It’s all back. I’m back. My life has completely changed. I’m about to win this game and lead our team into the history books. We’ll get our rings. It’s my dream come true, yet none of it compares to the two people who love me for more than my name.
The two people who have made my life complete.
My phone lights up, and I quickly glance at the screen.
Mav
I’ve got it… and it’s good. I’ll email the info complete with pictures. It might not hurt their numbers, but it’ll definitely hurt their credibility.
“Yo, funny guy, we gotta get out there.” Fonz slaps me on the shoulder pads. “Halftime’s over. Let’s go win this.”
Turning around, I face my teammates. They’re all bright-eyed, smiling, amped, waiting on me to inspire and encourage.
“Y’all don’t need me to tell you this is one for the history books. The first half was a killer match, but we held onto the ball. Baker, way to use your hands. Fonz, way to take it. Armstrong, keep coming in their faces.” A low rumble of laughter flows through the group.
My show with Melody is a big hit, and all the guys love it. It’s even bigger than when she was riding my ass every week, and the sex is hotter, too. It’s basically an hour of foreplay.
“We’ve worked hard to get here.” I look from Baker to Kyler to Etienne and Fonz. “We’ve earned this win. It’s not the Jets’ year. It’s ours. Now let’s go.”
We join hands briefly in the middle before shoutingMarch in!Then we jog out as a group onto the field.
* * *
“Right here,where you’re on Jones’s backside…” Melody freezes the screen in the seconds before the snap at the end of the fourth quarter, just before my gorgeous pass lands straight in Baker’s hands for the winning touchdown.
“Is this a special moment between the two of you, or…?”
“Yeah, QP, it’s special.” I rock back in my chair, grinning. “It makes him run faster.”
“Whatever it does, you guys were unstoppable out there tonight.” Melody smiles at me, and I’m right back on the field with her in my arms.
Confetti falls all around us as the cannons shoot fireworks over the stadium. Cricket squeals, reaching her cute, chubby arms overhead trying to catch them. Haddy, Gavin, Gina, Owen, even Mav and Dove were there standing with me, cheering my big win. One word is on repeat in my head,Family.
“That win has been a long time coming, and it was a joy watching it happen,” Melody continues. “Saints Nation is going to be partying all over the Big Easy tonight. Any final thoughts on all your accomplishments before we sign off?”
“Just Gratitude, QP. I wasn’t alone out on that field. We won through solid teamwork, no hero ball, just moving it down the field, finding that hole and bearing down on it as we drove all the way, again and again.”
“You’re definitely a master at that, K-Brad.” Melody gives me a wink, and it’s time.
“Speaking of masters, I’d like to shift gears just a bit before we sign off, if that’s okay?”
Her brow furrows, and she nods. “What’s on your mind?”
“I’m sure everyone remembers what brought us to this place of working together, declaring a truce.” I tap on my phone, sending the text to Lindsey, who helped me set up this surprise. “For any new members of the group, that’s Susan Jackson and Chet Arnold on your screen. They set up an elaborate ploy to doxx my baby girl, which led to her being forcibly taken from me by police right before Thanksgiving.”
Melody’s brows quirk, and she blinks over to the screenwhere a picture showing Susan and Chet holding up champagne glasses sits.
She exhales heavily. “It was a devastating moment. That’s for sure.”
“We were all caught off-guard by that dirty trick, and it took a week and a lot of concentrated effort to get my daughter back, but what a lot of our viewers might not know is this is the same duo behind an infamous exposé on my cousin Maverick Murphy and his Stanley Cup-winning hockey team.”
“I did hear about that, K-Brad.” Melody’s eyes are downcast. “I didn’t know when I briefly worked with Susan she had done it.”
“What we’ve since learned is Chet-n-Sue are paid to find hit pieces by the owners of the TMI tabloid organization.” I send Lindsey her next cue, and she changes the photo to show check stubs. “Thanks to the good reporters who’ve since left that organization, we were able to confirm Susan Jackson was promised a bonus of ten-thousand dollars if she was able to get Maverick to give her information about his teammates’ private lives. We’ve also been able to confirm Chet-n-Sue paid double that amount to get your photo from the Walgreens computer and to pay for Jada Allen to make the trip to be on that show. They received even more to report it.”
Melody’s eyes widen as I speak, and her lips part. “Oh my God.”
“They’re dirty, unethical, and they’re not real journalists.” I look straight into the camera. “If you want to send a message, I urge you to write, email, call, unsubscribe, unfollow, report… It’s the only way we’re going to stop this kind of hurt from happening again.”
