Page 135 of This Wild Heart

Six months later

It didn’t turn out exactly as I pictured it.

I wasn’t the one who caught the game-winning touchdown. That was Beckett. But somehow, being the one to throw the pass was even better.

The defense never saw the play coming because we’d never used it before. For the last three weeks in practice, we’d run it over and over and over until I could see it behind my eyes when I tried to sleep. Christian ducked back like he was going to throw, and with the offensive line pulling to the right, it faked the defense into going left.

As they beared down on Christian, thinking that the game was in the bag, he tossed the ball to me, the perfect lateral pass. Instead of sprinting forward like they expected me to, I set my feet and threw a tight spiral past the outstretched fingertips of a cornerback. It sailed fifteen yards and landed neatly into Beckett’s waiting hands. He tucked it into his chest and shouldered the remaining three yards into the end zone.

The stadium erupted.

One of our offensive linemen picked me up with a celebratory roar. When he set me down, I took off running toward the end zone, wrapping Beckett in a massive back-thumping hug.

“Nice throw, asshole,” he said, slapping me on the helmet.

I shoved at his chest with a laugh, then took off for the only person I wanted to see.

She was in the front row of the end zone, with Voyagers fans all around her, jumping and screaming and giving her high fives. Isabel saw me first and touched Anya on the shoulder.

I took a running leap toward the front row, and as soon as my hands wrapped around the bar in front of my wife, I hoisted myself up to sit on the edge and gathered her in my arms. She was sobbing.

“You did it,” she said between tears. “You did it, Parker.”

“God, I want to kiss you right now,” I told her.

Her eyes glittered. “And get a flag for removing your helmet? Don’t you dare.”

I sighed roughly. “Might be worth it.”

She pulled back and laughed. “Go, you’re going to get in trouble.”

Anya pushed me back, and I gave her a wink before I dropped back down onto the field to join my team.

After the extra point, and a kick return that didn’t amount to anything as the clock ran out, the game was over, and after the fierce hugs and the celebrations with my team, I found myself standing at the fifty-yard line, staring around the stadium with tears in my eyes.

That was when I heard her voice. “Parker!”

I turned, weaving between the crowds filling the field. Familiar faces congratulated me, so did strangers. But all I saw was her.

When the crowd cleared, I started jogging, and so did she. I held my arms open, and she leaped, her arms tight around my neck, her feet dangling off the ground as I clutched her tight to my chest. Whatever grip I’d managed on my emotions was fucking destroyed, and I buried my face into her neck while we both cried.

“I am so proud of you, baby,” she said. “That was the best thing I’ve ever seen.”

I lifted my head and kissed her. Kissed her like I’d wanted to earlier. Kissed her like I did every night when we went to bed. Like I’d do for the rest of our lives.

“I love you,” I told her. She brushed her thumb over my cheek. “I love you so much.”

Anya smiled through her tears. “I love you too.”

Someone touched my shoulder. It was Aiden, holding Leo in his arms and smiling. Leo was wearing a tiny Wilder jersey with big headphones over his ears. When he saw me, he reached his arms out, his two little front teeth popping through his gums as he smiled.

I took him from my father-in-law and accepted his congratulations as Leo laid his head on my shoulder, and I rubbed his back. I kissed the side of his head and locked eyes with Anya where she stood with her dad’s arm around her shoulders.

She held out her hand, and I took it, weaving our fingers together.

Leo’s head popped up, and he gasped, hand reaching toward the sky.

The confetti—blue and green and white—caught the lights as it fell, and the three of us stared up at it. The awe in Leo’s face was better than any second of any celebration, as was the pride in Anya’s face as she tucked herself into my side.

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