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Rhett
First drive of the game and barely two minutes in, I throw a beautiful spiral that Brooks catches, and he runs it straight into the end zone.
Touchdown. All for Will.
We lock eyes as I come off the field once we scored our extra point. I send her a nod of recognition, letting her know that was for her, and she smiles, seeming to bounce in her seat. She’s adorable.
Once I secure this win, I’m going to do what I can to secure that one as mine.
The game goes by in a hurried blur of constant motion. By the top of the fourth quarter, we’re up by seventeen points and about to score another touchdown. We run the ball into the end zone in the next play and I’m sure we’ll win.
It’s practically guaranteed.
Our team is playing together like a well-oiled machine. All those months of practice have paid off. The excitement is palpable, the crowd won’t stop yelling their encouragement and goddamn it feels good. The coaching staff allowed my dad on the sidelines because of who he is, and he’s shouting at me every time I’m on the field. His words only fuel me though. Make me better.
Knowing Willow is up in the stands watching me is also fuel. Her parents watching too? I want to impress them. I want to impress everyone.
I’m on a high and I don’t wanna come down any time soon.
One of our tight ends catches the next ball while he’s basically in the end zone, so it’s an easy touchdown. We get the extra point and I’m ready to coast. This team we’re playing isn’t that good; they’re incredibly sloppy. They make a lot of errors that costs them—yardage from penalties, bad throws that turn into interceptions. It’s what allowed us to get ahead of them so quickly.
I have zero complaints.
By the time the game is over, I’m eager to go talk to Willow, but I gotta go through all the game day rituals first. A resounding speech from Coach out on the field with the entire team circled around him, followed by us going to stand in front of the crowd and shout our thank yous for their support. Finally, the crowd starts to disperse, most everyone leaving the stands save for family members, friends and girls.
Plenty of girls.
A group of giggling freshmen approach me and I take a quick photo with them, eager to get them on their way. Can’t let Willow see me with them and think I’m just some player out to bag a girl for the night. There is no one else I’m interested in.
Just her.
Dad reappears with Cal and Mom, who I had no clue was even at the game. I give her a big hug, clutching her close to me, breathing in her familiar, comforting scent before I pull away slightly to stare at her face.
“I didn’t know you were here.”
“Your dad didn’t mention it?” When Dad just offers her a helpless shrug as his answer, she shakes her head. “Well, here I am. I wouldn’t miss this game for the world—we just had to fly in and see our boys play their first games of the season.”
Even though Dad is busy with coaching his own football team, they still make the time to come to almost every single one of our games, unless his team is playing an away game. Mom will usually come alone when that happens, though on occasion she’s gone with Dad to his away games as well. Like the one that was played in Germany last season.
Can’t really blame them for missing our games.
“Hey,” I call to Brooks when he’s about to walk past me. “Take a pic of me and the fam?”
“Sure.” Brooks takes my phone and we pose for him, all three of us guys towering over Mom while she stands in the middle of us, a big smile on her face.
“We’re only missing Kenzie,” Mom says, referring to our sister who’s away at college and living her best life partying all the time. At least that’s what I see on her private stories and her second account on Insta. It’s obvious she’s keeping this from Mom and Dad, but I’m not about to rat her out. I’ll probably be doing the same thing when I’m in college.
“Eli, did you bring the necklace with you?” Mom asks Dad.
He nods. “You want to do this now?”
“I’m sure he’s going to hang out with his friends tonight. Right, Rhett?” Mom tilts her head up to look at me for confirmation.
“Yeah, probably.” I have no idea what they’re talking about.
“I remember what it was like. Your dad and I would hang out after games,” Mom says fondly. “Going to parties.”
“Sneaking around so we wouldn’t get caught together,” Dad adds with a sly smile on his face.
