CHAPTER TWENTY
CHANCE
Super Bowl—this is it, the pinnacle of American sports. Yeah, it’s become a little corporate—hasn’t everything?—but this is where heroes are made. I’m ready to forge my legacy. I’m ready to become the greatest quarterback of all time.
There’s less than twenty seconds on the clock and we’re down. Your average league player would fold under the pressure, but I have something they do not. I have fucking perspective. When you’ve been through the fucking hell I have, when you’ve faced down death, a pack of beefy guys in bright colors really isn’t a concern. All I have to do is run, and I’m really fucking good at running.
I collect the ball and pause to signal Sam in the stands. I know she’s watching, heart in her throat. Here’s your razzle-dazzle, baby.
Madness! I hear them thinking. You can’t stop and play lover-boy in the middle of a play, but when I’m with Sam it’s like I’ve got all the time in the world.
Game face, Adams.
I hunker down and start the play. At the end of a game like this I should be exhausted, but I’m elated, running on air. I see the defenders coming a mile away, find an open line like it was marked out with a fucking highlighter.
I feel fingers brushing the back of my shoes as another defender dives for the tackle, but not today, my friend, not today.
I breathe it in—the turf, the sweat, the alkaline burn of the lights as they bear down, the sound of one-hundred-thousand people on the edge of their seats, to say nothing of the millions glued to their televisions and radios, a nation frozen in wait.
That pressure should crush me, but instead it carries me right into the end zone.
I drive the ball home with a second left on the clock.
The stadium erupts. I’m driven to the ground by teammates. That’s three in a row, a feat I’m hoping will remain unmatched for some time. I mean, I’m twenty-six, but maybe it’s time to settle down a little before I do real damage.
David pulls his helmet off and slaps me on the back. “You had me worried there, Gunner.”
I wave it off. “We had it in the bag, but these people came out here for a show, didn’t they?”
He laughs, shaking his head. “You’re full of shit. That was dodgy as shit and you know it.”
I look to where Sam is seated. “All I know is that I want to see Sam.”
He slaps me on the ass, the cheeky prick. “Off you go then. Don’t let me hold you back.”
I spin around and point at him as I run. “I hope your wife didn’t see that.”
“She knows which way I swing.”
“Does she?”
“Hey, what happens in the Corps…
“…Stays in the Corps,” I finish. I turn smiling and continue to run for the stands.
Morgan runs beside me puffing. “We won, asshole. You can stop running.”
“You’re out of shape, old man.”
But he’s still smiling. “Hell of a game, wouldn’t you say?”
“We can discuss my new salary tomorrow,” I tease.
I pick up the pace and he falls back. “We’ll see, son. We’ll see.”
As I approach, I see Sam still seated trying to remain as invisible as possible. I’ve tried my best to get the press to leave her alone following what happened, but it’s proven to be an impossible task, so fuck it. If you can’t hide it, flaunt it.
I stop at the wall and hold my hands up. “Come on down,” I beam.
She’s smiling. “I can’t.”
Her girlfriends from her old apartment block insist. “Go!” they plead, lifting her from her seat and helping her down over the barrier. “Go on.”
Sam slips and falls, but I catch her in my arms and place her on her feet. “Like I said, I’ve got you.”
We kiss, Sam settling into it and the roar growing around us as the kiss is shown on jumbo-tron. Horns go off. There’s screaming and catcalling, more people stopping to congratulate me, but I only have time for Sam.
I hold her face in my hands. Hidden by the curtain of her hair, I place my forehead against hers and breathe her in.
“You smell,” she says.
“Like man-sex, right?”
She looks at me quizzically. “I don’t think that came out quite like you meant it.”
“Maybe not, but I think there’s room for two in the shower back home.”
“Back home? What about your fans, your team? You should celebrate.”
“There’s only one person I want to celebrate with.”
She kisses me again before pushing me away. “Go on. Have some fun. I’ll be waiting.”
My teammates pick me up and start to carry me around the stadium.
Sam, the love of my life, stands there waving, her friends cheering above.
I’m on top of the world. Things finally feel together, like they should, like this is what happiness can be.
It’s a solid hour before the crowd starts to thin out and I can escape from the masses. I collect Sam and walk her hand-in-hand to the Mustang, helping her into the passenger seat.
I get in and suddenly the world is quiet. There are no screaming fans in here, no drunken horn-blowing. It is, blissfully, just Sam and me.
“It’s really quiet in here, isn’t it?” she muses.
“Not for long.” I turn the key, the engine rumbling to life, eager to get home and into the shower, the bed, onto the kitchen table… wherever. “Where to?”
“How about Hawaii?” she replies.
I raise an eyebrow. “Hawaii? I don’t think Mustang’s waterproof, sorry.”
“No, I mean I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii, go to Oahu and Diamond Hill. It was the last place my parent’s visited before…”
I reach over and take her hand. “You want to go to Hawaii, we’ll go to Hawaii.” I start to drive off. “Just let me get some more gas first.”
ONE MONTH LATER
Huuuuuhhhhh. The ship’s horn blows, the sun bright overhead and the heatwave that gripped the city long gone to be replaced with its familiar, mild clime. It’s been perfection, actually, and no, I’m not just talking about the weather.
