Epilogue

Emmie stood in the private stadium box, staring down onto the football field below. The Archers had won the Super Bowl the previous year, and was the favorite to win again. It was a showdown between the old St. Louis team and the current champion. Los Angeles verses St. Louis.

“I’m so nervous,” Romilly Demay said, her hands clasped together in front of her. She, too, looked down onto the field where the players were warming up. “Even more so than last year.”

She and Romilly had become fast friends when they’d been introduced to one another. Over the past year, she had been teaching Emmie everything she needed to know about football and being a football girlfriend. As well as being a great friend.

Emmie never thought she’d be a fan of the game, and she knew Jacoby would’ve laughed at that. Neither of them had been very athletic. The pomp of the game started, with a flyover from the Air Force, the national anthem sung by one of the hottest singers out there. Since the Archers were considered the visiting team, Crew called the coin toss and deferred.

When the game started, Emmie couldn’t sit down. Luckily, most people sharing their box had the same frame of mind. Back and forth, the game played out. Both teams were strong, giving and taking. Sometimes the Archers were in the lead. Sometimes the other team. She’d scream and clap along with everyone. At halftime, while she was talking to Romilly and watching the show, several celebrities came by their box to talk. Having partied with several of them, it was like a reunion. However, she didn’t miss that life now.

Since moving to St. Louis, she decided to build a no-kill shelter for unwanted pets and strays. Even though her parents had threatened to withhold her inheritance, they had no legal ground to stand on. She rolled that money into her love of animals, and her name to garner donations.

After the halftime show, the game resumed. Little by little, the Archers began to pull ahead. The other team missed several small plays that were adding up to a big deficit. Crew kept calm. Being Super Bowl champs took the nerves out, and he was throwing beautiful passes. The last minute of the game brought her to her feet. Her heart thundered as she counted down the time. Crew threw the ball, it sailed in the air toward Kaiden, who was in the end zone. He caught it beautifully and the crowd went wild. She and Romilly jumped up and down. Everyone jumped up and down. The place was electrified.

Then it was time to join the winning team on the field, and Romilly held her hand as they followed security. Through the crowd, past the media. Crew found her and hugged her, lifting her up to bury his face in her neck.

“That was amazing!” she cried. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I love you, baby,” he said.

“I love you, too.”

“Will you marry me?”

She jerked back and he grinned at her.

“You ask me now? Here?”

“The world is watching,” he murmured. “And I’m mic’d up so they’re hearing as well. So. What do you say?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into his ear. “Absolutely.”

The End