I smiled, my heart echoing the sentiment until I felt it in my toes.
“You and me.”
Braden
The next day, Emily and I walked hand in hand through the stadium toward a conference room full of people we were ready to break the news to.
I’d called on Coach Palmer, Emily had informed Claire, and we knew there would likely be half the PR and HR teams there, too.
Emily’s hand was steady in mine, her breath calming my own as we walked.
I knew as long as I had her, I could face anything.
“You know, however this turns out… you’re going to have to face something possibly more intimidating than Claire and Coach Palmer,” I said.
“Does that even exist?”
One of my shoulders tilted up. “You’ve gotta meet my friend group.”
Emily waved me off with a scoff. “Are you kidding? That’ll be easy. Have you met me?” She pressed a quick peck to my cheek. “I’m impossible not to love.”
“Don’t I know it.” I smiled, throwing my arm around her shoulder. “We’re doing Christmas in the Rockies, just a couple nights where we can make it happen between practices and games. Come with me?”
“Oh, you’re stuck with me now.”
“My favorite way to be.”
She leaned into me with a smile, glancing up at me. “Are you nervous?”
“No,” I said, and I meant it. “I’m done being scared. No matter what happens when we walk through that door, I know it’ll be okay.”
“I love you,” she whispered. “Have I told you that today?”
“Yes. About four times in a row this morning actually when my face was buried between your—”
She kissed me with a laugh to shut me up, and then we paused on the outside of the conference room, both of us taking deep breaths.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready,” she said.
We turned toward the door, but before we could reach for the handle, it opened for us.
And one of my teammates walked out — Lavonte.
Holding hands with a dancer I recognized as one of Emily’s friends who was also her teammate.
“Marcus?” Emily asked, brows shooting up when she looked at their hands clasped and then back at her friend.
Marcus smiled sheepishly, threading his arm through Lavonte’s before resting his head on his biceps. “What?” he asked playfully. “You think you’re the only one who gets a happy ever after?”
Emily laughed, shaking her head. “I could not love this more. Hi, I’m Emily,” she said, extending her hand for Lavonte’s next.
“I know who you are,” Lavonte said with a smile, shaking her hand firmly. His eyes jetted to me next and he nodded his hello. I did the same, a knowing smile on my lips. He’d mentioned to me in a very brief one-off conversation that he was seeing someone, and it was getting serious.
I was happy to see I wasn’t the only one facing fears.
“I saw your podcast clip,” he said to Emily. “Then went and listened to the whole thing. It really inspired me.”
