13. Rowan
Notes
My insurance money has gotten approved so I can replace my car soon. And yes, I know I’m weeks behind in the season now, but that’s fine. At least now I can plot things out based on what happens to the team. And believe you me, I have some ideas. Cue evil laughter.
Rowan
“You know what I just realized?” Milo asked as he laid on his back, looking up at the ceiling of my room in our Savannah hotel.
I turned my head to study him. His hands were resting behind his head.
His cheeks were flushed red, and his hair was sweat soaked and slicked down onto his forehead.
His lips were swollen from kissing, and his breathing was still unsteady.
But somehow, despite how debauched he looked, he was the picture of relaxation.
I was sure it all had to do with the smirk on his lips.
“What did you just realize?” I asked, curious as to what thought popped into his head in the first blissful moments of post-nut clarity.
Knowing Milo, it could be anything.
“We’ve won every game since we started hooking up.”
Well, that wasn’t the thought I was expecting.
Except, now that I thought back, he was right.
We’d won when we played the Dolphins at home.
We’d beat the Louisville Lions. Last week, we’d beat the Roanoke Eagles.
Three hookups. Three wins. “I don’t know if three wins counts as enough of a coincidence to make a pattern. ”
He cocked his head to the side, his face scrunching in thought. I wondered if he was trying to think of some kind of counter argument, but the most he came up with was: “I bet you we win tomorrow.”
“Because we hooked up tonight?”
He nodded. “Yup.”
“Not because we have a better team than the Dolphins?”
“They have a better record than we do,” he pointed out.
That wasn’t hard. We were 4-5 after last week’s victory. They were 6-4, due to having a later bye week. “At least twenty other teams have better records than we do.”
“And I bet you if we played any of them tomorrow, we’d win.”
I sighed. I was starting to recognize the stubborn set to his jaw and the way his eyes hardened. It wouldn’t matter what counterarguments I made. His mind was completely made up, and he was going to operate under the principle that he was right until the end of time.
Or until he was proven wrong.
“But since we don’t play just any team tomorrow, I bet you that we win tomorrow’s game against the Dolphins.”
Milo’s reissued challenge was accompanied by a glint in his eye that had my curiosity piqued. Against my better judgment, I nodded. “What do you bet?”
He rolled over to his side, propping his head up to get a better look at me.
I did the same, my position automatically mirroring his.
He hummed appreciatively as his eyes moved down my torso.
I could feel his gaze like a tangible caress.
Heat slid down my spine like he’d actually touched me.
“Should I go sexy bet?” Milo asked as he leaned in, planting a kiss along the column of my neck.
My eyes drifted shut. “Or should I go with something embarrassing?” He nipped at the skin he’d just kissed and soothed the sting of pain with his tongue. “Or should I make you eat my baking?”
I jerked away from him, my eyes shooting open.
“Not the baking,” I declared with a laugh.
I could still remember the taste of those cookies.
It was a memory I would take with me to my grave, and I did not need a repeat performance.
“If you make it the baking, I’m going to play terribly tomorrow just to prove you wrong and save myself. ”
He laughed as he reached out for my waist and tried to tug me closer. I went willingly, stopping when our bodies were pressed tight against one another’s.
“If I win, then when we get back to Tucson, I get to keep you until our next practice,” he declared. “You can drop your stuff off at your place, grab some clothes, and then you come over to my place, and you stay until our next practice.”
“And if I win, then…” I thought for a moment.
If I won the bet, I didn’t think either of us would be in the mood to do anything fun.
Well Milo might be. Losing games never seemed to get him down.
I would probably be the one in bad spirits.
I needed to take that into consideration when I made my offer.
“If I win, then you have to bring me baked goods from that bakery down the street every day next week.”
His jaw dropped. “You want me to wake up early to get you baked goods?”
“I’ll need cheering up!”
“Well, since we’re not going to lose, deal.” He gave me another kiss. “But just to make sure…”
When he finally went back to his room two hours later, we were both relaxed.
The game against the Savannah Dolphins was close.
