Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The two-minute warning rang through Onyx Stadium, announcing the impending end of the first half of the big game.
Reese led the offensive line to the sideline, emptying the field for the Kings special teams to go for the field goal.
“This game is brutal,” Spenser commented, removing his helmet.
“At least this will get us to six points,” Reese replied, Spenser nodding in agreement.
They watched Preston kick the field goal, light celebrations happening on their sideline as the clock ran out.
“Halftime, finally,” Reese muttered, frustration coursing through him.
“Hey,” Eli said, joining him as they headed into the tunnel. He clapped his hand on Reese’s shoulder. “Don’t give up yet. There’s a lot of football left.”
“I know.” Reese sighed. “But I’m not performing the way I want to. Two balls dropped in one drive? I can’t play like that today. There’s too much on the line.”
“I understand, and your feelings are valid,” Eli said, adopting his imparting-wisdom voice, “I threw an interception for a touchdown, and while I’m upset about it, I won’t let it define this game for us.”
“Okay, Obi-Wan,” Spenser quipped from behind them, the group of guys in the area chuckling.
Eli was always positive in the difficult situations, and while it could be grating sometimes, it reminded Reese to try to look at the bright side.
Eli’s grin turned Reese’s frown into a smile of his own. “Thanks for the reminder.”
They arrived at the guest locker room a few minutes later, and Reese deposited his helmet onto the bench and sat, grabbing a bottle of water as he looked around.
The energy was low in the locker room, but the Kings had come back from bigger deficits than this one. He knew the guys in this locker room: they were going down swinging if it was the last thing they would do.
“Here, eat something,” Spenser said, handing him a protein bar.
“No Uncrustables?” Reese asked, looking down at it.
He shook his head. “Nah, they didn’t have any.”
Damn. Losing and no Uncrustables?
He chuckled to himself, tugging open the protein bar and taking a bite.
“Not bad,” he said, making a mental note to buy them in the future.
“Yeah.” Spenser shrugged and took a bite of his own. “Do you think we’re gonna make it?”
Reese looked at him, surprised by the question.
Spenser rocked a quiet confidence but wasn’t cocky about it, so it was a bit of a shock to Reese to hear him ask.
“I do, yeah,” Reese replied.
Holy fuck. We can do this.
Speaking the words bolstered his confidence, the feeling overwhelming him a bit.
“We’re going to do it,” Reese said, looking up at Carter as he appeared in front of him.
“A little surprise,” he quipped, handing him a piece of folded-up paper.
“What’s it say?” Spenser asked, leaning over to read it. “You can do this. You’re the best running back I know, and I know a lot of them. -S.”
His chuckle filled Reese’s ear, and he swatted his teammate away as his mind went back to their first dinner when he was surprised by her compliment.
“I got one, too,” Carter said, grabbing a stool to plop into it. “Amy got me right in the heart.”
“What does yours say?” Reese asked, leaning forward.
Carter jerked back, holding the paper close to his chest. “Nope.”
“Spenser read mine out loud; now it’s your turn.”
Carter shook his head and tucked the letter into the band of his pants.
“Asshole,” Reese quipped, chuckling as he looked back down at the hand-written note.
“Coach said he had them write them up for us in case we needed them, and honestly, he’s right.” His eyes softened as he tugged the note from his pants. “Amy knew exactly what I needed.”
“Yeah, a set of balls big enough to take on the safeties,” Andre quipped, smacking him on the shoulder.
“Get out of here with that shit,” Carter said as he stood. “Don’t you remember last game, when I blocked for Vaughn?”
He waved to them and followed after Andre as he made his way over to the coaching staff.
Reese tucked the letter into his shirt as determination surged through him, renewing the drive to play as hard as he could to win.
Sutton screamed along to the music, jumping up and down as the song reverberated through the stadium. She turned to Amy, and they sang together, Sutton using her hand as a microphone, holding it over to Amy, then back to herself.
When the song ended, the stadium exploded into applause, the sound so loud that Sutton was sure she would be deaf at the end of this game.
“I can’t believe they got Lexi Reed to do the half-time show!” Amy exclaimed, dropping into her chair in the suite.
It helps that it’s also catered and even has a bartender!
They decided to get a suite this time to ensure their safety, since the big game had big feelings, and even with security incidents had happened.
Football brings out a lot of loyalty or hate.
She sighed and sat, running her hand through her hair.
“I hope our notes helped,” Sutton said, leaning over to Amy. “Reese has been having a hard time against their defense.”
Amy nodded. “Carter said they were good, but damn, they are really good. I think they were in the top five defenses this season.”
“Yeah.” Sutton grabbed her drink and took a sip, the alcohol hitting her a little bit harder than she anticipated. “They can come back, though. There have been bigger gaps for teams to hurdle before.”
Amy nudged her with her elbow. “You sound as worried as he probably is.”
Sutton couldn’t help but chuckle. “I know.”
“Have faith,” Amy stated, placing a hand over hers. “I do.”
“I’m trying,” Sutton replied. “It’s just so hard.”
“I know. Eli will rally them, I promise. If anyone can do it, he can.”
Eli’s rallies were legendary in the locker room. Even her Uncle Magnus was inspired by them, and he spoke about them often—even using his quotes in interviews with all the credit to him.
“I’m so excited,” Amy said, clasping her hands together around her beer. “But nervous at the same time.”
The nerves in Sutton’s stomach tightened as the announcer came over the loudspeaker to signal that the game would resume soon.
They can do this, I believe.
“Are you ready?” Amy asked, covering her hand with hers.
“I think so.”
