“I won’t say much to all of you,” he said in a baritone voice that carried across the field. “I don’t need to. What needed to be said has been said on this field, every day of this camp. Every time you caught the ball, you said something. Every time you kept running even when you were exhausted, you said something. Every time you made a new friend, you said something.”
He put his hands on his hips and scanned the line of boys watching him.
“You said you matter, that you’re talented, and that you deserve to play football like anyone else. When you leave this camp, remember that. When someone treats you differently because they think you’re different, you call one of your teammates so you can remember the truth. What you have done here isn’t just a victory. It’s a triumph. I’m so proud of all of you, but I mostly want you to be proud of yourselves. As I told one of you boys the first day of camp, your opinion is the only one that really matters. Now, let’s do some celebrating.”
Then Blake stepped forward and held out his arms. The boys from his team rushed him first, followed by the rest of them. Her heart squeezed as she watched him hug the kids, laughing now. The boys converged around the rest of the coaches, and soon the field was filled with the special kind of male bonding Natalie had only seen on the football field, the kind of bonding Blake had always loved.
Until Blake, she’d never known the true power of sports. For her, it had always been about winning and losing and some pretty hot guys wearing tight pants. But football created a bond between the players. It didn’t just create winners and losers. It created men. And Blake wasn’t simply good at creating men, she realized. He was incredible at it. Coaching looked as natural on him as loving her did.
Love overwhelmed her. Determined to tell him just that, she took one step out onto the field toward him and then another.
Blake had lifted a young boy with red curly hair onto his shoulders and jogged across the field to the end zone with a trail of boys following him. They were all chanting, “Go, go, go.”
“Good to see you, Natalie,” Sam called out as he hugged a boy to his chest.
She waved to him and kept walking to the end zone. Blake had set the boy down and was demonstrating to his group how to spike the ball in victory. One kid after another tried. It was harder than it looked. Blake laughed as the football ricocheted off his ankle.
That sound of his happiness made her chest feel lighter. She loved him, oh, how she loved him.
One of the kids saw her and pointed. His mouth moved, and Blake spun around.
He missed catching the football a kid passed to him—something he never did—and didn’t even lean down to pick it up. His baseball cap was angled low over his forehead, but she could see his eyes. Those beautiful browns were filled with the look of cautious hope she often saw in them when he didn’t think she was watching.
When she reached him, the kids fell back, content to spike the ball. He was holding his breath, she could tell, and it reminded her to take a breath herself. She reached out her hands to him. He lifted his slowly and curled his fingers around her moist palms.
Memories of meeting him on the field when he was playing for the Raiders flashed through her mind, filling her with so much love she didn’t think her body could hold her heart. Then her mind went blank, and all she could do was feel the power and warmth of the love she had for him.
“You…this…” She couldn’t form a sentence.
His mouth shifted a fraction at a time until he was smiling at her, his earlier glow softer now. “I’m glad you’re here, babe.”
She released his hand and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. He squeezed her tight in return. When she saw the camera flashes out of the corner of her eye, she realized the public declaration concerning Blake had been made. They were officially back together.
Truth be told, it was about time.
Chapter 30
Few football parties had felt sweeter to Blake—not even the one following the Raiders’ Super Bowl win. With Natalie beside him, meeting the boys on his team, his happiness had shot to a whole new level. This, he knew, this was contentment.
The tension she’d felt at being back in the public eye with him seemed to have evaporated, though the camera flashes hadn’t stopped. She’d made her public declaration, and he knew what a step it had been for her.
He kept his arm wrapped around her as she talked to his team about what they’d learned at camp. A number of the boys told her she was pretty, which only made her laugh. He winked at them.
“Yeah, she is. Make sure and find someone as wonderful as she is when you get old enough.”
Sam clapped him on the back at one point, and the other guys gave him knowing looks. Jordan even gave him a thumbs-up. He pretty much grinned like a fool the entire time.