Page 163 of Play Fake
“It’s…a gluten-free cooking class?”
I nod, smiling. “For both of us. I figured…you spend so much time making adjustments for what youcan’teat. Maybe we could have fun finding things youcan. Together.”
His eyes soften in a way that makes my chest ache. “This is…perfect.”
He sets the envelope aside carefully, then hands me a small box. I peel away the wrapping before lifting the lid, finding a velvet box tucked inside. My heart skips as I look up at him.
“Open it,” he says, voice quieter now.
Inside is a delicate infinity necklace, silver and shining, with a small sapphire heart nestled where the infinity loops meet. It catches the morning light filtering in through the windows, sparkling softly.
My breath catches. “Beck…”
He reaches out, brushing his thumb over my wrist as he takes the necklace gently from the box. “You’re my always, Soph,” he says quietly. “I know life’s changing—football, Pro Day, everything—but through it all, I wantyouto know something.”
“I love you,” he says.
The words are steady, sure—like he’s known them for a while, just waiting for the right moment to let them out.
My eyes sting in the best way, my chest tight and full all at once. “I love you,” I whisper.
He clasps the necklace around my neck, his fingers brushing the back of my skin. When I turn to face him, he leans in and kisses me—soft and certain—while laughter swirls in from the kitchen.
Beck pulls back with a grin, forehead resting against mine.
And for once, it feels like we’re all exactly where we’re supposed to be.
The End
EPILOGUE
Beck
The clock winds down to zero, and the roar of the stadium hits like a wave. Home crowd. Division rivals. A late interception sealed the game, and the sound is the kind you feel in your bones.
But before the celebration fully explodes, before the reporters start circling and cameras swing toward the end zone, my eyes find them.
Section 109, just behind the team bench. I always know where to look.
Sophie’s there, tucked into a cream sweater with my jersey over it, a foam finger in one hand and her other arm wrapped around Caleb’s shoulders. She’s beaming, cheeks flushed from the crisp California evening, hair tucked into a beanie. Caleb’s waving both arms like he’s trying to get my attention from miles away, as if I’d ever miss them.
I tug my helmet off and wave, and even from here, I catch Sophie’s grin. That’s the one that still gets me every time.
They stayed local when I got drafted. I was lucky—a team just a couple hours from campus, close enough to keep our rootswhere they’d always been growing. Sophie finished her degree, landed a job she loves, and somewhere in between, she opened her heart even wider.
Sophie brought Caleb into her life in a different way right after she landed her job after graduating college, just a few months before I proposed. She went through the training, the home visits, the paperwork, all of it, and by the time we got engaged, I knew I wanted to be in it with her fully. I started the process too. Passed the background checks. Sat through every class. Signed my name on the dotted lines. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to.
He’s ours now, even if it’s not permanent yet. Fostering is like that, loving with open hands. There’s a chance adoption will happen, but even if it doesn’t, Caleb has a home with us for as long as he needs it.
I jog across the field, ignoring the few cameras that try to grab me on the way out. There’s only one place I want to be.
The security guard at the rail grins and steps aside like he always does. Caleb launches himself into my arms before I can even speak, legs wrapping around my waist, helmet still dangling from my fingers.
“Did you see the last play?” he says breathlessly. “Youcrushedit!”
I laugh, spinning him once. “I saw. You cheering so loud helped, I think.”
He grins like that’s the best thing he’s ever heard. Sophie steps up beside us, and I lean down to kiss her, still holding Caleb on my hip. She tastes like hot chocolate and home.