Reese stood behind Eli, sweat pouring down his neck as he breathed heavily, waiting for the play to start.
The Kings had worked so hard to even the score and clawed their way to a three-point game, yet Preston’s last field goal attempt bounced off the uprights and was no good.
Now, they were seconds away from the two-minute warning of the end of the game, the ball in Kings hands and in Wolves territory.
Eli made the call and took the snap, passing it to Reese as he shot forward into the bodies of the offensive line pushing through to the left as a hole opened up for him to get through to get the first down.
“No huddle, no huddle!” Eli called, moving the line with the chains.
They got into position, and Eli received the ball from the center, tossing the ball to Carter, who danced across the first down line with ease.
“What is happening?” Reese called, cheering as he watched his teammate take them to the thirty-yard line.
“No huddle, no huddle!” Eli called again, stepping up as the offensive line took their position.
“Are you ready?” Eli asked, turning to glance at Reese.
He nodded, and the ball was hiked, and Eli passed it to Reese, who rushed forward through the same hole. This time, he was blindsided by a linebacker, the big man crushing Reese under his body.
“Fuck!” Reese cried, his wrist stinging in pain around the ball.
He looked to the side and watched a referee throw a flag, the yellow nylon swimming before his eyes as he pushed away the pain.
“Personal foul,” the referee called, “Unnecessary roughness! Fifteen-yard penalty.”
“Reese!” Eli called, pushing off the linebacker as he reached down to help him up. “Are you okay?”
Reese grimaced at the pain in his wrist. “I don’t know.” He tossed the ball one handed to the referee and walked to the sidelines.
He headed over to the medical tent to get his wrist checked out, getting the approval to re-enter the game after sitting out a couple of plays with some ice. He watched the first down and Eli was able to run the ball to the ten and slide to the ground.
“You good to go?” Magnus asked, coming over to him. “I want this for you.”
“I want this, too,” he replied, looking down at his wrist. “You think I’m good?”
Magnus looked over at the medical tent, and they gave him a thumbs up.
“Be careful but get out there.”
Reese tossed the ice down and clapped a hand on his coach’s arm. “Thanks, Coach.”
Magnus tapped his back with his hand, and Reese re-took the field, the crowd chanting his name as he joined his teammates in the huddle.
“This is it,” Eli said, looking at the clock. “Less than two minutes, and we are first and goal. We can do this!” He called the play, and they took their position.
Eli took the snap and faked the ball to Reese, aiming the other direction as Reese dove through the defense, and Eli turned back to him, shooting the ball down the field to land securely in Reese’s hands as he rushed into the end zone.
The stadium burst into noise as he held up the ball, running down the end zone to jump into Spenser’s arms.
“Fuck yeah!” Spenser cried, clapping his hand on Reese’s helmet.
They looked over at the sideline, and Magnus held up a two, indicating they were going for two points.
“Let’s go,” Eli called, getting the team together. The center snapped the ball into his hands, and he tossed it to Reese, who cut to the right to dive into the end zone for the two points.
Airhorn sounds filled the field, so Reese was unable to hear anything with the noise going on.
Carter and Spenser came over to hug him, along with Eli.
“We did it!” Eli cried, “We did it!”
They filed off the field for the punting team to take over, Reese’s eyes going to the clock.
40 seconds.
He watched the punt and the fair catch, the Wolves taking over at the twenty-five-yard line. As the time ticked down, the Wolves got a first down, and Reese clutched his jersey tightly as the next round of downs started.
Chants of ‘defense’ filled the stadium, Reese even joining in on them as they watched the defense hold the Wolves to three yards on the first down.
The next play started, and Reese cried out as the pass was ruled incomplete, the ball sailing past the receiver.
The third down came, and Reese sat, then stood, then sat back down again, anxiety rushing through his body.
It felt like slow motion as he watched the play start, and the defense swarmed the pocket, crushing the offensive line as they moved to sack the Wolves quarterback, the ball popping out as he fell to the ground with a quick recovery by the Kings.
The Kings sideline swarmed the field, silver, gold, and blue confetti raining down over the team as they were declared the winners.
Reese, Spenser, Carter, and Eli fell onto the field, dropping down to make confetti angels.
“Ew,” Reese said, tugging a piece of confetti that fell into his mouth out and tossing it away, struggling with it as it stuck to his fingers.
“Winning looks good on you!”
He turned to look at the voice, his eyes falling upon Sutton, standing amongst the confetti on the field with a huge grin on her face.
Closing the distance between them, he dragged her into his arms for a kiss, all the nerves rushing out as her lips met his in the most intense kiss he’d ever experienced.
“I’m so proud of you,” she said as he pulled back. “I was so nervous!”
Laughter escaped from him as he replied, “I don’t blame you. I was pretty nervous myself.”
Magnus motioned for them to gather around as they declared the Kings the winners and presented them with the large trophy, the team exploding into cheers as he lifted it high.
Reese was pulled onto the stage, along with Eli and Magnus, the three men being interviewed with the trophy. Reese pulled Sutton up onto the stage with him, joining the other families there.
His family had stayed home this year, so he waved and said hi to the cameras, thanking his family as he spoke about the game.
When he was finally free, they left the stage hand in hand.
“So,” Spenser said, coming up to them, “you got the win, how do you feel?”
“I got the win,” he said, looking around, “and I got the girl.” He looked at Sutton, her eyes sparkling with happiness. Gratitude overwhelmed him, and he squeezed her tightly. “I can’t ask for much more than that.”
He leaned down for a kiss as more confetti rained down on them, cheers surrounding them as the champions celebrated their hard-fought win.