“During my play?” I teased with mock annoyance.
Biting her tongue and scrunching that damn nose, she confessed, “Err, well, quite honestly, I didn’t know what the hell was going on, and I was thirsty.”
The noise in the stadium grew to a deafening volume, but I could still hear Coach screaming my name from the sideline, anger boiling up at the sight of his QB running from the field mid-drive, forcing him to call a precious timeout. I knew I was going to get my ass kicked for running off the field, but all I could think about was Molly.
Pulling her to me, commanding her instant attention, I said simply, “You came.”
Her whole body seemed to melt in my arms and she sighed, “I came,” with the most stunning smile, stealing my friggin’ breath.
Desperation surged through my brain and I blurted, “Why did you change your mind?” I needed to know. She’d been so damn reluctant.
Shrugging playfully, she said softly, “You got through to me.” And with that, something within me snapped. Any worries blocking my mind cleared, and all thoughts of my parents’ taunts that’d been affecting my game disappeared into vapor.
A short, fat little shit of a medic tried to pull Molly out of my arms. Throwing him a threatening scowl, I asked Molly one more time if she was okay. After assuring me that she was, she went to walk away, but that wasn’t going to happen. I needed to taste her. Without thinking anything through, I crushed her lips against mine, pulling her so close that she wouldn’t be able to break away. It was short, it was sweet, and it made me feel like I was a f**king king.
Backing away, I watched Molly’s mouth gape at this blatant show of public affection, and smiling, sprinted back to the field, not giving a shit that Coach was verbally ripping me a new one, or that Austin and Jimmy-Don were shaking their heads at my f**king stupidity. Molly had shown up, and I instantly knew I wasn’t going to f**k up this game. I knew I wasn’t going lose. She would see that I was worthy.
Summoning the offense into the huddle, I called, “Eighty-three on red.”
Austin shook his head. “Try another, Bullet.”
Yeah, I knew he didn’t trust that pass play after four screw-ups, but something within me had changed.
Snapping my eyes to his, I bit back, “Eighty-three on red! And don’t f**king question me!”
Glaring back and wanting to argue, but knowing you never questioned the QB, Austin just sighed and put his hand in the center as I screamed, “One, two, three, break!” And we all moved into position, every fiber of my being bursting to life.
I had found my flow state. I was in the zone.
Time seemed to slow as Jeremiah Simms, the center, snapped the ball to me, and in a state of complete mental calmness, I spotted Austin, the white number 83 on his crimson jersey. It shone like a beacon.
I stepped into the throw as he sprinted downfield. Intense gratification swept through as the ball spiraled perfectly into his hands on his post route into the end zone.
The stadium erupted in thunderous celebration. A forty-yard touchdown pass, and it was the best tight spiral I’d thrown all season, hell, maybe all of college.
My teammates came barreling over, jumping on my back, and I basked in their celebration. Jimmy-Don lifted me in his arms, only to set me down and shout, “From now on, you better lay one on Molly before every damn game!”
Eyebrows drawn, I asked, “What the f**k are you talking about?”
Slapping my cheek lightly, he answered with an excited laugh, “You kissing Molly, man! Not to put it bluntly, but, hell, Bullet, you’ve been playing like shit for weeks, but one kiss from her and you throw like a damn demon!”
Staring at the screaming fans around the stadium, a disbelieving huff came out of my throat. “Shit, you’re right.”
Gripping my collar, Jimmy-Don pulled me close and declared, “Every game, ya hear?”
A slow smile tugged on my lips. Fuck yeah. Like I even needed an excuse to taste those lips again or press those damn curves up close against me. Bama fans could be beyond superstitious, and I’d gladly give in to their whims.
Gladly.
Fifteen minutes later and we’d won. I’d played as though I was possessed. I questioned if I was—hell, I was absolutely obsessed with Molly and couldn’t get enough of how it felt being around her. Like my problems didn’t exist… Like she got me… Me, Rome, not Bullet, not the famed QB… but me.
At the end of the game, Coach, the cheerleaders, and the band flooded the pitch, as reporters in their masses headed straight to my direction, asking the same damn questions as always, and I gave the same answers, avoiding any mention of Molly or any explanation of that kiss.
After fighting off Shelly and squashing her mission to get us looking like a couple on camera, I made my way straight to Ally’s seats, needing to see Molly again.
Ally was standing next to Jimmy-Don and his new woman, who were all over each other. She looked relieved to see me and threw her arms around me in a hug.
“Well done, darlin’!” she squealed in excitement. I wasn’t exactly being attentive to anything she was saying, too busy searching the surrounding seats for Molly, but there was no sign.
“Hey, speaking here! Devoted cousin singing your praises, getting totally ignored!” Ally shouted in my face. Turning to face her, I gave her another quick hug and asked, “Where is she?”
Crossing her arms across her chest, she smiled, lilting, “Who, darlin’?”
“Cut the shit, Al,” I said tersely. “Where’s she gone?”
Dropping her smug-assed smile, she shrugged. “Said she had to study.”
My heart faltered at that. “She couldn’t stick around a bit longer?”
Jimmy-Don and his new woman came up for air, and the large blonde held out her hand in my direction. “Cassie, darlin’, but my friends all call me Cass.”
“Rome.”
Her eyebrows danced. “I know.” She stepped forward, placing her hand on my shoulder. “One thing you need to know about my girl Molly is that studying comes first, everything else second. If she don’t get at least ten hours of study in a day, she don’t see it as productive and freaks the hell out. I don’t know what more to say. All that time spent in her books keeps her sane.” That sounded about right from everything I’d witnessed.
Looking back at my cousin, I said, “Party at mine tonight. Bring her. Don’t let me down.”