48. Epilogue
Epilogue
Emilie
ONE YEAR LATER
“It’s a trick play!” someone screams in the suite and everyone has their noses practically touching the glass as they jump up and down in excitement.
Zack doesn’t throw a touchdown, but he does snap the ball to the punter who picks up a few yards with his legs before throwing it to a Cosmos player. First down! The drive stays alive, and Willow hugs me as we watch Tripp run back out to the field.
When Zack and Tripp pass each other, running on and off the field, they take the time to do their ridiculous handshake, which ends with them acting like they’re taking a selfie. I’m sure Tripp is rolling his eyes behind his helmet, but this has Zack written all over it.
“This is wild!” Brooks cheers, standing next to me, eyes wide and cheeks warm with a smile. He claps loudly and goes along with a Cosmos chant Riley starts in the suite.
“I can’t believe I'm at a Cosmos game, in a suite, and fucking Brooks Pittman is here,” Mitch says, eyes wide as he looks up to the 6’5 NBA player. Eliza pats his chest and shakes her head as she takes a swig of her white wine.
The Cosmos are on their revenge tour, or that’s what Zack calls it. Last season, the team fell short in the division round and didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. Right now, they have the best record in the league with only one loss, which is saying something for October football .
There’s a ton to cheer for but mostly my heart swells at the full suite. We have the full Andersen family: Brooks, Riley, and even Zack’s parents. Seeing them together makes my heart squeeze in the best way. While things may have been uncertain and rocky in the beginning, it’s been a dream watching Zack get to know his half-brother. It’s amazing they’re within driving distance of one another—it’s wild how life works out sometimes.
The Andersen family is the kind of accepting you’d hope for in your own. Unfortunately, my parents don’t have that same view. And you know what? That’s okay. Eliza and I see each other once a week and are working on building a relationship that isn’t tarnished or influenced by my parents. We still do family dinner every other month or so, but it’s not the same. Conversation is surface level when my parents participate, but mostly, they watch the four of us interact.
For now, I still don’t understand what it is about me that makes my parents want to pick everything I do apart, but I do know it has nothing to do with me. That’s something they need to work on. Maybe they will? Maybe they won’t.
Eliza slides in next to me as Mitch starts talking basketball with Brooks. She doesn’t say anything but offers me a smile before reaching for my hand and squeezing it.
“Thanks for coming, El,” I say, squeezing back.
“Anytime, EJ.”
One play later, the Cosmos score a touchdown and they’re up by twenty-eight points. The second quarter is running out while the opposing team tries to get into field goal range. I drink my Aperol Spritz as the Cosmos defense goes to work for the last two minutes.
The half runs out without the other team scoring—a solid defensive stand. I go to the snack section and load up a bowl with truffle fries .
Willow brings me a fresh drink just as I finish the spritz in my hand. She doesn’t say anything but smiles like she knows a secret. I tilt my head to look at her, but she doesn’t do anything besides smile at me, before falling back into conversation with Keegan and Eliza.
A few minutes later, I'm eating the last of my fries when someone comes into the suite and everyone is looking toward the doorway.
Curious, I look over and I do a double take.
Zack. In his uniform, head to toe, minus the helmet.
I stand so fast I almost spill the drink next to me. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I try to find the reason he’d be up here and not in the locker room with his teammates.
He smiles at me in a way that makes my body freeze. I swear my heart stops in my chest and I have to feel to make sure it’s still beating.
“I’m not hurt but I’m not okay either.”
“Okay, what’s wrong?” I ask, searching his face for a clue.
“Well, it’s just that...” He rubs his jaw with a pause. “You’re not my wife.”
I keep listening for the rest. I don’t even think I heard him right. Someone in the suite lets out a low whistle.
“What did you say to me?”
Zack gets down on one knee and shows me a ring. “I said, what’s wrong is that you’re not my wife.” He hits each letter of each word so there’s no way I’m missing the message.
Everyone around me oohs and ahhs or gasps in surprise. I look around the room waiting for someone to tell me this is a joke. Or a dream.
“EJ, I’ve learned a lot about family in the last year and it’s never been clearer to me. You’re my family. You’re who I want to plan forever with, and I can’t wait any longer.”
I kneel down and put my hands in my lap in front of him.
“Tell me you’ll marry me. ”
I shake my head, his blue eyes locking on mine. Zack is the most thoughtful and caring person I've had the privilege of knowing. He loves big, and I fucking love being on the receiving end of it.
He waits for my answer as I soak in one of the easiest questions I’ve ever been asked.
“Of course I’ll marry you.” The room erupts with clapping, pops of champagne, and cheering. Zack places the ring on my finger, a gorgeous emerald cut diamond on a platinum band.
I reach forward and kiss him. He stands, pulling us both up, and spins me around the suite, our lips never leaving one another.
He sets me down and kisses me on the cheek, pointing to the jumbotron.
There we are.
And then it hits me, it’s not just the suite cheering but it’s the entire stadium. It’s faces of strangers wearing massive smiles, all for Zack and me.
He puts an arm around my lower back, dips me, and puts a kiss on my mouth that I couldn’t forget if I wanted to. He kisses me like I’m going to be his forever. I can practically feel the ground shaking with people clapping and yelling, kind of like it feels when there’s a Cosmos touchdown.
“EJ, I can’t wait to be your husband,” he says, a grin pulling from ear-to-ear.
The fake version of me and Zack feels like it was lifetimes away. I don’t know if either of us can pinpoint when it was real? Maybe it always was.
I can’t help but think about rules and what we do to try to keep ourselves on track, or keep our hearts protected. But, sometimes, the rules are meant to be broken.
THE END