“Two more plays,” I said. “Ryan does well under pressure.”
There was only a minute left to go and we still had about seventy yards to get to the end zone. Ryan snapped the ball to Evan and it was the perfect catch, but Denver’s defense stopped him before he could make any headway. We were stuck at the sixty-five-yard line with no hope of making a touchdown. Ryan bowed his head and I knew what he was thinking…that he’d lost Carolina the win.
“Wait, what’s Jaxon doing?” Hayden asked. I searched the sidelines until I found him talking heatedly to his coach. “He’s not asking to take the field, is he?”
I held my breath. “Oh my goodness, I think he is.” Coach Joel waved for Ryan to leave the field and he wasn’t happy about that. Jaxon ran onto the field and got into position. All eyes were on him, and for a moment, the whole stadium fell into silence. It was like the calm before a storm. Heart racing, I was tempted to close my eyes, but I had to watch. Jaxon’s body tensed and he rushed to the ball, everything moving in slow motion as he kicked it. The sound of the hit echoed through the stadium and there was an audible gasp as we all waited.
The football sailed through the air, closer and closer to the field goal. It didn’t look like it was going to make it, but then it went right through the goalposts. Screaming as loud as we could, Hayden and I jumped for joy, me crying more than anything. The team rushed out onto the field to join Jaxon, lifting him victoriously in the air. Ryan and some of the other guys dumped the water cooler over Coach Joel’s head while others danced on the sidelines. It was an epic show and one I was never going to forget.
Jaxon raced toward me, bypassing everyone who wanted to speak to him. “I did it!” he hollered, picking me up in his arms. He swung me around and kissed me, looking the happiest I’d ever seen him. “I can’t believe I fucking did it.”
“Exactly,” I said, placing my hands against his cheeks. “You did it. The Cougars couldn’t have won without you. Never forget that.” Cameras flashed all around and there were people dying to talk to him. “Now go and enjoy the moment. I’ll see you afterward.”
Setting me down, he kissed me one more time before running off. “I love you!” he called out.
“You’d better!” I shouted back.
Hayden clasped her arm with mine and laughed. “It’s so good to see him happy. I was so afraid you’d leave him after everything with Sadie.”
I watched Jaxon talking to the reporters and smiled. “When you love someone, you don’t run away from him. Jaxon may not be perfect, but I can’t imagine a life without him.”
“I know exactly how you feel.”
—
“What are we doing out here?” I asked. Before leaving the stadium, Jaxon wanted to walk out onto the field one last time.
Holding his arms out wide, he sucked in a deep breath. “I want to remember this day for the rest of my life.”
I laughed. “Believe me, you will. People will be talking about it for years.”
Taking my hand, he led me to the sixty-five-yard line where he’d made the winning kick. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. After I hurt my leg in the fall, you were the one who pushed me to make it better. I had doubts that I’d ever be as good as I was, but you believed in me.”
I winked at him. “What can I say? You’re the best.”
Jaxon reached for my hands and pulled me to him. “So are you, Bristol.” His amber gaze never left mine and I shivered. It didn’t matter how many times I looked at him, he could always get me weak in my knees. “I want to give you something,” he murmured.
“You already give me too much. The only thing I need is you.”
A sad smile spread across his face, especially when he unclasped the necklace that was around his neck. I’d never even noticed he was wearing one. When he pulled it out from underneath his shirt, I saw that it was a Celtic cross encrusted with black jewels, with a crest in the center.
“It’s beautiful,” I gasped in awe.
Eyes glistening, he looked down at it. “It was my mother’s. But before that, it belonged to my ancestors from generations back. It’s been passed down for hundreds and hundreds of years.” He came around behind me and fastened it around my neck. “I want you to have it.”
“Jaxon, I can’t. It belongs in your family.”
He turned me around and looked down at me. “You are my family, Bristol. The day my mother died she told me to pass it down to my children. I figured we could do it together.”
“What?” I gasped, the tears falling freely down my cheeks. “What are you saying?”
His fingers brushed the hair off my face. “I’m saying that I know this is forever. One day you’ll be my wife and we’ll have kids of our own.”
“And you’re sure of that?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck.
His lips found mine and I didn’t want to let him go. “Most definitely. I always get what I want. Only now, I just need to make sure to keep you happy.”
“I think you’re off to a pretty good start. How about we go home and celebrate? I can think of plenty of ways we can make each other happy.”
Chuckling, he kissed me again. “I wish you knew how much I love you.”
“I do,” I murmured, “because I love you just as much. I just hope it stays that way.”
“It will, love. And I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure it does.” Taking my hand, he led me off the field. “We have so much to look forward to…and it’s only the beginning.”
To my amazing readers who have given me the love and support to keep following my dreams
Acknowledgments
As always, I have to thank my husband, Matt, for putting up with me through the wonderful and stressful times. Being the husband of an author is not an easy job.
To my assistant, Kim Walker—I seriously don’t know what I would do without you.