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It was natural for a child to want their parents to be together, but it was a dangerous thing for him to hope for. The divide between me and Eric was still too great. “Cam, this isn’t about me at all. Eric is only here for you, you know? He wants to get to know you, to be the best dad he can for you.”
“Oh, I know.” He nodded, but there was still this little twinkle in his eye that worried me. “But I wanted you to know that it’s okay with me if you do get married. I like Eric. He’s nice, and he makes you smile more.”
I paused in my denial. “He does?” I hadn’t noticed.
“Uh-huh. You were even humming when you made breakfast this morning.”
I always did my best to stay upbeat for Cam’s sake, to smile and have fun with him; he didn’t need to know when I was stressed about money or my mom’s health, or lonely for an alpha’s touch. I wanted Cam to have the happiest childhood, but it seemed I hadn’t been doing as good a job at masking my feelings as I thought I was.
Our conversation was cut off by the rise in music. An announcer came over the loudspeaker, and the excitement level in the stadium kicked up a notch. It only got more intense when the opening lineup was announced, starting with their quarterback, Eric Van Leer, and I found myself standing and clapping with the rest of the crowd as they showed their appreciation. Cam jumped up and hooted.
Andwow, those pants.
The fanfare for the players as they came out onto the field was over the top, their images displayed on the jumbotron. The cheerleaders were waving their pompoms, strobe lights flashing, and the fans went insane. I couldn’t hear a word Cam was saying, so I just kept smiling and nodding. I had to hope I wasn’t agreeing to anything that would come back to bite me on the ass. With my luck, I was probably admitting I was still in love with Eric.
The Comets won the coin toss, and they decided to play offense first. And just like that, the game was on.
I was honestly expecting to hate this. The heat, the noise, sitting on a hard plastic seat for hours. I had assumed I would be gritting my teeth until it was over, but I was willing to do it for Cam’s sake. But I was soon surprised to find that it was actually kind of… fun. I knew the basics about the sport—tackles and four downs and a confusing scoring system—but it seemed that Cam had been learning more from his poppy than I could’ve guessed. Cam pointed out the important players and explained the differences between their positions. Linebacker, runningback, wide receiver, tight end.
Even the halftime show was fun. It wasn’t long enough to do much, but they actually brought out a bunch of dogs to race and show some tricks. I’d only ever seen the Super Bowl halftime show before, but I decided I preferred the dogs.
The last quarter seemed to take a lot longer than the others, time slowing to a crawl as the clock ran down. The score was close, and both teams were using up their time-outs, trying to strategize. It all came down to the final play of the game.
The players got into position at the line of scrimmage, and I sucked in a breath and held it. In the blink of an eye, the ball was hiked back, then passed to Eric. The wide receiver zigzagged down the field, but I couldn’t look away from where Eric was waiting for a clear path to throw, waiting as long as he could for his teammate to get into the open.
“Throw it,” I muttered, my hands clutching my thighs in a white-knuckled grip. “Throw it!”
And in these fantastic seats Eric got for us, I saw it all happening in vivid detail, my heart in my throat. A linebacker managed to break through the guard. Eric saw him coming, and still he hesitated, arm poised for the throw. He took a step, then another, and a fraction of a second before he was tackled, he snapped off the ball. It sailed through the air in a perfect spiral.
I didn’t care if it was caught or not. Whether they won was not my concern. The only thing that mattered was Eric. He didn’t even have time to brace for the hit. The ball had left his hand, but it was too late for the linebacker to brake, and he slammed into Eric’s shoulder, plowing him straight into the ground. Even wearing all that gear, the weight of it coming down on him would crush him. Eric’s head snapped back, bouncing off the field, his helmet protecting him from the worst of it.
The whistle blew, and the crowd went nuts. I was vaguely aware that we’d won, but that wasn’t my focus. I was on my feet, breath held, waiting for Eric to get up.
The linebacker climbed off him and offered him a hand up, but Eric stayed where he was. He was moving, but not much. His teammates paused in their celebration and came over to check on him, forming a circle around him and blocking my view. A medical team ran onto the field from the sidelines.
I might’ve whimpered. “He’ll be okay, Dad,” Cam said, standing at my side, but the way he was squeezing my arm, I knew he was worried too.
A sort of somber pall seemed to settle over the crowd, a collective held breath, dulling the shine on the team’s win as they waited to see if their quarterback would be okay. As close as we were in the tenth row, I was frustrated I wasn’t closer. I couldn’t see anything! I looked around for a way to get down to the field, even though I knew it wasn’t logical. Of course I wouldn’t be allowed down there. Security would likely flag me as a stalker fan or something and tackle me next.
I could see movement from between the players’ bodies, and then they parted, and Eric stepped through. The crowd started clapping for him, and I collapsed into my seat, my breath leaving me in a relieved groan. Eric was walking on his own, which seemed like a good sign, but the medical team were keeping stride with him, one man with a hand extended, as if prepared to grab him in case he collapsed.
Eric’s helmet was off, his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. He tilted his chin up, searching the crowd, and his gaze locked on mine. He nodded, wearing a grim smile, and waved, and Cam waved back. They disappeared through the gate into the back of the stadium, and I pulled out my phone. Would he call me? He wasn’t my alpha, but as the father of his son, did that give me the right to at least text him and make sure he was okay?
The crowd was already filtering out toward the exits, but I wasn’t sure I could walk yet, my legs still weak and wobbly. “Let’s just wait for the crowd to clear out a bit first, okay?” I said, making up an excuse so I could catch my breath.
“Can we come back for the next game?” Cam asked excitedly from his seat beside me. “That was awesome!”
Oh gods, I don’t know if my heart can handle this again.
10
Eric
Dr.Fratershonethepenlight in my right eye, followed by my left. “Headache? Dizziness? Double vision?”
“Nope,” I said. “I told you, I’m fine.” It wasn’t entirely true. The tackle had knocked the wind right out of me, and I was still reeling a little, but I knew the signs of a head injury. I was just a little… shaken up, that’s all.
“It was a hard hit, Eric. Are you sure I can’t convince you to go to the hospital and get checked out?” He sat down in his chair, watching me closely. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
