Epilogue
FALLON
“With the eighth pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the Denver Broncos select… Dalton Marshall! Quarterback, West Texas A&M University.”
A dozen cameras swiveled in unison, tilting in our direction as Dalton stood up and began hugging the people around him. His mother first, then his father, his coaches, and ultimately, us.
“I can’t believe it,” Emerson beamed. “First round!”
He clapped his foster brother on the back so hard he nearly fell over.
“I can,” I laughed, crying in delirium, as Dalton bear-hugged me into his arms. “Who the hell wouldn’t?”
The cameras followed us for a lingering moment, as he spun me joyously around our little cordoned-off area of couches and chairs. Then, dressed in his gray suit and powder-blue tie, he headed purposefully in the direction of the main stage.
“Unreal,” said Trey, wiping a tear from his eye. “I… I just…”
I hugged the big linesman as tightly as I could, my eyes still following Dalton’s long strides through the backstage area up a short series of stairs. We could only watch him go, then direct our attention back to the main monitor as he appeared before the draft crowd to thunderous applause.
They handed him a Broncos hat — dark blue with the team logo on it — as he strode confidently up to the podium. It looked great on his head, but not nearly as good as the smile plastered across his handsome face.
It didn’t seem real, watching him stand before the world. Up until now he was mine, or rather, he’d always been ours. And now he belonged to all the world, really. Everything would be different from this point forward. Our entire lives would be forever changed by this very moment.
“Denver, huh?” Emerson murmured, leaning in. His voice filled with awe. “Mile high stadium.”
On the monitor, Dalton was clasping hands with the NFL commissioner. Together, they held up a Denver Broncos jersey with the number one on it, and the name MARSHALL on the back.
“The air’s gonna be thin up there,” Trey agreed. “But we’ll get used to it.”
“Oh,” I chuckled. “You’ll get used to it?”
“Sure.”
“And which part will you get used to?” I smiled. “The beautiful mountains or the pristine lakes?”
“Uhhh… both?”
“Or maybe the high plains?” I went on. “The breathtaking mesas? The awesome canyons, the roaring rivers, the vast stretches of beautiful desert…”
“Alright, alright,” Trey surrendered. “I’m sold. You win.”
“We all win,” I winked back at him. “And I was sold the moment Denver traded picks with Arizona, and it looked like they might grab him.” I sighed, happy in the knowledge that the most unknown piece of our future had finally fallen into place. “Colorado’s going to be fun.”
“It will be,” agreed Emerson, over the clapping and cheering of his family. “But if he gets traded?”
“Traded?” I scoffed. “He just got drafted, and already you’re—”
“I’m just saying, if we set up shop and get our training facility all up and running… and then suddenly Dalton’s whisked off to some other part of the country? What then?”
The cheers of the crowd drowned out everything else for a moment, as Dalton waved and left the stage.
“Then we pivot,” I shrugged. “Just like we said we would.”
“For him,” nodded Trey.
“Yes,” I agreed. “But also, for all of us.”
My eyes were locked on Emerson now, who was nodding approvingly. He shifted closer, and slid a hand into mine.
“Just making sure, wallflower,” he smiled. “That we’re still a team.”
“We’ll always be a team,” I assured him. “That won’t ever change.”
Dalton returned to even more cheers and applause, now wearing his team’s colors. His family surrounded him on all sides, hugging him, clapping him on the back. Momma Marshall was absolutely glowing. His father’s face was streaked with tears of pride.
I thought to the future, where eventually we’d have to tell people about our arrangement. I wasn’t sure how Dalton or Trey’s family would take it, knowing their son was in love with the same woman as his two best friends. And not only in love with her, but willing to share his life and future with all of them, the three people who loved him most.
Emerson however, had only Casey to tell. We broke the news to him together, over an intense round of air hockey. The teenager not only seemed receptive to the unorthodox idea, he even smiled and hugged us both. That is, after thrashing us 7-1 and 7-3 respectively.
Looking up at him lovingly, I squeezed Emerson’s hand. In my heart I knew that one day he might eventually speak to his biological father. The cracks were already starting to show in that dam of pent-up emotion, as the two of them had nodded to each other a few times while picking Casey up and dropping him off. His father had also brought Casey to our graduation, and although Emerson refused to embrace the man or accept his outstretched hand, he’d given him a nod of acknowledgment there, as well.
As for me, I had no immediate plans to break the news to my father or Linda. That day would eventually come, but I wanted things to be more settled, first. We had a million things to do between now and Denver, and all of them were exciting. Once our lives had settled back into some semblance of an actual routine, I could focus on the best way to tell him.
“So… whaddya think?”
I snapped out of my daydream to find Dalton standing before me, holding his jersey out with both hands. I threw myself against his chest and gave him the mother of all bear-hugs.
“I think you’re totally fucking amazing,” I told him. “And the Broncos are lucky to have you.”
“They are, aren’t they?” he grinned.
“Yes.”
“What about you, though? Are you okay with the Broncos having me?”
“Sure,” I shrugged. “Just as long as they’re willing to share you.”
“Share, huh?” he chuckled. “Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle—”
I rushed his lips with mine, kissing him long and hard and fully on the mouth. His parents and siblings were probably watching, but I didn’t care. This moment was something we’d both been waiting for, and for a very long time. This moment belonged to us .
“Ummm… do best friends really kiss like that?” I heard Emerson say.
“Sometimes, yeah,” I chuckled back. “And sometimes they even do other stuff, too.”
Trey raised an eyebrow. “What kind of stuff?”
“Stick around later and you’ll find out,” I winked.
I let go of Dalton, who dissolved back into a group of his friends and teammates. Trey and Emerson followed, leaving me alone with my thoughts as I sank into one of the comfortable leather couches in his draft area.
I used to think I was insanely lucky, finding these men the way I did. But now I realized the best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself. The more you actually put yourself out there, taking chances with your feelings and emotions, the more you give luck a chance to find you .
And I planned on giving my luck the biggest embrace of all.