And I know what that means.
That she’s here, fighting for me. For us.
And she wants the world to know it regardless of what they might think.
“What’s it gonna be, bro?” Damon whispers.
But I don’t have a chance to reply because Dani saunters toward me, a sexy sway in her hips and a huge grin on her face.
“All right, everyone, here we go. Your favorite five-star recruits are going to …”
Two pieces of paper.
Devaney
Damon and Chase turn, smile at each other, and nod in agreement. They reach in front of them, pick up the white hats with the red Ns on them, and happily put them on their heads.
The crowd goes nuts.
Chase’s parents unbutton their matching chambray shirts to reveal Nebraska shirts.
I walk over to my dad, who has tears in his eyes.
“Danny Diamond, three-time champion quarterback and future Hall of Famer, how does it make you feel to know your son and your godson, who grew up playing ball together in your backyard, are going to your alma mater?”
My dad looks at the boys’ smiles but grins at me. He and Phillip hug. The bro hug that is trying to hide their tears.
“Definitely thrilled,” my dad finally says.
I go back to the front of the table. “Damon Diamond, do you have any words you’d like to say?”
“Yeah,” he says. “I have a message for my friends—you know who you are—let’s get it done.”
“And what about you, Chase Mackenzie?”
In one swift and athletic move, Chase vaults himself over the table so that he’s now standing directly in front of me. And before I can even take a breath, he pulls me into his arms and kisses me.
When we pull back from the kiss, I turn off the mic and set it on the table.
Chase smiles, reaches into his pocket, pulls out two pieces of paper, and hands them to me. “You want to know why I kept winning? What my goal was? It’s all right here.”
I unfold the paper and find both the dream note he put on his window and the cupcake photo I put on mine.
“Where did you get these? I thought they got thrown away when—”
“I made sure they didn’t. And they have been hanging in my locker all year.”
“And here I assumed, you’d wadded them up, stomped on them, and then burned them.”
“Trust me, I considered that.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
“So am I.”
“You know, you once told me that when what other people think of me is less important than what I think of myself, that’s when you’d believe me. I’m here for me right now, Chase. Because I love you. And I’m pretty sure the whole world knows it now.”
In the house.
Chase
Everyone is over at our house, eating celebratory pizza here instead of trying to get Haley into a restaurant.
Her bedroom is upstairs, so she’s been moved into the guest suite above the garage since there’s an elevator that can take her up there. And I’m pretty sure she plans to never move out.
A national sports channel is playing in the background as the reporters try to rank each college’s recruitment class. And I finally understand what Damon meant when he said he had a message for his friends. He’s been doing a little recruiting of his own, and because of it, numerous big names shocked everyone by choosing to come play with us.
There’s even a clip of Dani interviewing her dad playing on repeat every few hours.
The doorbell rings, so I go answer it.
And, boy, does it make me happy.
“Attention, everyone!” I yell out. “P-A-C-E is in the house!”
Our teammates all cheer for him, but he only has eyes for Haley, who he gingerly walks straight over to and kisses.
“What a day,” she says, grinning.
Epilogue
Catch snowflakes.
Chase
I lead Dani out onto the deck, away from the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Eve party taking place at her house.
“Look, Chase, it’s starting to snow!”
I look up at the sky, feeling thankful. And then I look at the girl in front of me, feeling incredibly lucky. She looks like an angel, snow glittering in her hair. But she’s got her tongue sticking out, trying to catch snowflakes on it, like we used to do when we were kids.
I place my hands on her hips, pull her toward me, then wrap my lips around her tongue, and kiss her. “I have something I want you to open now.”
“Now? Out here? In the snow?”
“Yeah.” I pull a small box out of my pocket and hand it to her.
She turns the box over in her hand a couple times, giving it a little shake to try to figure out what’s inside before she opens it.
“It’s not your gift, more of a surprise.”
“Hmm, now, you have me curious,” she says, ripping the paper off the box and then opening the lid. She holds up the contents. “A key? What is this? The key to your heart?” she teases.
“Actually, it’s the key to my dorm.”
“Your dorm?”
“At school. I didn’t tell you before because everything felt really complicated, but I had enough credits to graduate midterm. I’m starting college in January, so I can get more time with the team and participate in spring practice.”
“Are you really?!” she says, throwing her arms around my neck. “That’s amazing! We’ll be able to spend so much time together!”
“I know,” I say, “but don’t forget, I’m an underclassman.”
“Oh, please, Chase,” she scoffs with a smile. “You’re only five months younger than me; none of that matters in college.”
“And if anyone says something about it?”
“I’ll flip them off and walk away.”
I smile big and then start laughing. “I could totally see you doing that.”
“I finally can, too. Does that mean you’ll be my boyfriend, Chase? Like, for real this time?” she asks me.
“Only if by for real, you mean, forever,” I reply before I kiss her again.
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