The South Hartford University’s football stadium was so loud my ears were already ringing.
Our rivalry had grown over the years, and any time we came to their turf, we were greeted by loud jeers from their fans, a shitty locker room, and a team full of massive guys just itching to take us to the ground.
North Boston University was a tough team, but we were also trained to respect our opponents and the schools we visited. SHU, on the other hand, wasn’t above playing dirty. They wanted to hurt us. They’d love to see one of us benched after a play where we were knocked down hard. And above everything, they wanted to win.
But so did we.
The locker room had been quiet after warmups, with our training staff taping up the last of the players as the rest of us bounced to stay warm. I could feel the nerves of everyone, especially Blake, and I’d jumped up on one of the benches to call everyone together.
“This may not be our house, but this is our win. Our season. Our chance to prove we’re not a one and done championship team. Nearly everyone in this stadium wants to see us lose, along with most of the country. No one wants to cheer for the team that’s already on top.” I’d grinned then, hitting my chest. “But that’s just too fucking bad for them.”
The locker room had roared, and when Clay jumped up beside me and started a chant, we fired up past all the nerves, running through the tunnel and out onto the field like it was our university instead of SHU.
Our fans had shown up for us, rivaling the boos that came from South Hartford as we ran out. I loved knowing we were taking up almost half the space, that it wasn’t a house full of their fans like it usually was. But when I quickly glanced at the NBU friends and family section and didn’t see Mary, my stomach dropped.
Her seat was empty.
I tried to ignore it, mouth clamped shut as I jogged out with the rest of the team. I only had a moment on the sideline before it was time for me to join the refs in the middle of the field for the coin toss.
I chanced a glance again.
Still empty.
I couldn’t shake off that second look. I stared at the seat with my heart beating loud in my ears.
I thought she’d come.
She’d answered my call. That alone had given me more hope than it probably should have. To see her still wearing my hoodie? That had me flying high. And she’d smiled. She’d told me good luck. She hadn’t said she would be here but…
I’d stupidly believed without a doubt that she would be.
“Captain,” the ref said, and I blinked, finding him and the player from the other team watching me like they saw just how stupid I was.
“Tails,” I said when I realized they were waiting for my call.
The coin was flipped. We won. We deferred. And then, the game began.
Other than checking the stands every two seconds to see if Mary had shown, I was locked in and focused on the game. Calling it a game at all felt wrong.
It was a blood bath, a battle, a war.
Our defense held them to three and out on their first drive, and then with a sick return from Zeke, we managed to score with our first possession. That only fired SHU up more, and two plays into our next possession, Kyle was taken down in a ghastly tackle that had him rolling on the ground in pain.
It was a concussion. I knew without having to hear it confirmed.
Our training staff helped him up and he walked off the field, all the way back through the tunnel to the locker room. We knew he wasn’t coming back.
And now, we were down our best tight end.
The momentum shifted to South Hartford, and they scored on their next drive before picking off Blake and getting a defensive touchdown, too.
It went on like this, back and forth, both teams grinding like it was the championship game right now instead of a rivalry. We were all beat up when we limped into the locker room at halftime, and we were down by ten.
I expected Blake to feel defeated already. He’d been picked off twice. He surprised me in the locker room, though, huddling the team together and reminding us what we were fighting for.
With us having first possession of the second half, we drove down strong and steady for a touchdown.
And still, Mary wasn’t in the stands.
Defense was battling, trying to hold South Hartford to a kick when Zeke came and put a hand on my shoulder on the sideline.
“You okay, man?”
I nodded, but couldn’t verbally assure him or myself. I was here. I was locked into the game.
But I also wasn’t here, not really.
My head was wherever she was.
“It’s not over,” he said, a bit lower this time. “Maybe she just needs more time.”
I tried with everything in me not to break down and cry when he said it.
With another nod, I faced him. “Let’s just win this game.”
“Damn right,” he said, slapping my helmet before he jogged over to Riley.
The longer the game went, the more grueling it became, and the crowd was so alive with energy it was impossible not to buzz right along with them. I was having a monster game, and everything was going right for us — but we were still down by six by the time we got the ball back in the fourth quarter.
There was just over two minutes left.
It was do or die.
I pulled my helmet on, jogging out onto the field after Zeke got us the best return he could. Even with it, we still had sixty-three yards to drive down the field for a touchdown. A kick wouldn’t win or even tie. It had to be a touchdown.
As I huddled with Blake and the rest of the offense, listening to him call our first play, I felt an all-encompassing Zen wash over me. It was like all the noise cleared out, the cheers falling mute, my breaths steadying, and even Blake sounded like he was whispering instead of shouting over the noise of the fans.
We have this, I said to myself, and I felt it deep down in my fucking soul.
Without thinking, I looked up over Blake’s head to the empty seat in the stands.
But it wasn’t empty anymore.
Mary was there now, her long blonde hair shining in the last bit of sunlight and giving her away. When she realized I was looking at her, she climbed up to stand in her seat, taller than the sea of fans around her.
She was wearing my jersey.
Even from the distance, I could make out her smile, and it made my heart skip a beat before it kicked back to life and raced like a motherfucking horse.
Slowly, her hands lifted over her head, holding a large white sign with black marker lettering.
Dibs on #13.
I couldn’t contain it. A laugh that was something more of a cry rushed out of me, and Blake paused where he’d been calling the play. He followed my gaze over his shoulder, and then gave me a knowing grin when he turned back to the group.
“Let’s win this,” he said to us, and then he nodded his head at me. “Some of us have a girl to impress.”
A few of the guys thumped me on the helmet, making smart-ass remarks that I took with the goofiest grin I’d ever worn stretching my face. They could hound on me all they wanted to. Nothing could get to me, not now that she was here.
We clapped our hands and sprinted to our spots on the line with seven seconds left on the play clock.
Just before the ball was snapped, I looked back up to Mary in the stands.
She had my number on her chest.
And my heart in her hands.
