“Is that the time?” Elodie frowned. “I need to go.” She collected up her things and stuffed them in her bag.
“Hot date?” I snickered.
“Griffin is taking me to The Gridiron for burgers.”
“Romantic.”
“We can’t all be you, jetting off to New York for a weekend of romance.” She stuck out her tongue before moving for the door.
“Hey, Elodie,” I said as she grabbed the handle.
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad I talked to you that day in class.”
“Yeah.” She beamed. “Me too.”
Elodie left and I got comfy on the sofa. Grabbing my cell phone, I noticed I had a new text from Jason.
QB#1: Need to talk... are you home?
Me: Yeah. Elodie just left. Is everything okay?
QB#1: I’ll be home soon.
My brows pinched. If Jason wanted to make me worry, he’d done a pretty good job of it. By the time I heard his key rattle in the door, I had a giant pit in my stomach.
Sitting forward, I waited for him to enter the apartment. “Hey.” I searched his face for any sign of what was wrong, but he wore a mask of indifference.
“Hey,” he said weakly, dropping down on the couch. Before I could ask what was wrong, Jason pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my shoulder.
“Jason, what is it? What’s wrong?” Dread snaked through me.
His body trembled beneath my fingers as I held onto him as tight as he held me. Nudging him away with my shoulder, he finally straightened to look at me. “Coach called me.”
“He did?”
“I’m in, babe... I made the final four.”
“The Heisman Trophy?” My eyes grew to saucers. “Oh my god, Jason, that’s amazing.”
“I think I’m in shock.” Another shudder rolled through him.
“Hey.” I cupped his face. “You deserve this; you deserve it so much. Oh my god, your dad is going to freak.”
“I already called him. He got all choked up.”
“Well, yeah he did.” I smiled. No one wanted this more for Jason than Kent Ford. “I thought you were coming here to tell me something bad.”
“What?” Jason’s brows furrowed. “What would I be—” his expression fell. “Us. You thought I was coming to talk about us.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I thought, but you were so certain you wouldn’t make the final cut.”
“Come here, woman.” He anchored his hand at the nape of my neck and guided my face to his. “What do I have to do to show you that me and you… we’re endgame?”
“Jason...” I averted my gaze to escape his intense stare.
“No, babe. You need to hear me when I say it’s you.” He forced me to look at him. “It’s always going to be you.”
“I love you, Jason,” I said, because it was true. It would always be true.
No matter where the future took us, my heart would always belong to Jason Ford.
Jason
“Good evening and thank you for joining us. Without you, the fans, college football and the Heisman Trophy would not be what they are today. I’m honored to be here this evening, representing the Heisman Trophy Trust. Congratulations to this year’s finalists for their incredible feats on the field this college football season. We have so enjoyed watching you and following you in this year’s Heisman race…”
The Heisman Trophy Trustee’s voice was drowned out by the blood roaring between my ears as I sat beside the other three finalists. My heart was beating like a bass drum in my chest, my palms were slick, and sweat beaded across my brow under the glare of the lights as the Trustee continued her speech.
“And now it’s time to welcome a new member into our Heisman family. It is my pleasure to announce this year’s winner…”
Time slowed down. I never expected to be here tonight. I never expected to be announced as a finalist… but now I was here, now it was a possibility, I wanted it.
I wanted it so fucking much.
“Jason Ford, University of Pennsylvania.”
Cheers erupted behind me as I stood and shook hands with the other finalists, hardly able to believe my ears.
I'd won.
I'd fucking won.
“Congratulations, man,” one of them said, but it all became white noise to the thrum of my heart in my chest.
This was… I had no fucking words.
Nothing.
It was a good thing Cameron and Asher had helped me write an acceptance speech just in case… because, fuck.
I moved toward the aisle behind me and my dad grabbed me, pulling me into a bear hug. “I’m so proud of you, son. So fucking proud.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I managed to choke out over the giant lump caught in my throat.
Denise was next, her overpowering perfume making me cough as she enveloped me into a hug. “Congratulations, Jason. I know what this means to you.”
We’d had a tenuous relationship when she and Hailee first moved in with me and my old man. Right up until senior year, I’d wanted nothing to do with her or her daughter. But as I moved along the line to my stepsister, I could no longer imagine not having her in my life.
“I’m so proud of you.” Hailee hugged me, and I let her. Because I was no longer that same boy who had tormented her, and she was no longer the girl who rubbed me the wrong way.
“Get over here, bro.” Cameron and Asher pulled me into a big group hug. The three of us silent as we acknowledged this moment.
The two of them had been there for every high, every low. They had seen me at my best, my worst, and every shade in between. And their loyalty and friendship had never faltered, not once.
Before I broke away, Ash grabbed my neck and pulled me close, “Now you go up there and own it, you hear me?” He shot me a wink, stepping aside to let me kiss Mya’s cheek.
“Go get her, tiger,” she whispered.
Felicity was waiting on the end, tears brimming in her eyes as she watched me close the distance between us. She looked stunning in the jade-green dress that fell over her curves like a silk waterfall.
“You did it,” she breathed as I hauled her against my body, not caring we were in a room full of people, live on national television.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” I couldn’t explain it to her, but Felicity grounded me in a way that no other could. Her wild spirit and empathy, her passion and insecurities, everything about her anchored me. I needed that.
I needed it more than I’d ever realized.
“Go,” she nodded to the stage, “they’re waiting.”
Stealing a kiss that barely touched my bone-deep need for her, I looped back around to the other row of chairs to shake hands with my coaches.
“Never doubted you for a second, son,” Coach Faulkner said, giving me a rare smile.
“Thanks, Coach.”
“Now get up there and do Penn proud.”
With a swift nod, I made my way to the stage. “Congratulations, Jason.” Someone guided me to the podium where the trophy was situated. I curled my hands over the bronze sculpture and lifted it in the air to hair-raising applause.