The Wrong Quarterback (The Wrong Player, #1)

by C.R. Jane

“Hell, I know what it’s like to miss someone even when they’re still walking the Earth. To carry around that ache, day in and day out. It never really leaves you.”

“But I’m going to be there for her. I’ll help her keep you with her, always. She’s never going to have to carry that alone.”

“I’ll make sure she remembers every story, every memory, every bit of you. I’ll keep your memory alive with her.”

A gust of wind suddenly blew across my skin. And somehow, standing there, I felt that Ben understood.

I tried to remind myself that I’d probably be worse than my mom. I’d probably be trying to follow Casey as soon as I could.

“I know you’re tired. And as much as we want you to fight…we can’t do that for you anymore. Not if you don’t want to.”

“This girl, Mom, she’s everything. And I’m gonna marry her. Soon. We’re going to have kids, the whole thing. I’d love for you to be there for that. I’d love for you to see me play in the NFL, to watch me build a family, to be a part of it.” I stopped, feeling the words catch in my throat, the honesty feeling like heartbreak.

“But I get it, if you’re done. If it’s too much. You’ve been gone for so long, and I don’t know how to reach you anymore. If you really don’t want to be here…if you’re ready to go…I just…I just need you to know I’m letting go if that’s what you want.”

“Take care, Mom. I love you,”

Mom: I’m ready to get help.

I pulled over to the side of the road, the message blurring as the tears came, hot and unrelenting.

The burden I’d been carrying for so long finally cracked open, and for the first time in years, I truly let myself cry.

Walker: Good luck out there, little brother.

This was bad luck. I couldn’t go out there with them sending me a…nice text.

Me: Absolutely not. Take that back!

Walker: What?

Me: You can’t go the whole season spotting nonsense and then decide to play it safe for the last game.

“Are my brothers from another mother wishing me good luck?” he asked, his foot tapping up and down furiously.

Cole: Sorry, just making sure I heard that right, Parkie. You’re saying you want us to insult you? And that’s good luck…

Walker: Well, you actually should be making sure you “read” that right. Unless you have your assistant reading your texts out loud again because you like the sound of her voice.

Cole: I’m flipping you both off right now. Does that help?

Cole: I’m going to report you to the Circle of Trust for continual misuse of …

“I should have trademarked that name while I had the chance,”

“Remind me tomorrow, after we win, to apply for Pussy Posse before that gets snatched up too.”

I side-eyed him. “I most certainl...

Matty, coming to sit next to me. He had a rubber band stretched between two fingers, and he was plucking at it, over and over again. Another nervous teammate for the win.

Walker: Alright, how about this…Parker, you fucking suck. Try not to mess it up too bad and embarrass us. Was that good enough?

Cole: He’s pouting. I can sense it. Parkie-Poo the pouter.

“Oh, that’s a good one,” said Jace. “I’m going to use that from now on.”

Me: That was perfect. Thank you for your donation. Now enjoy watching me kick ass.

Me: Please make sure that Olivia and Casey’s friend are in between you and Casey at all times.

Me: Actually, take out the please. DO NOT SIT NEXT TO MY GIRL.

“So shouty,” Jace mused, and I held myself back from elbowing him because I was a team player like that.

Mom: Good luck tonight, Parker. I’ll be watching it on TV with some of the nurses.

Mom: I’m so proud of you.

Football players weren’t supposed to cry before the championship game. But it was all I could do to hold myself back.

Matty clapped me on the back and stood up, so his body was blocking me from most of the players in the locker room. They didn’t need to see their quarterback freaking the fuck out before the game.

I was either going to fucking love the number four after this game…or I was going to hate it until the end of time.

“Atta fucking boy, Matty,” I yelled, and he nodded, his eyes sharp and determined. The clock was still running, and I motioned for everyone to get back in formation. Three minutes

Touchdown. We’d fucking won!

Jace reached me first, knocking his helmet against mine hard as he tackled me to the ground. “Fucking hell, QB. You beautiful, beautiful man. You fucking did it!” he crowed. Matty jumped on me next, and my eyes widened—because I might be about to die when more of the team came. The rest of my teammates did pile on me after that, laughing, cheering, and, in Chappie’s case—crying when he joined the throng of our teammates.

Finally, I spotted her still in the stands, flanked by Olivia and Nat, and guarded by Walker, Cole, and Olivia’s bodyguards, who were staring daggers at anyone that dared to get too close.

Casey snorted and scrunched her nose at me. “Corny as usual.”

I turned, spotting Walker, Olivia, and Cole crawling over the barriers, all of them grinning wide. I raised a hand in acknowledgment, and they all cheered, pumping their fists in the air.

“Sorry y’all, I have one thing that I need to do before I do any more interviews.”

I fell to one knee and looked up at the love of my life as I took her hand. I’d wanted to do this since almost the moment I’d seen her in class that day.

“I knew, from the second I laid eyes on you, that you were the one. That you were the other half of my soul, that I’d known you in every lifetime before this. That you’d always been mine.”

“There’s not a single thing in this world that I want more than to spend my life with you, to build something amazing, something that’s just ours.”

“Casey…marry me. Be my forever, my home, the person I get to wake up to every day for the rest of my life.”

Jace popped up in my peripheral and tossed me the box he’d been in charge of retrieving...