Page 266 of Just for the Cameras
I love you so damn much that I would give you up, let you walk away, in order to keep you safe, in order for you to be happy. And that has been my intention this entire time, giving you up, attempting to be selfless, but with every day that has passed that I haven’t talked to you, this consuming feeling of emptiness has filled me.
And do you know what? I realized that even though I’m trying to protect you from what this unlucky life has brought on me, I can’t just…walk away.
I can’t push you away.
I can’t be that selfless asshole, because I need you, Maple.
I want you.
I need you in my arms every goddamn day, where I can soak in your goodness. Where I can prey on your sweetness. Where I can devour every last inch of your intelligence, because I’m so fucking in love with you, beautiful.
So fucking in love.
So please…forgive me for doing this to you because I know this will be tough. I know there will be days when you hate being attached to me and when the media frenzy becomes too much or social media rips into our relationship, but I can’t be without you.
I don’t want to be without you.
And if you don’t want to be without me, then meet me at the end of the game, at the fifty-yard line, and kiss me.
Yours forever,
Graydon
Tears stream down my cheeks as I look over his words…again and again and again until I practically have the entire letter memorized.
He loves me.
He chose me.
That’s all I need to know.
That’s all I ever needed to know.
Because with that, I know we can battle anything together.
I wipe my eyes, stand from my chair, and open the door, where Scarlett is waiting on the other side. When her eyes meet mine, she says, “Please tell me those are happy tears.”
I smile at her and nod. “They are very happy tears.”
The game flashes in front of me in segments, my mind a fuzzy mess as I watch the Foghorns take the field, the entire stadium erupting for the start of a new season.
A foghorn blasts in the distance during kickoff.
Graydon runs down the opposing team’s quarterback…several times.
The Foghorns miraculously score, Hutton leading the charge with a phenomenal catch that brought them to the ten-yard line.
Halftime comes and goes. The boys are in the lead by seven, the score low, but the opposing team is unable to get near the fifty-yard line because the defense is phenomenal.
Graydon intercepts the ball in the fourth just by leaping in front of the quarterback, giving the Foghorns the ball back on their own twenty-yard line.
The ball is passed to Hutton, and he runs into the end zone for another touchdown.
The crowd roars as the time ticks down, and when the game is over, both teams meet in the center of the field and shake hands while Scarlett and I jump up and down, hugging each other over a first-game win.
The offense was shaky.
The defense was unstoppable.
