Page 49 of Fearlessly Us

“I don’t know,” Maddy says a little dreamily, and when we all turn to her, she’s looking down at the field where Cam is blowing her a kiss and making a heart with his hands.

Not to be undone, Tyler waves his hands in the air and yells, “I LOVE SOPHIE SULLIVAN,” wide grin plastered to his face, and Sophie tosses back her head and laughs, happiness and love pouring out of her. “It doesn’t feel that bleak to me,” she says, her eyes never leaving Tyler’s.

Maya lets out a long-suffering sigh, flopping down in her chair. “Literally the only reason I haven’t totally given up is because you found those two.” She gestures down to the field. “And if there are two, there are probably more.”

“Of course there are more!” Sarah says, sitting next to Maya and wrapping an arm around her shoulders before sliding her eyes to me. “I mean, there’s at least one more because it looks like maybe Cait has found her match too.”

I roll my eyes, even as a little thrill runs through me at the thought of it. “It was a kiss. No one is getting married.”

“Not yet,” Emmy says with a smirk. “What are you doing after the game?”

I shrug. “Going home? I have a thousand things to do before tomorrow, and this week is going to be insane.” It’s not a lie. I packed this upcoming week full so I could clear my schedule for surgery and the few days after, since I don’t know how long I’ll feel like crap, but they don’t need to know that yet.

Baby steps.

“No, you’re not,” Maddy and Sophie say in unison.

“What do you mean I’m not?” I look back and forth between them. Both of their faces have the same look, and it says scheme.

Maddy chuckles, linking her arm with mine and turning me towards the field where Drew is, amazingly, still looking up at our section. “That man down there hasn’t taken his eyes off you for the last ten minutes. There’s no way in hell he’s letting you go home.”

I scoff. “What do you mean, let me? No one tells me what to do.”

Maddy opens her mouth to respond, but before she can, the stadium lets out a roar. All our attention turns back to the field where Tyler is dropping back in the pocket on the thirty-yard line, football in hand and his eyes glued downfield. That’s where my eyes go too. Drew races straight down the middle of the field, arms pumping and legs moving faster than seems possible. He shakes off one defender, then two, rotating his body just as Tyler lets the ball fly. It arcs over the field, seeming to hang midair, the entire stadium going silent as the ball drops down straight into Drew’s waiting arms.

Drew reacts immediately, tucking the ball close to his body and sprinting five yards, ten, twenty, and straight into the end zone. Pandemonium explodes, and it’s chaos in the stands. Tyler flies down the field and attacks Drew on one side, while Cam crashes into him on the other. The Renegades entire offense is in the end zone, celebrating the touchdown and probable win, and everyone is trying to talk to Drew, but Drew’s eyes arrow straight to me.

And when he points to me and winks again, I think I might actually die.

“He scored that touchdown for you,” Sarah squeals, clasping her hands to her chest dramatically. “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s hot is what it is,” Emmy says. “Ten out of ten scorching hot.”

I don’t answer, my eyes still on the end zone. I don’t know what’s happening to me, but it’s like, in this moment, I’m incapable of looking anywhere else. Drew tilts his head towards the tunnel that leads off the field, and somehow, I catch his meaning right away.

Wait for me.

The version of me who kisses a beautiful man in my office and comes to football games for the first time in years to see that beautiful man play even though I kind of hate sports wants to agree.

“Still think no one tells you what to do?” Maddy asks, hand on her hip and grin on her face.

“What the fuck is happening?” I mutter, and all five of my friends burst out laughing.

Sophie links arms with me and leans her head against mine. “You like a boy. That boy,” she says, gesturing to the field where Drew is trotting off, helmet under his arm and his hair a sweaty mess that makes me a little weak in the knees. “Just go with it, Cait. This is going to be so much fun.”

“So much fucking fun,” Maya says, bouncing up from her chair, dating irritation seemingly forgotten. “We’ll be needing all the dirty details. Every last one.”

Dirty details. Shit. An ocean of nerves slams into me as I think about exactly what might be a part of those dirty details. Things I’ve never done before. Things I might not know how to do. Might not be able to do. All the experience I definitely don’t have. But then I do my best to shove them away because I’m getting ahead of myself, and all of that seems like a problem for future Caitlin.

“Maybe take notes so you don’t forget anything.” Sarah bumps her hip with mine. “If I’m not having sex, at least I can be hearing about someone else’s sex.”

“Hey, I tell you about my sex all the time,” Sophie says. “That’s not enough for you?”

Emmy rolls her eyes. “Blah, blah, blah, Tyler and Cam are sex gods, you’re both lucky bitches, whatever. We need new material, and it looks like our girl is about to provide us with some.”

“He just winked at me from the field. That doesn’t exactly spell night of hot sex.”

At least I hope it doesn’t. Or maybe I hope it does? I have no idea.