Page 79 of Offside Secrets
“Wouldn’t have missed it.” Tom claps him on the shoulder, then grins at both of us. “And I got to spend the evening getting to know your girlfriend. Much better than when you kept calling her ‘the situation.’”
Campbell groans. “Dad, please don’t embarrass me in front of Sutton.”
“Girlfriend,” Tom continues, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “I like the sound of that. Much better than ‘Dad, the situation is complicated.’ ‘Dad, I don’t know how to handle the situation.’”
“I never called her a situation that many times,” Campbell protests.
“You absolutely did.” Tom’s eyes twinkle with mischief. “Now she’s got a name and everything.”
I laugh despite myself. “I like him already.”
“Don’t encourage him,” Campbell warns, but he’s smiling, too. “He’s been like this all my life.”
“Someone has to keep you humble,” Tom says. “Now, I’mgoing to head out to the car while you say goodnight to your girlfriend. But keep it appropriate. There are children present.”
“Dad,” Campbell warns, but Tom is already walking away, chuckling to himself.
Campbell turns to me, and I can see the happiness radiating from him. “So? What did you think of him?”
“I think he’s an amazing man who raised an incredible son,” I say simply.
Something soft and warm crosses Campbell’s face. He steps closer, close enough that I can smell his cologne and the lingering scent of arena soap.
“Look at this, you’re here,” he says quietly. “I can’t believe it. I have Sutton Mahoney in the family section, meeting my dad, and, if I’m lucky, in my arms soon, too.”
“I can’t believe it either,” I admit.
He reaches up to cup my face, and I start to step back automatically—we’re in public, people are watching, cameras could be?—
Then I stop. We’re not hiding anymore.
Campbell sees the moment I realize it, too, sees me consciously choose to stay where I am instead of pulling away.
“No more hiding,” I whisper.
“No more hiding,” he agrees.
And then he’s kissing me right there in the family corridor of the Renegades arena, with other players’ families milling around and probably a dozen phones recording the whole thing. Kissing me like I’m his and he’s mine and everyone is welcome to know it.
When we finally break apart, both of us breathing hard, I can hear a few people clapping. Campbell grins down at me, his eyes bright with happiness and mischief.
“So,” he says, loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. “Same time next week?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I say, and mean every word.
As we walk toward the parking lot together—Campbell’s hand firmly holding mine, both of us nodding to fans and reporters like the public couple we now are—I realize this is what I’ve been afraid of all along. Not the scrutiny or the complications or the professional challenges.
I’ve been afraid of being this happy. Of wanting something this much. Of finding someone worth fighting for.
But as Campbell opens my car door and kisses me one more time under the arena lights, I know I was right to be scared. This kind of happiness is terrifying.
But it’s also absolutely worth it. Highly recommend.
EPILOGUE
CAMPBELL
The kitchen smells like garlic and rosemary, and Dad’s humming something off-key while he seasons the roast. I’m chopping vegetables with more enthusiasm than skill when the doorbell rings.
