Page 105 of When to Call a Blitz

“I knew it!” she yells, more closely resembling a marshmallow than kid as she jumps with her arms in the air, her puffy coat nearly covering her eyes at the movement.

Emmett rolls his eyes, his smile still bright. “You did not!”

She sticks her tongue out at him.

I still think she did.

“You going to win today?” I ask him, holding his cold cheeks between my hands.

He looks around before looking back at me. “I hope so.” He doesn’t seem so sure, and I pull him into a hug.

“You’ve got this,” I assure him.

And I know without a fraction of a doubt that he does.

We’re back in the box when the game starts.

It’s a rough one, like usual these days, but Emmett seems to be playing well.

Leo has gotten sacked a couple of times and Briar is chewing at her nails. Isla leans forward in her seat looking two seconds from bashing her head into the half-wall in front of us.

It’s tied in the third. In the fourth, the other team is up by three.

We’re giving up hope as the minutes tick down.

“Maybe thisisn’ttheir year,” Briar mutters sadly. I know how much this means to Leo, and I know how much he’s fought through his injuries and the mental blocks. He’s done alright, but I know he wants to be even better next year.

They had something to prove this year, and they didn’t quite get there, even if they win this game.

The ball is snapped by the opposition, and I watch as Emmett breaks through their offensive line, knocking the ball out of the quarterback’s hands.

But it doesn’t fall to the ground.

The crowd gasps, falling silent as it bounces off of Emmett’s hands. He falls forward slightly, catching himself as the ball lands back between his hands, and he doesn’t even take a second to process what’s happening. Instead, he takes off.

Everyone’s a little baffled about what’s happened, but Emmett is far ahead of anyone else, the offensive line trailing behind him more and more the closer he is to the end zone.

And he brings it in for a pick-six.

Everyone around us screams. Briar shakes me, grabbing my face as she yells. Isla jumps up and down in her seat, and Juniper and Elara dance in the corner.

The roar of people screaming is unlike anything I’ve ever heard.

“What the hell just happened?” I yell over it.

“They blitzed him. He got scared and was loose with the ball,” Briar shrugs, grinning.

“He got blitzed?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t always work, but that’s why it’s important to know when to call a blitz,” Isla winks at me. “Sometimes you getthe timing wrong. But once in a while it works just like that, and it’s magic.”

I press my lips together tightly, attempting to keep my grin at bay.

46

EMMETT

The first thing I hear is the scream, followed by the sobs.

---