Page 115 of The Late Hit
Erica turns her head back to me. “Well, I guess congratulations all around. Good luck in Colorado, Quinton.”
With a final goodbye to Erica, I step around the cameras and stride over to my wife. Leaning down, I give her a hard kiss that has her clenching her thighs. Eliza clears her throat. Without removing my lips from Brynn’s, I slide my gaze up to meet Eliza. She just shakes her head, a tiny smirk on her lips.
“Congratulations, Quinton,” she says. Standing back up, I reach my hand out to Eliza.
She smacks it away and throws her arms around me. Squeezing me tight, she whispers in my ear. “Thank you. Thank you for taking a chance on me.”
“I had no doubt you’d get me here,” I whisper back as we both pull away. “Thank you for everything. I wouldn’t be an NFL player or have a wife if it wasn’t for you.”
She leans down and gives my blushing bride a hug. I hear her wish Brynn congratulations. Stepping back from the embrace. Eliza’s eyes bounce between the two of us. “Now that the big surprise has been dropped, have fun celebrating you two. Be smart and be safe.”
I hold my hand out and my wife takes it, the two of us head out of the room. There are Draft parties happening all over the city tonight and I’m ready to show off my new bride.
This weekend my dreams came true. The NFL wants me. And my best friend became my wife. Here’s to all of the unknowns. No matter where life takes us, we’ll always be together as husband and wife.
She was the late hit I didn’t see coming.
Flashesoflightsgleamaround me. I did it. Three years ago, I was walking across a stage in Kansas City, shaking hands with the Commissioner of the NFL, and today, today another dream comes true.
Standing at the fifty-yard line, my body slowly turns in a circle. Seats are beginning to fill. The atmosphere is palpable. Black and blue jerseys are scattered throughout the stands. My number is plastered across people’s chests.
I made it.
I made it to the Super Bowl. Not only am I playing in one of football’s biggest games, but I’m hoping to join a class of some of the best players. And if I have anything to say about it, today I’m becoming a Super Bowl Champion.
It’s been a trying couple of years. My rookie year was tough. The NFL is no joke. There was quite an adjustment period. Practices that seemed endless as we worked out new plays. Strength and weight training that pushed my body to the limits. Working with a nutritionist to develop and maintain strict diets. Endless meetings with the media, upper management, the team, and sponsors.
Then when you think you’re done, there would be mandatory events from PR. Of course, the events were for charities, and I didn’t mind attending, but there were nights when I just wanted to go home to relax and mend my pained body.
On top of everything, there’s navigating Colorado’s atmosphere which is severely different from Texas. So many times I thought I was going to pass out on the field as my lungs adjusted to the thinner air. Not only was there an adjustment period for my body and the game I love, but I had to do it alone.
A part of my goddamn soul was missing. It was crushing. Some days felt impossible to get out of bed. I was beaten, broken, and alone. No one tells you about the isolation. About self-doubt. The fleeting feelings of inadequacy.
But then, on my hardest days, the days I question everything, her name would flash on my screen.
My Wilder.
Her voice always calms me immediately. A year apart while she finished her degree felt impossible. She is truly my best friend, and I didn’t realize at the time how much I relied on her. How seeing her smile would change my entire day. How having her wrap her arms around me would make me feel whole. But it was only a year. A year we could do while she finished her degree.
Even when she wasn’t with me, knowing she was mine made things easier. Knowing that she was walking around CTU with my ring on her finger. It felt primal. It felt like I was beating my chest, even hundreds of miles away, telling every guy on campus that Brynn Wilder—Brynn Boyd—wasmine. Marrying Brynn in Kansas City was the best decision I have ever made.
A few weeks prior to the draft, this all-consuming feeling swept over me. and I knew that KC was going to be the right time. She was asleep in my bed, wrapped in my sheets, and I couldn’t take my eyes off how peaceful she looked. With the families we both of us came from, I knew it was always going to be Brynn and me against the world. Her eyes fluttered open, surprise crossing her face as she found me staring at her.
“Hi baby,” escaped her lips in a whisper, a slow smile spreading across her kissed-swollen lips, her hair a mess from being fucked into exhaustion, and she never looked so beautiful.
Once she dozed back off, I reached for my phone, finding Eliza’s number. Quickly, before Brynn woke back up, I typed out my plan for Kansas City. My agent thought I was crazy, but she arranged everything.
In the last three years, we’ve navigated long-distance marriage, adjusted to marriage in the same state, and learned how to handle a marriage where I’m on the road for half the season. It’s been a challenge, but life with Brynn wouldn’t be any other way. A lot of healing has occurred over the last three years too. Brynn and her mom have been working on their relationship. Carolyn and Brynn see each other a few times a year, both taking turns flying to see each other. Their relationship isn’t perfect, but it’s so much better than it was. Brynn’s relationship with her dad is still nonexistent, but her relationship with her mom has always been more important to her.
I wish I could say that my relationship with my parents is better, but unfortunately, we had to cut that cord. After confronting my parents about the conversation I overheard while I was in the hospital, I discovered that my dad wasn’t the dad I thought he was. The game he took Damien and I to was one he went with his mistress, not someone who worked with him. Needless to say, that memory was completely ruined.
My mom filed for divorce and latched on to the president of the credit union where she worked. I guess she was the one we all had to worry about being in it for the money.
While my parents' marriage fell apart, my brothers and I turned to each other. Damien followed us out west and he lives in the city, not far from our condo. In his last two years of college, Xavier really buckled down and got serious. He’s now a rookie in the league and plays in Boston. The three of us get together as much as our schedules allow. Damien has his sight set on a nurse he works with. Maybe there’ll be a wedding for him in the future.
“Boyd!” a tiny but mighty voice sounds from the sideline, pulling me from my thoughts. Eliza is standing in a blue pantsuit with a black Colorado Colts T-shirt underneath.
Nodding my head in acknowledgment, I leave my spot on the field and make my way toward her. The closer I get, the wider her grin spreads across her lips.
