Page 127 of Perfectly Us

“It sure is,” he says with a dazzling grin. “You watching from the stands?”

I nod. “Once the game starts, my job will be mostly over for the day, and I want to watch with Riley and Ethan. My family. Your mom.”

He pushes up from the bed, wrapping his arms around me and leaning in for one last kiss. “That sounds like the perfect plan. See you under the confetti, Wildcat.”

CAM

“Come on, come on, come on.”

Tyler mutters the words like a prayer as we stand on the sidelines, his hand gripping my arm, Drew bouncing on his cleats next to me as we watch the clock tick down the final seconds of the game.

It’s been a brutal battle—my favorite kind of game, but now all we can do is watch as the defense takes the field. It’s out of our control, and for a group of athletes who have gotten where we are by always wanting the ball, it’s the worst place to be.

We’re up by four with five seconds left on the clock, and if our defense can hold the line, we win. We hold our collective breath as the ball is snapped and Seattle’s quarterback drops back, looking for his man. Out of nowhere, our defensive end blasts through the line of scrimmage, taking the quarterback down. The ball comes loose and he scoops it up, sprinting downfield and crossing into the endzone just as the clock winds to zero.

The stadium bursts into pandemonium. Renegades fans cheer and the ground shakes, fireworks exploding above the stadium.

“WE FUCKING DID IT!” Tyler screams, jumping on meand swinging his legs around my waist as Drew attacks me from the other side. “SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!”

I laugh as he jumps off me and runs over to help a bunch of guys douse Coach in Gatorade as the confetti starts to fall. Then Sophie runs up and takes a flying leap into Tyler’s arms, and Drew is swallowed up by a bunch of guys. They try to drag me in too, but there are only three people I want right now, and none of them wear a uniform.

I turn, scanning the growing crowd, trying to see through the falling confetti, the crush of players and coaches and media swarming the field. And then suddenly, the crowd parts and there they are.

Riley and Ethan stand on either side of Maddy, the three of them wearing my jersey and laughing as they walk onto the field. Maddy spots me first, beaming at me as she taps my kids and points, laughing again as they take off on a run. They slam into me, wrapping me in a three-way hug, tears burning my eyes as emotion crawls up my throat. My eyes meet Maddy’s, and hers are teary as she watches us, the love in her expression making my own tears spill over.

“I love you guys,” I say, my voice rough and ragged. “I love you so much. I’m so glad you’re here. That you got to see this.”

“Seriously, Dad, where else would we be?” Riley’s voice is full of sass.

“It’s the Super Bowl,” Ethan says matter-of-factly. “Why wouldn’t we be here?”

I laugh, hugging them for another minute, love and pride tangling together inside of me because there have been so many times over the last ten years when I’ve doubted myself and whether I alone could be what my kids needed, but standing here under the lights with confetti falling around us, I really feel like we did okay.

“Maddy, come here!” Ethan yells, and my heart takes flight when she grins, tears trickling down her cheeks and her red hair glowing under the stadium lights as she dashes our way, throwingherself at me. I hold her with one arm, Ethan with the other, and Maddy puts an arm around Riley. For a minute we stand there, wrapped up all together, just the way it’s supposed to be.

With my family in my arms, my control breaks, tears flowing down my cheeks as my emotions bubble over. I think of the last time I stood under the falling confetti, Lainey by my side and a newborn Riley in my arms. The Renegades haven’t won a Super Bowl since she died, and I like to think it’s not an accident that this year was our year.

The year Maddy came into my life. The year my kids and I got to call her ours.

I bend down, pressing a kiss to Maddy’s head, and it’s almost like I can hear Lainey’s bright, infectious laugh, the contagious humor in her voice. And I know, deep in my bones, that she would want this for me. For all four of us. Joy bubbles up, even as my tears continue to fall.

Eventually my kids drift away, laughing with my mom and tossing confetti with Drew and hugging Maddy’s parents and Tyler’s too as they all make their way down to the field.

And then it’s just Maddy and me, wrapped together, and it’s everything I ever wanted. Everything I hoped it would be.

“I’m so fucking proud of you,” she says, voice thick but full of joy. “I love you so damn much.”

I lean back, cupping her face in my hands and stroking my thumbs over her cheeks. “I love you,” I manage. “I love you so much, and there is no one on earth I would rather have with me in this moment than you. You are everything, Wildcat. You and my kids are my whole damn world, and I am going to spend the rest of my life making sure you know every single day how much I love you.”

Maddy grins, her arms tightening around my waist. “The rest of your life, huh?”

“The rest of my life,” I repeat, leaning in to kiss her. “I’m going to marry you,” I murmur, letting my lips drift down over her jaw. “I’m going to marry the shit out of you.”

When she laughs, my heart squeezes, and I’m so in love with her it fills every part of me. “It’s customary to ask someone to marry you before you go making proclamations like that.”

Leaning back, I look into her smiling face. “It’s really cliché to propose right after winning the Super Bowl. I’m more creative than that. Buckle up, Wildcat, because when I do ask you to marry me, it’s gonna knock your socks off.”

Maddy puts her hands on my shoulders and jumps, wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, leaning in so our lips are inches apart, hers curving up in a smile. She has tear tracks down her cheeks and confetti in her hair, and she has never, ever looked more beautiful. “I’m counting on it, Cameron, because I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, too.”

“My girl,” I murmur, stroking a hand over her face, making sure she’s real because I can’t believe this is my life.

I’m the luckiest fucking guy in the world.

And with that thought in my head and a smile on my face, I kiss my girl again as we start our forever.