Page 164 of Hometown Halftime

Holy shit.

For a second my mind goes blank while I stare at the packet in my hands. Then everything rushes back all at once—every early morning workout, every film session, every practice, every injury, every exhausting second spent chasing this dream since I was a kid. All of it led here.

Coach’s voice cuts through my thoughts.

“You earned it,” he says.

This is the thing I’ve worked toward my entire life. And sitting here with the future in my hands, the first person I want to tell is Kinsey. That realization hurts worse than I expected. Coach notices me drifting into my thoughts again. His eyes narrow while he studies me across the desk.

“You alright?”

“Yeah.”

It’s a lie, because this should feel exciting, but all I can think about is the last time Kinsey looked at me standing in that empty duplex with tears in her eyes as I said the words that still haunt my mind.

Go before I ask you not to.

My grip tightens around the folder. Coach watches me carefully for another second before speaking again.

“Dreams get complicated once real life gets attached to them.”

My head snaps up.

Coach huffs out a quiet laugh. “You think I don’t recognize that look? I’m forty-one, not dead.”

Despite everything sitting heavy inside me, another laugh slips out. Then Coach leans forward, bracing his elbows against the desk while his expression turns serious again.

“Listen to me, Riley. You deserve this opportunity.”

Emotion burns at the back of my throat because part of me still feels guilty for wanting it. Because somewhere along the way, football stopped being the only thing I wanted.

Coach points toward the folder sitting in my hands.

“Don’t cheapen everything you’ve worked for by acting like this simply fell into your lap.”

I nod slowly. “Yes, sir.”

Coach’s expression softens slightly afterward.

“You should call your mom.”

A smile pulls at my mouth. “Yeah.”

But deep down, I want to call Kinsey too.

After I leave Coach’s office, I stand in the empty hallway with the combine packet in one hand while my phone rests in my other. My thumb drifts toward Kinsey’s contact, hovering over her name. I stare at it for a few seconds before locking the screen and heading back into the weight room.

Chapter sixty-six

Kinsey

Knox looks completely wrecked in the best possible way when Brynn climbs out of the SUV holding a carrier with their one-month-old son. Little Beau Dalton took longer than expected to get here after issues with paperwork and custody, but Knox and Brynn finally have their baby boy home now.

Knox grabs the diaper bag while Brynn adjusts the carrier carefully against her side, both of them moving with that nervous, overwhelmed energy new parents seem to carry around. One of his hands settles protectively against the small of her back while she laughs through obvious tears.

“Careful,” she says shakily.

“I’ve got you.”