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Oh. Wow. She jogged back onto the field.
“You okay?” Zach had run up. “That was terrifying to watch. Good thing Bly grabbed you out of the way.”
Yeah, good thing. Her entire body shook.
“Your ribs holding up?”
“I might need some ice, but I’ll be okay.” She grimaced as she ran back out onto the field, but something felt…
Right.
Freeing.
She didn’t know why, but the idea of Hud simply having her back swooshed a thick emotion inside her she couldn’t place.
Power, maybe?
Yeah, that was it.
She felt invincible.
The Vikings easily scored, Toby and Felix doing the heavy lifting in three plays, and then the Admirals had the ball.
Three and out. Four minutes left to play. Vikings’ ball.
She ignored the crazy thrill that buzzed through her when Hudson took the field. As if this was where they belonged. On the field together, her watching his back.
Him watching hers.
Sort of.
He went long for a pass, and she pulled her flag when the defender practically grabbed his helmet. “Defensive pass interference.”
Hud glanced at her but didn’t react as he headed to huddle.
But she felt it. The joy of doing what she was born to do. And doing it well.
So maybe she should stop trying too hard to impress, to protect herself.
Stop being so tough.
Hudson completed his next pass, went out for two plays, and when the Vikings got it down to the thirty with three minutes left, he came back in.
Apparently, the Vikings were hoping for a shot at the end zone, another quick in and out by the Admirals, and then a nice long possession to end the game.
And there it was. Ernst dropped back, faked to Toby, who ran a dogleg into the flats, then aired it out to Hud.
She ran down the field, focused on the play. He didn’t push off, didn’t even look at the defender, his eye on the ball as he crossed over the goal line. Gorgeous throw, right to the numbers—
Hud grabbed it, pulled it in, his feet came down, one, then the other, turned to take one more step—
The defender didn’t even slow. Just put his helmet down and slammed into Hud, who’d tucked to secure the ball.
The crash was a bomb erupting in the end zone. Hud left his feet, jolted so hard his helmet loosed, jerked halfway off. The ball upended out of his hands, and he fell back, unprotected, undefended.
He slammed into the ground, his head bouncing on the turf.
The other player lay crumpled ten feet away.
