Epilogue
MILES
THE BIG GAME
B ryce opens the hotel curtains first thing in the morning. “Today is the day!”
I hate how she’s so chipper in the morning, but at the same time, morning sex is awesome with her since she’s not half asleep.
“I can’t believe we’re here,” I say.
She jumps on the bed. “And you’re going to make MVP today.”
I grab her waist and pull her down onto me. “Trying to put good things out into the universe again?”
She laughs. “No. My man is going to play the game of his life today and come home with the award.”
“It doesn’t matter. The fact that I get to wake up to you is what my dreams are made of.”
She rolls her eyes and pushes off my chest. “You say the sweetest things, but you want that title. That trophy.”
It would be nice, but these past months with Bryce have just confirmed she’s the right choice, hands down. She’s my number one in my life .
I go to the bathroom, and I hear her typing on her laptop. She’s probably been up for hours before me.
“Still working on that thing?” I ask.
She decided to write her own piece on the Chicago Grizzlies and publish it in the new magazine she’s working at, which is Sportsverse’s biggest competitor.
The woman who took a picture on my bed came forward right after Bryce and I got back together—after she found out that Bryce had lost her job.
She told us that Shelly had paid her to do it and given her the key to my place.
I thought about pressing charges, but she seemed genuinely sorry for her actions, so I didn’t.
How did Shelly have a key to my apartment?
From when it was Creed’s. Turns out Shelly and Creed were seeing each other in secret and the baby is his.
When he said it wasn’t and refused a relationship with the child as well as any responsibility, she wanted revenge.
Yeah, I guess she could’ve just sued him or something but she was afraid to lose her job, so she opted to hide the pregnancy, hoping she could convince Creed to step up.
After Grant Thorn told Shelly how he saw us together at the planetarium, she saw it as an opportunity to sell her story and make a lot of money. All while screwing us over.
“Just adding the finishing touches. Just so you know, in the last part, I’m writing how you’re winning the MVP and the Grizzlies win the Bowl.” She types away, smiling.
“I appreciate the faith.”
She sets down her computer and crosses the room in her small silk pajama set. “Because tonight I need to be with you, celebrating your big win.” She rises on her tiptoes and kisses me. “Love you.”
“The whole crew here?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’ll see them in the box.”
“All right. I’m taking a shower.”
Bryce goes back to her article, and I turn on the shower.
As the spray washes down on me, I can’t help but feel so damn lucky to have her.
We’re going to move in together. She actually agreed to move into The Den, and we hope that having a woman there will change the reputation of the place.
We really need Damon to change to help with that effort.
A couple hours later, we head over to the game and Bryce kisses me goodbye, going to the box while I head to the locker room. The nerves are real. I’m fucking scared.
Pavin returned to strong safety only three weeks ago, and I got my free safety position back.
I felt bad for Tre, but he’ll get his chance.
He made incredible plays in those three weeks.
So many I was a little scared, but only because I want to play to support the life I want with Bryce, not for my ego.
Cooper sits down next to me on the bench.
“You good?” I ask.
He nods. “It’s a lot of pressure. All eyes on us.”
“And we’re going to win. Bryce put it out in the universe this morning.”
He laughs. “I’m not sure which Bryce I prefer, the old one or this new Zen one, but she’s really changed. She’s so optimistic.”
“Yeah, she is.”
“Congratulations, man, you guys seem really happy.”
“We are.”
“Wedding bells?” His eyebrows rise.
I look around to see if anyone is paying us any attention, then I look back at Cooper. “Her parents are getting married in a few months. I’m going to let her get through that first and then maybe. I gotta watch how fast I go with her. You know how she is.”
He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have the chance to because Damon jumps in front of us. “Let’s go!”
Coach Iverson comes out of the office and gives us an inspirational speech about our season and how it all comes down to one game, but this doesn’t define us.
He’s proud of our hard work this season.
It’s what got us here. “You boys have all the tools to go out there and play the toughest sixty minutes of your lives and come home as champions.”
By the end, we’re all psyched and run out of the locker room, down the tunnel, and onto the field as the announcers say our names in the big stadium.
I barely remember the majority of the game.