Their offense was good, but our defense was slightly better. Our offense was great, but their defense was slightly better.
It was an aggressive game, but the Dolphins didn’t play dirty.
I’d noticed that in our first game against them.
No matter how aggressively either team played, the Dolphins were good at not pulling additional fouls.
I watched from the sidelines as one of their linebackers took down Milo after a damn good run and then immediately offered a hand to help him up, clapping him on the shoulder, before they both ran back to the line of scrimmage.
Unfortunately, no matter how aggressive the game was, the Dolphins were just marginally better than we were.
We were near the end of the fourth quarter, and after an impressive deep ball on a fourth down from Liam to Jonesy, we were only down by one.
Coach Cal called for a two-point conversion, but the Dolphins defense shut it down.
Special teams and our kicker ran out onto the field to kick the ball and start the next possession.
As much as I wanted to watch them, I couldn’t. Coach Cal waved the defense over to him. “Shut them down before the two-minute warning,” he barked. “We get them three-and-out, and it gives our offense time to make a move. We’re not out of this game yet, understood?”
“Right, Coach!” a few of my teammates shouted out.
We exploded out of the huddle just as our kicker sent the ball flying.
One of our gunners tackled the Dolphins’ kick returner at the five-yard line, and the crowd exploded.
It would take a lot of effort from the Dolphins to travel the ball down the field, and if we kept them pinned and prevented them from getting a first down, then maybe their punter wouldn’t be able to start us so far down the field.
Coach was right.
We had a chance.
I felt sharp as I ran back onto the field and lined up with my team.
Their offense lined up near the end zone.
I heard their quarterback shout out plays, and my brain locked in.
Everything was sharper and in better focus.
The center’s snap looked like it was in slow motion.
I was aware of every move in front of me.
Their offensive line collided with our defensive linemen.
One of their wide receivers took off down the field.
Their quarterback fell back deeper into the pocket.
And I saw it.
A clear path to the quarterback.
I didn’t think. I just took off, dodging one of their offensive linemen when he tried to stop me.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever moved so fast in my life.
One moment, I was crouched at the line of scrimmage, and the next, I was colliding with the quarterback.
It wasn’t until I hit him that I realized we were in the end zone.
I’d just scored a safety.
We were up by one, and our team had possession.
I offered a hand down to the Dolphins’ quarterback to help him up before I ran back to the sidelines. My teammates all clapped me on the back as I got there. Milo gave me the most beautiful smile when he passed me as offense took the field.
Our team still had possession when the game ended. We’d won by one point.
I’d won the team the game with that safety. In all the years I’d played in the ALF, I’d never earned the final points. In fact, I’d barely ever earned any points. I’d had a pick six my rookie year and another two years ago. I had this safety today. That was it.
I was glowing as we went back to the locker room.
I barely heard Coach Cal’s end of game speech, except for the part where he tossed me the Defensive game ball.
I didn’t mind when I was thrust into the spotlight for press, though I didn’t remember a single thing I’d said under the bright lights.
I joined the team for a celebratory drink in the hotel bar when we made it back.
I might have had more than one, except Milo caught my eye from down the bar.
He raised an eyebrow and offered the most suggestive smile I’d ever seen, and I decided that celebrating with him sounded a lot more fun than celebrating with the rest of the team.
I finished my beer and left the bar. Milo followed a few steps behind me.
We didn’t acknowledge each other until the elevator door slid shut, and then, our acknowledgment was non-verbal.
It was him pressing me against the mirrored elevator wall and kissing me so hard it knocked the wind out of my lungs.
“My room or yours?” he panted against my lips as the elevator made its way to the top floor.
“Mine.” I gave him a quick kiss and pulled back. “It’s closer.”
“Like the way you think,” he declared as his lips collided back with mine.
The ding of the elevator hitting our floor made us spring apart.
We were still straightening our pregame suits when the doors slid open.
Our laughter followed us down the hall to my room, and we were lucky that none of our teammates who had already come back upstairs ducked their heads out to investigate the noise.