Quarterback Sneak (Red Zone Rivals, #3)

by Kandi Steiner

“You can’t have me,” I reminded him, though my voice was shallow, weak. “Says who?”

“As long as it’s not you saying it, I don’t care.”

But we were drunk. We were being reckless. There wasn’t a world that existed where Holden Moore could have me, and I could have him in return.

we had won. It should have been invigorating for me, too. It was what I’d wanted. And yet, I felt the all-too-familiar sting of being useless.

Inside, I was treading water in a sea of doubt and fear.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. Want to know why?” I looked him right in the eye. “Because in the end, we all die. And to be honest, I can’t wait for my time to come. I can’t wait to be free.”

“It does matter,” he breathed. “You matter.”

“You are enough, Julep,”

I tasted my pain when he kissed me,

“You can take everything else away from me. But you can’t take her.”

“You love me?” My head snapped in her direction, and Julep stood there with her eyes glossed and hands trembling. I rushed to her in the next breath, taking those shaking hands in mine and holding them steady. I curled my own hands around them, pulled them to my chest, and held her close. “With every hopelessly optimistic beat of my heart.”

“Every day. I’ll be right by your side reminding you that you matter, that you are needed, that there is a reason to have hope and a reason to live. I’ll be here reminding you that for me? You are that reason.”

“You stupid, stupid boy,” she whispered against my lips, crying as she did. “You could have lost it all.” “I’d choose losing it all over losing you for a lifetime.”

As if in answer, a gentle breeze rolled through the yard, rustling the leaves in the trees one by one. I heard it before I felt it wash over my face, and I closed my eyes and smiled when it did.

“Marry me, Julep. Marry me, and I promise to take you to every yard sale we can find in every state we go to. Marry me, and I will grow a garden in your name. Marry me, and I promise to set up a chrome pole in the middle of every piece of property we own.”

“Marry me,” I repeated, swiping the fresh tears away. “And I will spend the rest of my life loving you. No matter how long that is. Every minute I am here on Earth is yours. And after that, too.”