make the world happy.
Now, I’m focused on making me happy, along with the man I love. He’s damn good to me—every now and then, when I volunteer at the Alliance, Beck comes with me to play table shuffleboard with the teens. We destroy him every time and beating him never gets old.
I also like making my teammates happy. This year, I don’t have to do the heavy lifting to make that happen.
Nadia did that for me when she fired Coach after the championship game last season. “Well, he didn’t get you to the Super Bowl, so he’s gone,” she told me over dinner one night with a twinkle in her eye that said she knew he was a douche.
He hasn’t gotten a new job yet in the league.
Boo-hoo.
Our new coach is a good guy who doesn’t ream us for stupid shit. Coach Tierney is focused, intense, and funny.
Turns out that humor goes a long way. Here’s hoping it helps the Hawks make it all the way to the Super Bowl this year.
We have a damn good season, but I’ll leave it at that. I’d be in big trouble with Nate if I gave away all the dirty details of everything that happened in his life, on and off the field.
But what goes down in the off-season is this :
I take my boyfriend to Cabo for a long February vacation. One night while we’re on the deck of our bungalow, under the stars, overlooking the ocean, I get down on one knee.
“Beck Cafferty, I love you more than football. Making you happy is the best part of my day, every single day. And I want to do it for the rest of my life. Will you be my husband?”
Then the guy with the great eyes and the big heart gives me a grin that melts me. “I was going to ask you the same thing tomorrow. You beat me to it, Jason.”
“And you beat me to a Super Bowl ring, so I guess we’re going to have to call it even,” I reply, then he kisses me, and I melt.
My heart grows ten sizes, and it was already huge, thanks to him.
I slide a platinum band on his finger, and he kisses the breath out of me. After hustling inside the bungalow, Beck quickly returns and puts a band on my ring finger.
Then I kiss the man who’s still my rival but will forever be my husband.