Page 57 of Flag On The Play
I lean in close, my mouth brushing the shell of her ear. “I’m gonna miss you while I’m gone.”
She freezes just for a beat. Just long enough for me to wonder if I said too much. But then she lifts her head, her eyes locking with mine under the pulse of the lights.
“I’m gonna miss you too.”
Those five words knock the air out of my lungs.
Before I can say anything else, she leans in and presses her mouth to mine. Right there, in the middle of the dance floor. Notsoft. Not hesitant. It’s deep and slow and hungry. Her fingers thread into my hair, and my hands grip her tighter, like I can imprint the feel of her into my memory.
The rest of the world fades. It’s just her.
When we finally pull apart, her lipstick is a little smudged, her chest is rising and falling fast, and that look in her eyes is pure heat.
Yeah. I’m fucked.
Because when I get back from Seattle, she’ll still be waiting with that fire, that sass, that wild heart, and I’ll be ready to make damn sure she knows she’s not just someone I’m falling for.
She’s the one I’m all in for.
Seattle is cold. Not just the temperature, but the air. It’s crisp and sharp like it wants to cut through your skin.
But I don’t feel it.
Not when I’ve got Nova in my head, her laugh echoing like background music I don’t want to turn off. Her mouth on mine. The way her body moved against me in that club like we were two puzzle pieces finally clicking into place.
She’s under my skin. And now? She’s in my game.
“Focus, Reed,” Coach barks as we huddle up at the line.
I’m focused. Just not the way he means.
I see the defensive setup. I know where they’re going before they do. It’s like the whole damn field is moving in slow motion, and I’m already ten steps ahead.
I grab the snap and drop back, eyes scanning, grip firm.
Jace breaks left. Theo cuts in.
I launch the ball like it’s second nature, because it is, and watch it spiral into Theo’s hands in the end zone.
Touchdown.
The crowd roars. My heart pounds.
The final Score is Rebels 34, Westerners 17.
It’s the win we needed. A win that brings us that much closer to the Victory Bowl. Hell, it’s the win I wanted more than anything because I played like a goddamn machine out there.
I peel off my pads in the locker room, still sweating, still wired.
Theo claps me on the back as he passes. “Nova,” Theo says, nodding. “She’s the game-changer.”
“She really is,” I admit, surprising even myself.
There’s a pause. A beat where no one laughs or chirps.
Just a couple guys looking at me like they’ve never seen me so damn sure of anything.
“She’s the best thing that ever happened to you,” Jace says.
