Epilogue
“And that’s it!” the commentator shouted over the roar of the crowd. “The Tigers take the championship in the last seconds due to an astonishing play by number 42, Dean Harper!”
Everleigh was on her feet, screaming in excitement and clapping as hard as she could. She wouldn’t be able to get near Dean for several hours, but she was still so happy that she was shaking. Sophie threw her arms around Leigh, jumping up and down with her.
“He did it, he did it!” she squealed.
Leigh couldn’t stop laughing. “I know!”
About 10 minutes later, her phone buzzed and she glanced at it. To her surprise, it was Dean.
“Come down to the locker room. They’ll let you in.”
She showed the text to Sophie whose eyes went wide. “What are you standing around for?” she demanded. “Go, go!”
Leigh hurried down, feeling nervous. Would they really let her in? If they did, was she going to have to stand around with the whole team half naked around her? She’d gotten to know most of them over the season because she was dating Dean, but that didn’t mean she wanted to see them in nothing but towels!
It took a long time to get through the crowd and when she did, she was dismayed to see that there was a man standing near the entrance, looking official. She walked up to him slowly, trying to think of how to explain herself. “Um. Hi. My boyfriend said...”
“Are you Everleigh Rice?” the man asked.
She nodded in surprise.
“Go on in,” he said with a friendly smile. “First door on your right.”
She opened the door hesitantly and was very relieved to find only Dean in the room. He grinned at her.
“The rest of the guys are down the hall,” he said, correctly interpreting her expression. “Come here.”
She flung herself into his arms and he spun her around with a laugh. She pressed her face against his neck, breathing in the scent of his body wash.
“You did it,” she whispered.
“Hell yeah I did!” He set her back on her feet. “I told you I would.”
Leigh laughed. “Yeah, I guess you did.” She glanced over her shoulder at the door. “Is this going to get you in trouble? Me being in here?”
“I just won them a championship,” he said dryly. “I could probably ask for cocaine and hookers and get ‘em.”
“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should,” she said primly.
“All right, I’ll call it off.” He dropped down to the bench, looking overwhelmed suddenly. “The scouts have been all over me. You know what this means?” He pushed his hands through his damp hair. “I’m going to do it. I’m really going to play for the NFL.”
Leigh sat down beside him. “Well duh,” she said with a grin. “Everybody knew that.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “It’ll be a lot of travel,” he said. “Lots of time on the road. Away from you.”
She nodded. “I know.” They’d talked about it, mostly late at night in bed. About what it would be like if he made it.
“So, I was thinking...” His voice was hesitant now. He sounded almost nervous. “You know, that maybe we needed to talk about that. About us. And our, you know...relationship.”
Leigh drew back and looked at him. “Dean Harper, if you’re breaking up with me just because you’re going to be famous--”
“No!” he said so loudly that it echoed, making her jump a little bit. “I’m not breaking up with you. I don’t want to do that. Uh, you know, ever.” He sighed. “I’m screwing this up. To hell with it.” Dean pushed one hand into the pocket of his pants and then pulled out a sparkling sapphire ring. “Will you marry me, Everleigh?”
Her mouth dropped open. “I...what?” That was her brilliant reply.
Dean chuckled. “Okay, at least I’m not the only one.”
She punched him in the shoulder. “Shut up. Oh, my God. Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I’d get on one knee, but after that tackle in the third quarter...” he trailed off when Everleigh giggled. Dean couldn’t help but smile “I knew you’d like that.”
“Sorry!” Leigh held out her hand. “Ask me again.”
“Everleigh Rice, will you marry me?”
She grinned. “Yes, I will.”
He slid the ring onto the third finger of her left hand. “Thank God, it actually fits,” he said. “I guessed.”
Everleigh admired the platinum band with the sparkling sapphire. The blue gem was flanked by two smaller diamonds on either side of it. She couldn’t have found anything she liked more if he’d asked her to design the ring herself.
“Do you like it?” Dean asked anxiously. “Would you rather have a diamond?”
“No,” she said quickly. “No, I love this.”
Dean cupped her cheek in his hand. “It reminded me of your eyes,” he admitted. “And I wanted you to have something different. Because you’re different.”
“You mean weird,” she teased.
He gave her a brief kiss. “No,” he said, kissing her again. “I mean perfect. I can’t wait to spend my life with you, Everleigh Rice.”
“I love you.” It seemed like an inadequate response, but she’d never meant anything more in her whole life. He was everything to her and she wanted nothing more than to go through life with him.
Dean seemed to know it. He pulled her close and they held each other in the quiet locker room, thinking only of their future together.