Page 105 of Campus Heat

Lucas tackled me from the side. “We fucking did it!”

Cam ripped his helmet off and screamed at the top of his lungs. The sideline flooded the field, and the cheerleaders rushed forward, sending blue and gold pom-poms flying through the air. But I didn’t worry about any of them. My gaze moved to Elizabeth, and she was running toward me like we had been reunited after twenty long years. Unable to contain my excitement any longer, I met her halfway and lifted her into the air.

“You won,” she said breathlessly as the glitter on her face reflected under the stadium lights.

I let out a strangled laugh. “We actually won. Can you believe it?”

“I have always had faith in you.”

The stadium roared around us but after those words left her mouth, I could no longer hear them. I was lost in the pride I could see in her eyes because no one had ever looked at me like that before. Without thinking about the hundreds of people who surrounded us, I pulled her close and kissed her deeply. Right there on the field in front of both our teams and all the fans, but she didn’t stop me.

Right there under the bright lights, while the Highlanders celebrated their first ever victory, we exposed our relationship to everyone who mattered. And as we finally broke apart, I realized that the cheers had become even louder. The guys were no longer just celebrating our victory.

They were also celebrating the relationship they had anxiously been waiting for.

Epilogue

Elizabeth

The stadium lights washed the field in white and gold. They were so bright that they turned the night sky pale. I paused at the top of the concrete steps, allowing the noise to hit me all at once. Thousands of voices blended into a constant roar while the marching band thundered somewhere in the distance. Down below, players in sharp uniforms sprinted through warm-up drills like they were at bootcamp, with helmets flashing beneath the lights.

Ethan, who had been next to me a minute ago, had stopped walking. He stood with his hands resting on the railing as he looked out over the field. My eyes locked on him, and I had very little interest in the actual game. His shoulders were relaxed in a way that I hadn’t seen all season. He gazed at the quarterback who was throwing warm-up passes across the turf. The spiral was cutting through the air before snapping neatly into the receiver’s hand.

“That throw,” Ethan muttered, half to himself.

I couldn’t help but smile. “You haven’t even taken your seat yet.”

He glanced at me almost sheepishly. “Sorry.”

We started walking, and quickly found our seats a few rows above the field. I sat down and it felt like the entire stadium had wrapped around us. The crowds were packed shoulder to shoulder; blue lights circled the upper decks, and banners were snapping in the wind. The team lined up for the kickoff, and shortly after, the whistle shrieked. The ball sailed through the air, and Ethan instinctively leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“These guys are fast,” he said as a returner burst through the first line of defenders.

I followed the play down the field, watching the runner zigzag before he was dragged down.

“Fast is good,” I shrugged.

“Fast and disciplined,” he corrected. “Just look at the way they’re blocking.”

I glanced sideways. “You sound like Lucas.”

He let out a little chuckle. “Lucas would be screaming right now.”

The next drive started quickly. The quarterback took the snap and fired a tight pass over the middle. The receiver caught it cleanly and pivoted upfield before two defenders slammed into him.

Ethan shook his head with a small grin. “Clean route.”

I rested my chin on my hand and kept studying him. “You miss this, don’t you?”

He glanced over at me, confused. “Miss what?”

“This,” I said, nodding at the field.

Ethan stayed quiet for a moment and looked back at the field. A receiver sprinted down the sideline while the quarterback launched a long pass that arched perfectly into his hands. The stadium exploded, but Ethan exhaled slowly.

“Games like this…” he eventually said. He rubbed his thumbs along the edge of the seat in front of him. “I used to picture being a part of one.”

I didn’t say anything because I wanted him to live that moment. He leaned forward again as the team reset.