Page 81 of Going for Two

“Thanks, Derek.” I gave him a small smile. “Now go win a fucking game.”

I marched across the hallway and gave the coaches trickling out a smile before I slipped by them. I spotted Nolan talking with Caleb in the corner as the two looked over the play call sheet. Neither of them noticed me approaching until I was nearly on top of them.

“How’s Derek?” Nolan asked me.

“He’s fine, but that’s not why I’m here.” I pointed a finger at my husband. “You are NolanfuckingHill. You’ve won three Super Bowls. You know what it takes to get through this next half. Don’t forget it.”

I let out a long breath before my gaze swung over to Caleb, who was staring at me with wide eyes. “And you are CalebfuckingWillis. You’re a two-time conference champion. You’re a front runner for the MVP award this year. Don’t forget it.”

The two men stared at me with equal looks of shock.

“Now go win this damn game because youknowI hate losing.”

With that, I turned on my heel and waddled back out of the locker room as fast as a nearly nine-month pregnant woman could.

The last time I had to give that pep talk ran through my mind as I watched the team come back out onto the field after halftime. I smiled as I remembered the woman I was at that time. I’d achieved everything I’d wanted with my career, but I had been dying to experience life. Now here I was three years later with nearly thirty countries under my belt and countless other experiences to remember there was more to life than just climbing a ladder.

Both Caleb and Derek started the second half with newfound excitement and managed to rally the rest of the team behind them. I knew I had done my job when the Bobcats scored on their first possession. All they needed was a bit of encouragement.

And when the confetti fell in the colors of navy and red at the end of the game, all that mattered to me was the look of pure joy on Nolan’s face as he watched Caleb and the rest of the team hoist the Super Bowl trophy over their heads.

I mentally crossed an item off my newest bucket list—watch the love of my life achieve greatness doing the thing he loves most.There wasn’t an accolade in the world that I would trade this very moment for. Not even when Nolan scooped me up in his arms drenched in sweat and in desperate need of a shower.

We had found each other at a time in our lives when we were both trying to figure out what was next without realizing that we would be each other’s answer. We learned that the best way to love the other was not to change them, but rather to help each other reveal the greatest versions of ourselves. Souls never meet by accident, and it seemed that we were always meant to show the other what it meant to truly live.

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