Page 114 of Catching Our Moment
“Channel it, man,” Davy said. “Let’s get this done so you can go kiss that woman and make her yours.”
It was probably the longest game of my life. Knowing she was here—they were all there to watch me—drove me harder and made me more determined than ever.
On my first touchdown, I sent a fist bump to Aaron, as promised. Each time I rolled over a defense, I jumped up and down like a rookie—adrenaline coursing through me like a drug.
The second half of the fourth quarter, I broke through two linemen, outran the linebacker to catch an over-the-shoulder pass, and then juked the defensive back that was between me and the goal line. I was getting another touchdown—for her.
I did my shuffle, and the dome went wild. A kind of radar turned on inside my head, and I pivoted to a suite near the 45-yard line. I pointed at it and then tapped my heart. With my other hand, I closed my fist, opening up my thumb, pointer, and pinky—I love you.
The noise in the Superdome amplified. And there she was again on the Jumbotron. Her hands over her mouth, her shoulders shaking, her face beaming. It was a surreal moment. Just her and me making googly eyes through the seventy-foot Jumbotron with seventy-thousand fans watching.
The extra kick was good, and we were up 27-24. Our defense did its job, and as the clock counted down to the end, my mind reeled.
We’d done it. It had been the longest, most intense season of my career, and my team had won.
Pandemonium broke out with streamers and so much confetti filling the air it was almost hard to see more than ten yards in front of you.
I cheered with my teammates, walked around thanking the coaches, and hugged random people who’d searched me out to congratulate me.
Out of the streamers, like a vision, was a brunette barreling into me so fast her infamous ponytail couldn’t seem to keep up. I held out my arms, and she launched herself at me, causing me to take a step back as I buried my face in her neck to hide the tears I couldn’t control.
“Baby, I’m so proud of you,” she said into my ear. “I’m so damn proud of you.” She pulled back to look at me, her hands cupping my face, and I held her, wrapping her legs around my waist. “You were amazing.” Tears filled her eyes as she kissed me—the kind of kiss the cameraman should’ve had to cut away from.
Our foreheads together, I closed my eyes and said, “Say it.”
Because she was her, and I was me, she knew exactly what I wanted to hear. “I love you.”
I threw my head back and roared. Her tears fell, and her laughter was infectious. Aaron came up and threw his arms around both of us as I lowered her to the ground. A circle of friends, teammates, cameras and reporters, and well-wishers formed around us. This moment was ours—me and my best friend, my love…my girl.
EPILOGUE
Shaw
“And…we’re back with our resident prognosticator, Aaron the Analyst, and his sidekick, Dawson Shawfield. Aaron, thanks for getting Shaw to come on the podcast today. He’s always so busy to spare a few minutes for us,” TJ said, and I gave him a side-eye smirk.
Within a month after the game, James and Amber had backed down, withdrawing from demanding custody. Kelcie said she caught Aaron talking to Wyatt at the game about things he heard around the house and around the neighborhood. The next thing we knew, Amber was yanking James away from having anything to do with us.
Plausible deniability was probably the best for me. I’d keep my nose clean—at least until I was out of the league. Knowing Wyatt’s modus operandi, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Nick had been moonlighting again, digging up more of Amber’s skeletons.
Aaron had pointed out that he was old enough to speak with any judge they dragged him in front of and that he would tell that judge his preferences. James knew it was a lost cause.
I didn’t doubt James loved his son. I just didn’t think James knew his son. He wanted to fit Aaron in a slot that wasn’t big enough to hold him.
I bought both sides of the duplex from Dylan, and we decided to keep Kelcie’s side for when we visited off-season. Dylan was going to work on finding someone to rent the other side.
We looked at houses in Charlotte and enjoyed the summer at my lake house.
Life was good.
One point of contention we finally settled with James was Aaron’s appearance on TJ’s podcast. An agreement was reached that Aaron would appear once a month, recorded from our home and on his schedule, with a nice compensation package set up in an air-tight trust for when he came of age.
In those podcasts, he interviewed players and utilized his statistician brilliance to impress TJ’s fan base. Being the off-season, I went with Aaron to TJ’s studio that first time so Aaron could interview me as a guest.
The minute I walked in the door, I smelled a rat, especially when I saw the size of TJ’s grin.
“Sidekick?” I said to both TJ and Aaron. “Really?”
“When we’re at the stadium, that’s what you call me. It seemed fitting,” Aaron said.
