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“Oh I am exhausted,” I replied, being careful to keep the profanity I wanted to use a bay. “But Ty told me something last week that I have held close to my chest and used to push through these last couple of games.”
“Can you share what he told you?” she asked excitedly, thinking I would reveal a secret code that no one else had ever heard before.
“He told me to play angry,” I smirked.
She was about to ask another question but before she could, I was being pushed backward. The scent of my girl was invading my senses and I wrapped my arms around her, knowing she was somehow there with me.
“I love you,” she cried. “I am so proud of you!”
“Fuck,” I breathed quietly. “What are you doing here?”
“There was no way I was spending Christmas without you.”
I started backing away from the camera, the interviewer too stunned to do anything but smile. As if he were Santa, Ty walked in front of her microphone and started talking about how Atlanta was unbeatable, and we were taking the Super Bowl again.
He was full of shit, extra loud, and I knew it was all to distract them from me.
With Ali in my arms, we slid out of the light of the live feed, and I placed her down so I could hold her face and look at her. Her nose was red, her lips were blue, but she was smiling and satisfied with herself at how she managed to crash my interview.
“Where’s Kace?” I asked, looking behind her.
“He’s here! We flew in this morning.”
“Are you two crazy?” I laughed. “This is going to be a circus.”
“But it will be our circus, not just yours. We will never spend a Christmas apart, Cam. I know you two want to protect me from the limelight, but this is me showing you that I am okay. My present to you both. I can handle it. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. Their opinions will never keep us apart—especially on holidays.”
She lifted onto her toes and kissed me, for everyone on the field—and the world—to see. I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her from the ground so I could swing her a little.
“Congrats on the win,” she winked.
“Mmm,” I kissed her again before I added, “I should have known you were here. I felt good this entire game.”
When our mouths reconnected, I felt another hand come down on my shoulder. I knew it was Kace without even looking, so I continued to kiss my girl for a few more seconds.
“Don’t I get credit?” Kace laughed. I pulled away and faked like I was going to kiss him too, since he wanted credit and all. “Fucker!”
The three of us stood in the middle of the field, knowing we were being watched. The snow was coming down harder, the stadium was playing Christmas music, and if I tuned everything else out, I could almost imagine we were in one of those snow globes.
“I love you two,” Ali said loud enough for anyone to hear. “Merry Christmas.”
Kace grabbed her hand and pulled her into him, kissing her lips. “Love you too.”
I pulled her to me and kissed her where Kace had just been, tasting his gum on her lips as I tried to get her as close as possible to me. “I love you. Merry Christmas.”
* * *
We were able to walk off the field with Ali holding each of our hands. No one asked and we didn’t stop to do anymore interviews. Coach had cleared the rest of my night for me, and I barely got changed out of my uniform before I was running toward the car service Kace had hired.
Thanks to the snow, we weren't going to head back to Atlanta, but that didn't seem to matter anymore. They were in Cincinnati with me and even a night in my small hotel room seemed like Christmas magic.
Once we were closed in and warm, Ali pulled two wrapped gifts from her bag and waved them at us. “I got you guys something.”
I immediately turned to Kace, who looked just as shocked as I was. “Was this trip not your gift?”
“Yeah,” she nodded in his direction. “But I did something else. It's kind of lame, especially since you two gave me this.” She held her wrist up that had her bracelet on it and looked nervous.
I wanted to argue with her and let her know that it didn't matter. But she took a deep breath and continued to speak.
