Page 196 of Glitched Play

Then another run in for a touchdown.

The stadium erupts.

Coach O’Ryan pumps both fists.

Greyson laughs. "See?"

"They learned."

Parker points toward the quarterback. "He quit trying to be a hero."

"He trusted the system," Matt says.

The extra point sails through the uprights.

The defense forces one final stop late in the fourth quarter.

Victory formation.

The quarterback takes a knee.

Ballgame.

The stadium explodes as blue and white confetti cannons fire near the student section.

Everyone stands, celebrating their dad’s win and the college that helped raise Parker, Noelle and Witt.

I jump up and kiss Witt’s cheek and he slips his hand back into mine.

He's still smiling, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. His mind is somewhere else.

He’s calculating, processing, searching for something I can’t see.

"I have something I need to do," he says quietly.

He doesn't look at me when he says it.

Instead, he stares out across the now-emptying field.

A strange knot forms in my stomach.

Before I can ask what he means, Annika loops her arm through mine.

"Perfect."

My head swivels to her. “For what?"

"Come home with Parker and me,” she says. "My rehearsal dinner dress came in, and I need another opinion."

Birdie grins. "Oh, I'm coming."

I look back at Witt.

He's still staring at the field.

Thinking.

Not once does he meet my eyes. It seems like the Witt when I first got the job, not the Witt who loves me.