Page 4 of Chasing Football Dreams

“I wish Eliza was here to witness this,” I whispered, a single tear falling from my eye.

“She will be here for the next and the one after that,” He assured me.

I nodded and turned back to the candles. I smiled and then blew out the candles. I laughed loudly when the guys all cheered. Everyone in the diner was looking at us but at this stage, I didn’t care. I was truly happy to be surrounded by people who cared about me.

“Now, who wants cake?” Andrew called, rubbing his palms together.

“You have to wait until Eliza gets back from her trip,” Freddie remarked. Receiving a scowl from Andrew.

“Not that kind of cake,”

Xander just shook his head, smiling at them. He then stood up when his gaze landed on something. I frowned and noticed that Duncan was smiling too.

Ivy came forward with her parents following. She embraced Xander before letting him greet her parents as she came over to me and Duncan.

She greeted her brother with their secret handshake before she embraced me with a hug. “Happy birthday, Zoey,”

I blinked when she didn’t stammer.

She grinned when she noticed.

“She is more motivated than ever to work on her speech after Xander and she made peace,” Duncan explained.

“You mean dating him again,” Ivy corrected her brother. She added an extra word in ASL which made Duncan break out in laughter.

I got to my feet to greet Duncan’s parents. “I got you something small. Duncan told me not to go overboard but I couldn’t help it when I saw this in the shop. It reminded me so much of you,”

I opened the present out of curiosity and found a necklace with a pendant shaped like a football. “I love it,” I exclaimed and hugged her.

“Okay, since we are allowed to exchange presents,” Wesley suddenly got to his feet and ran to the back.

“Do I want to know?” I asked turning to Duncan who gave nothing away.

The team chuckled and I turned around to see Wesley leaving the kitchen with a life-size Duncan Jones cardboard cut-out. “When this one is giving you a hard time, you can take it out on this one,” Wesley joked.

I snickered when I caught Duncan flipping him off but then Wesley pulled out a massive teddy bear from behind the counter, wearing my number jersey. He also handed me a signed football of many years ago when Coach Shane won his first Superbowl.

“I am also a collector and a fan, and after today, hearing that you could be the daughter of the legend, I would say you are my new inspiration,”

I wasn’t the only one shedding a tear as everyone tried to hide their teary eyes.

“I am sorry for how badly I treated you but I can say this with an honest heart, I am glad to call you my QB,”

Chapter Two

Duncan took a shower when we got home, while the shower was running, I grabbed the same jersey of Duncan’s that I’ve been wearing and slipped it on. I was looking through the dress drawer for shorts when two strong and muscular arms wrapped around my torso.

“Are you upset that I arranged a small party for your birthday?” He asked.

The truth was. I wasn’t. He didn’t know that. So, I pretended to be upset by giving him the silent treatment.

He didn’t take long to pick up that I was giving him the silent treatment but instead of stomping away, he caught me by surprise when he pushed the jersey aside and lowered his head to my shoulder. He skimmed his lips across my skin and it didn’t take long for me to become prisoner to his touch.

“That’s cheating,” I hummed. My head tilted to the side to give him better access as he continued to nibble on the sensitive skin of my collarbone.

I felt his hot breath gliding over my skin as he chuckled. He tightened his grip around my waist and hoisted me up in the air.

“Duncan!” I shrieked and laughed when he carried me over to the bed.

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