The field goal was good. The game was tied.
They were going to overtime.
“This is intense,” Tara said, heading to the bar. “I need a damn drink.”
“I’m going with you,” Savannah said.
They all took a few minutes to relax. Liz leaned back in her chair and took it all in, watching the family mingle and talk.
“Having fun?” Gavin asked as he hopped into the seat next to her.
“I’m having a great time, but I’m also a wreck. What a game.”
“I know. We couldn’t ask for a better game for Mick and Cole to play against each other.” He took a sip of water and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Your guys are doing well on both sides, too.”
She grinned, knowing he was talking about the players she represented. “They are, aren’t they? Overall, a perfect day. But someone’s going to have to win.”
“Definitely.”
Overtime was a whole different animal and that fifteen minutes seemed like the longest fifteen minutes of the entire family’s life. Liz couldn’t sit anymore. Most of the family was standing and pacing back and forth as the Traders won the toss and marched down the field. Cole took a slant pass and ran for eighteen yards, then another for twelve, setting up a field goal, putting the Traders ahead.
When the Sabers got the ball, Mick threw a long pass that just tipped off the hands of the receiver. The groans in the suite were loud. He missed another pass, then got sacked. It was looking like the Traders were going to win.
But on third down he threw a bullet to the wide receiver who swerved and missed the tackle and rocketed down the sidelines to the end zone.
Liz cheered for Mick and for the Sabers. It was a great comeback on what she had feared was going to be a bitter defeat. She felt awful for Savannah, though, and went over to her and hugged her.
“Such a tough loss.”
Savannah nodded. “It was. But it was a great game and two amazing teams. I know Cole is going to be upset.”
“He shouldn’t be. I know he will be, but he played an amazing game.”
Liz gave victory hugs to Kathleen and Jimmy, and commiseration ones to Jack and Cara. They were all going to meet up at Riley’s Bar, so she and Gavin headed over there. She felt both pumped up and sad about the game. It was hard when you had family on both sides, but there was nothing you could do. Short of a tie, someone had to lose.
“How do you handle it?” she asked Gavin on the ride over.
“Handle what?”
“Losing.”
He shrugged. “It’s part of the game. You deal. It blows, especially in a close game like today’s. Cole will hate it, because he’s competitive and because of what it means for his team. Plus, he didn’t want to lose, especially to his cousin. But he’s a man and a decent one. He’ll suck it up.”
She understood about losing. She spoke with a lot of her clients about it, especially those going through rough patches. Fortunately, Cole’s career was on an uptick right now and they were having a winning season. One game wouldn’t matter all that much. She looked forward to seeing him at Riley’s Bar and being able to congratulate him on the game today. He’d played well and his stats showed it.
Still, Gavin was right—it sucked to lose. As she sat back in the car and looked over at her husband, she was consumed with the thought of having a baby. His baby. A child who looked like him, with his dark hair and his drive and sense of honor. And maybe a child who had a touch of her ambition. She was going to make it happen, one way or the other.
If she was one thing, it was tenacious. She might not be a Riley by blood, but she was still part of the family, and she understood grit and determination. And, like every member of the Riley family, she didn’t give up.
Chapter Four
Christmas decorations were up, which always put Liz in the holiday spirit. She wasn’t sure Gavin had been all that happy about having to drag a six-and-a-half-foot live tree into the house, especially since she’d insisted they go to one of those places where they could cut their own tree.
He’d told her they had plenty of trees on the property and she could wander around, pick one out, and he’d chop it down. Then they wouldn’t have to drive the truck an hour outside the city to get one.
Clearly, the man had no Christmas spirit. Besides, she loved all the trees on the property and wasn’t about to cut one of those down when there were places specifically set up for that very function. And those places would replant trees.
Since they’d be celebrating Christmas at their house this year, everything had to be perfect. She’d spent the past two weeks running nonstop. Between the holiday and Jenna and Ty’s wedding, there was something to do every week. In between those two functions, she also had work to do with her clients.
Frankly, she was exhausted. But as Gavin climbed up on the ladder to put the star on the top of the Christmas tree, she was satisfied that at least the decorating part was finished.