Fair Catch

by Kandi Steiner

“I know this is a lot to ask. But I also know you’d feel more powerless if I wasn’t asking you for anything, if there was nothing you could do.”

But Riley didn’t make that promise with the intention of just appeasing her brother. She made a promise she would die before breaking.

Now, not only was I the girl on the football team, but I was rooming with the one person in the entire world whom I truly hated. Fucking perfect.

“If you’re looking for an ass spanking, I’m always here to deliver,” Gavin said. “Just call me Daddy.”

She’s tiny.” “Tiny, but mighty.” He chuckled. “Like Mighty Mouse.”

What would it be like to have all that talent, all that drive, and know my chances of playing after college were close to zero percent?

when Riley walked in later, my eyes caught hers, and though she held nothing but disdain in her gaze, I felt nothing but pure respect radiating from my own.

She could have a career in football — if she wanted it. And I was determined to help her see that, no matter how the odds were stacked.

All I knew was that I had to try. I had to see her. I had to test the waters and see if she felt what I felt, too.

“Because I am scarred by the fire you started in me. Because you have reduced me to fucking ashes.”

“Because I ache for you,” he breathed against my lips next. “And I’ll end anyone who touches what’s mine.”

“I love it, and I feel guilty for loving it, like it’s not mine to love, like I’m in an affair with someone already promised to another.”

Or maybe I’d just wish for the most impossible thing of all. For him to be mine.

I didn’t want casual. I never did. And I had to tell her — even if it meant losing it all.

“I don’t want casual,” he continued. “I don’t want to pretend that I’m not yours in every way there is to belong to someone, that I don’t yearn for you to be mine in the same way. I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to keep having my heart fucking demolished at the thought of this all ending at any minute.”

We wanted to be together. And in the deepest part of my soul, I truly felt that was enough, that we could make it, that we’d find a way to make it work with the team and with Gavin and with anything else that came our way.

“I don’t expect you to ever forgive me. And I don’t expect to ever have the chance to hold your heart in my hands again. But I need you to know this,” I said, stepping toward her. “You hold mine. You own mine. For now, forever, regardless of what happens next. And even if you hate me for the rest of your life, I need you to know that I love you.”

Then, her eyes found mine. And even through the metal bars of her helmet, I saw the words come to life on her lips. I love you, too. The ball was snapped. She kicked. And I held my breath as I watched it sail.

“Congratulations, Mighty Mouse,” he said, his eyes hooded, smile easy. “You just won your first bowl game.”

“You’re not allowed to break up with me.” “I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around that we should be worried about,”

“Well, the solution is simple.” “Is it, now?” She nodded. “Just don’t piss me off.”

“On the field,” he whispered. “Before the kick. I thought… I thought I saw you mouth—”

“I love you?” I finished for him. “I did.”

“I do, Zeke,” I whispered, holding him tight. “I love you.”

And though I knew there would be hell to face, that the road we walked would be filled with people wishing for us to fail, and that there would be even tougher days ahead, I felt safer in his arms that night than I had in my entire life.

No matter what came our way, I knew one thing for sure. We’d fight it. Together. And just like tonight… We’d win.