We were down, then up. I deflected two passes and grabbed another one to return it forty yards.
I swear I heard Bryce over everyone in the stadium, cheering on that play.
I’m not sure about the MVP though. Cooper had a great game, fast out of the pocket and Damon had rushing yards plus he caught and ran in for two touchdown passes.
For the final play of the game, I get in front of the wide receiver, jumping, reaching, and catching the ball to stop our opponents from tying the game. That might have been the best moment of my career.
When the clock runs out, orange and blue confetti floats down from above and all our families rush onto the field. There are hugs and people congratulating us, and Coach Iverson takes me in his arms and says things a father would.
Chase made Twyla stay in the booth with Brady and Violet and Theo because they’re both pregnant and they’ll get jostled down on the field, but my parents come down with Lee and Shayna. I hear Bryce coming when she screams my name and runs toward me. I pick her up and swing her around.
“I told you!” she screams over all the noise. “It’s yours, I knew it.”
I lower her to the ground and kiss her. “Thank you for being my number one fan.”
She smiles, then takes my head in her hands and rises on her tiptoes.
Then I’m rushed over to the stage, but I grab Bryce’s hand because she’s going to be there with me if I win this award .
First, Ollie Pradham calls Ronnie, Coach Iverson, and our owner, Dan Towers, to the stage. All us players linger in the background and wait. Cooper and Damon are right there with me. Damon has his phone out, taking pictures of all the action until he stops abruptly, and his eyes widen on his phone.
“What?” I mouth to him, but he waves me off.
After a large bout of cheers, Ollie talks again.
“And our Most Valuable Player! This individual hasn’t only had an incredible season, but he had one helluva game tonight.
I think I speak for us all when I say it was amazing watching him perform this season, in not one but two different positions.
He’s a true inspiration and an incredible athlete.
The MVP award goes to…” The crowd goes crazy. “Miles Cavanaugh!”
Bryce jumps into my arms, kissing my entire face. “Congratulations!”
My body feels a little numb as I walk up and accept the award from Ronnie. Dan Towers passed it to him—probably because Ronnie is the one who traded for me. Ollie hands me the microphone.
“This is for Chicago. Thank you for trusting me to come back this year and prove my worth to you. Some of you were skeptical, I know, but let me introduce you to the woman who has always pushed me the hardest. She’s the love of my life, and this isn’t just for me but for her too.
Baby”—I look at Bryce with the award high in my hand—“you put it out into the universe, and it came true. I love you for believing in me. My life would be nothing without you.”
She wraps her arms around me, and I bend down to kiss her. The stadium roars to life.
We step down from the platform, and the other Grizzlies congratulate me, but Damon isn’t there. I find him later, sitting in an empty chair by the tunnel. When I walk over, he looks at me, his face not reflecting the joy of someone who just won the championship.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
He stands and whispers in my ear, “Remember that girl from the rooftop the day you moved in?”
I nod.
“She’s pregnant and says the baby is mine.”
I draw back with wide eyes. I’ve never seen Damon so upset. Talk about life taking a one-eighty.
Time for Peter Pan to grow up.
WHOA! Damon is going to be a daddy?!? How will he respond to the text? “The best one-night stand, accidental pregnancy book I have EVER read." - Melissa, Book Boyfriend and Husband Make Three ( Sneak Peek Below)
CLICK HERE if you love it when they each fix one another’s broken pieces.
Sneak Peek
I stare out the window of the teachers’ lounge at the fancy Mercedes SUV.
It’s too tinted for me to say for certain, but I know in my gut it’s Damon.
I mindlessly rub my belly. I haven’t blown up yet, but the bump is definitely noticeable.
Which meant coming clean with my coworkers and principal two months ago.
There’s a good chance I won’t see the end of the school year before this baby makes his or her arrival.
“Is he going to sit out there all day?” Isla says in her typical judgmental voice.
Thankfully, it’s just her and our other teacher friend Sami in here with me, but soon more of the teachers will file in for lunch, and word will spread that Damon Siska is sitting in his car in our parking lot.
I’d rather chew glass than confess that he knocked me up after a one-night stand.
“How did he find me? Why is he here?” I mumble.