Page 40 of Her Football Star Ex

We had lost the game.

We were ahead by six points at the half against the 49ers. I wasn’t able to do much with our offense but luckily, our defense shut them down until the end of the fourth quarter. We were first and ten on the 49ers twenty-five-yard line with a minute thirty left on the clock. I took the snap, read the defense wrong, and handed the ball to the fullback on an option play instead of keeping it. He was almost immediately smashed by the middle linebacker, and the ball popped out and was recovered by the defense on the 49ers thirty-yard line. They executed some great run plays and got to our thirty-yard line.

We had used up all of our timeouts and there were eight seconds left on the clock when they sent four receivers down field. The 49ers quarterback threw a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. Eight bodies jumped into the air—it was anyone’s ball, but when all was said and done, the other team came down with the ball and won the game.

It sucked that we lost after being so close to advancing closer to the Super Bowl, but I was trying to focus on the positives at the moment.

We had made it to the playoffs for the first time since I’d been on the team, and we were in a good place to do well next year.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Vincent. You go have a nice night with your family,” Coach Anderson called, looking up from his phone.

“Thanks, Coach. You too. Tell Coleen and the kids I said hi.”

Even though the season was technically over, I still had to come back over the next week to clean out my locker and do a few exit interviews. And though I wished we still had two more games in the lineup, it would be nice to take a few months off. This season had been demanding as I’d worked to prove that I was as good as ever after my injury last year. It would be nice to take it easy for a bit, and maybe I could finally take Jaxon to that dinosaur museum in Utah he’d been talking about.

I checked my phone to see where my mom had decided we should meet up for dinner.

Mom:Just come to the house when you’re done. I’m going to order food in to avoid the crowds.

I tucked my phone in my pocket and headed to the team parking lot to find my truck.

My mom’s house was on the west end of Denver, so I worked my way through traffic and hoped my food wouldn’t be too cold by the time I got there.

After my dad died of an aneurysm about three years ago, my mom and Arianna had left my hometown of Auburn, Alabama to be closer to me. She worked as a nurse at the Rose Medical Center and had been there for me more than anyone over the past year as I tried to figure out how to look forward to a future that Emerson wasn’t a part of.

The porch lights were on when I pulled up to her ranch-style house. Arianna’s car was still parked on the left side of the driveway, which meant she hadn’t run off to hang out with her boyfriend Chad as soon as the game was over. The rental car my aunt and uncle were driving was parked in front of the house. I pulled to a stop behind it and parked.

I opened the door of my truck and climbed out, my muscles already giving me some insight into how sore I was going to be tomorrow. And when I walked up the path, I could hear the sound of Jaxon’s new favorite song “Immortals” from the movieBig Hero 6.

That kid.

He was something amazing.

Without him, I don’t know how I would have pulled myself through this past year.

I opened the front door, and when I stepped into the living room where Jaxon was currently showing off his new ninja moves, I saw the last person I expected to ever see at my mom’s house.

Emerson.

My breath caught in my throat, and it took a moment for my heart to remember it was supposed to beat again.

What was she doing here?

“Daddy!” Jaxon stopped mid-kick and bounded toward me, jumping into my arms.

I hugged him tight, all the while looking over his shoulder to watch Emerson who had slipped off the brown microfiber couch to stand a few feet in front of us. She wore a Dragons black-and-gold baseball cap and a plain white T-shirt and jeans. And when our eyes locked, I couldn’t help but think that she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

“You did a good job at your game,” Jaxon said, bringing my attention back to him.

“Thank you, buddy,” I said, setting him down and standing up straight again.

“Watch my new trick,” Jaxon said, already ready to move on to the next topic. “I just taught myself.”

And without another moment’s hesitation, he went right back to what he’d been doing when I came in. He did a few kicks and spins, followed up with a donkey kick with the support of a couch cushion.

“That’s so cool,” I said. And as he continued to do more of the same, I let my gaze drift back to Emerson.

“I guess you’re probably wondering why I’m here.” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, seeming to read my thoughts.

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