Sam spins around. “I can’t believe we’re about to set sail.”
“Wait until you see the suite.”
“Does it have a bed?”
“Considering what it cost, I sure as hell hope so.”
She presses up against me. “Good, because that’s all I need—you and somewhere to sleep.”
“Who said anything about sleep?”
It’s hard to believe another season is over, not that my mind’s been that occupied with football given recent events.
“Everything okay?” Hand on my cheek, Sam turns me towards her.
I smile down into her almond face, glancing up at the cruise ship docked behind her. “A fourteen-night cruise to Hawaii with the hottest girl in the world? I’d say that’s okay.”
She kisses me, forced up onto her toes to do so. I return it, holding her waist, and really wish we weren’t here on the dock with a couple of thousand other passengers so I could have my way with her. Soon enough, my friend. Soon enough.
“Look at you two lovebirds.”
It’s David and his wife Sarah.
I break away and embrace him. Sam does likewise with Sarah, the two of them becoming close in the weeks gone by.
“Where are the girls?” I ask.
The two of them exchange a look only a married couple could come up with. “Thank god for grandparents,” Sarah replies, squeezing David’s hand.
I laugh. “You guys make me want to puke sometimes.”
David puts on mock offense. “Like you two can talk what with your constant grabby grabby and tongue wrestling.”
I pull Sam close and give her butt a squeeze. “We like to display our love publically. Is that a crime?”
David’s eyebrows lift. “Depends whether you’re clothed or not, I suppose.”
Chance’s smile grows. “Oh, clothes will definitely be lacking in our cabin. Don’t you worry about that.”
David pretends he’s blind. “Eye bleach! Where’s the eye bleach?” Sarah elbows him and his eyes snap open to Sam. “I wasn’t talking about you, Sam. You’re beautiful.”
Sarah rolls her eyes at me, reaching forward and taking Sam’s arm. “Come on, Sam. Why don’t we grab a coffee and let those two knuckleheads kiss each other goodbye.”
I watch the two of them go off together when something bumps into my leg. I look down to find a little boy in a Wildcats’s cap standing in my shadow. I notice Mom standing off to the side.
“Mr. Adams?” he queries in a squeaky voice. “Can I have your autograph?”
I reach down and take the playing card and pen he’s holding in his hand. I look a bit worn in the picture. It was only taken at the start of the season, but in it I see someone I barely recognize. How far I’ve come. How far we have come.
“Mr. Adams?” asks the kid again since I’m standing there gaping at myself like an idiot.
“What’s your name, kid?”
“Chance,” he replies.
I hand the card back with a wink at Mom. “Your parents have good taste.”
‘Thank you,’ Mom mouths back.
The kid runs off. I notice David standing there with his hands on his hips. “What’s with you?”
“You’re standing here with perhaps the greatest wide receiver the game has ever seen and I don’t even get a second glance.”
I shrug, smiling. “I can’t help it if all the fans want me.”
David pokes me in the chest. “And here I was thinking you were finally falling back down to Earth.”
I look over to Sam sipping on her coffee by the cart, picturing the way she bucked below me this morning as she came, the way her pussy gripped my shaft in the throes of it. “Far from it, my friend. Far from it.”
“So?”
“So what?”
“Kids,” continues David. “You seem pretty good with them. The girls love you. When are you two going to start a family of your own?”
“Whoa, we’re not even married yet and you’re already trying to sort play dates?”
David crosses his arms. “I’m just sayin’, you better put a ring on that sooner rather than later.”
“You think she’s going to run off on me?”
“I see the way you two are together. It’s an inevitability. Why procrastinate?”
“You just want to get wasted kid-free at the wedding, don’t you?”
He nods. “It has been a long time since I’ve been to a wedding… or slept with a bridesmaid.”
It takes me a second to catch on. “I see what you did there, but you’re way ahead here. I mean, I, you know. It’s not—”
He shakes his head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say my line of questioning here is making the mighty woman slayer that is Chance Adams sweat a little, no?”
He knows me too well. “I’m not ready. It’s too soon.”
David continues shaking his head. “Suit yourself.”
The girls arrive just in time.
Sarah hands a coffee to David. “What are you two scheming here?”
David looks to me. “Just planning ahead.”
An announcement comes over the PA for boarding to begin. Sam starts to pull on my arm, always a stickler for punctuality. “Come on, babe. They’re boarding.”
Sarah takes the hint. “We’ll leave you guys to it.” She comes forward and hugs us in turn. “You two be good, you hear?”
“I’m always good,” I protest.
Sam swats my ass. “I’ll keep him in line. Don’t worry.”
David puckers his lips at me. “Good. I wouldn’t want that sweet little butt of yours to come back as damaged property.”
Now I’m the one shaking my head. “Come here, you fucker.”
I pull him in for an embrace, slap him twice on the back before pushing him away. “Now get, we got business to attend to.”
Sam sidles up beside me as the two of them work back through the crowds waving. “Business?”
I run my hands down her waist, desperately wanting to keep running them inside her pants. “Dirty, dirty business.”
As I kiss her, I think over David’s words. He’ll kill me when we get back.
Carefully as I can, I run my hand into my pocket, checking one final time that the ring is still there.