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“There they are!” He jumped off of me and hung off the railing while shouting their names. “Jack! Caleb! Andrew! Kick butt!”
The couple sitting next to us laughed as I held onto the back of Jesse’s shirt to keep him from falling onto the field. The woman grinned at me. “Someone loves football, huh?”
Caleb jogged straight to us and climbed up on the railing to hug Jesse. He winked at me but I could see something in his expression that didn’t fit the smile he was sending my way. He gripped the back of my neck when I leaned closer and kissed me. Cat-calls went up around us that made me blush, but I laughed them off.
I hugged him tight and spoke against his ear so he’d have a chance of hearing me. “You okay?”
He nodded without saying anything else and kissed my forehead before ruffling Jesse’s hair and jumping down. He jogged to the bench where Andrew and Jack were sitting and sat down next to them.
“No wonder he’s a football fan.” The woman next to me sent me a good-natured grin. “That was Caleb Evers, right?”
I looked back at the bench and nodded. I didn’t understand why they were sitting down. I didn’t know anything about football, but the rest of the team was standing around, getting ready to play. “Yeah. Um, sorry. Do you know why they’re sitting down?”
The guy next to her leaned over with a frown on his face. “It better not mean what I think it means. If Roberts is out, there goes the offense. Clarkson is good, but he isn’t one of the quarterbacks who can carry the team. Losing Walker on defense would open us up for Texas’ offense to run right through us. And I probably don’t need to tell you how many games Evers’ foot has won for us. If they’re not playing, we might as well leave now. I can’t stand the idea of watching Texas kill us.”
I shook my head. “Why would they be out?”
“I couldn’t tell you.”
Jack sat forward with his helmet clutched in his hands in front of his legs. He glanced back at me and even from the distance we were apart, I could tell something was wrong.
As the sun beat down on us and the first quarter dragged on, I watched the guys with an increasing sense of panic over what could’ve happened. Taylor’s smile couldn’t have been a coincidence. The crowd around me devolved into an angry mass when play after play was shut down. When the backup kicker missed a field goal to get our team on the scoreboard, I thought the crowd was going to jump onto the field and strangle the coach.
The guys were antsy on the bench, moving back and forth as they watched their team get behind by first one touchdown and then two. When Texas scored a third touchdown, Jack threw his helmet and grasped his head like he was in physical pain.
The woman next to me leaned closer when she saw Jesse pouting with tears welling up in his eyes. “He’s breaking my heart, honey. I’ve never seen a kid care so much about football before.”
Jesse stomped his feet and screamed. “I don’t want to lose! Why won’t they let Jack and Caleb and Andrew play? Let them play!”
The woman grinned. “What he said. Let them play!”
Someone in the row behind us roughly patted my shoulder. “Hell yeah, mom! Raising that boy up right! Let them play!”
Jesse, encouraged, shouted louder. “Let them play!”
And that was how my son started a chant that became so loud it drowned out everything in the stadium. We were all on our feet, shouting at anyone and everyone to let my guys play. The guys were so focused on the game that they didn’t notice at first but when they did, I watched their eyes find me. Jumping up and down, I pointed to Jesse, trying to let them know he’d started the chant. They grinned and I felt a flash of heat. Fighting for our guys, as effective as it was or wasn’t, made me want to tackle them. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss their frustration better or let them get out that frustration with my body.
Everyone gave up the chant when something on the field had them groaning and throwing their hands up in disgust. I looked at the woman next to me again but she and her partner were standing up to leave.
She shook her head at me. “After that interception, we don’t have a chance.”
49
***Olive***
Ifeltcrushedforthe guys and for Jesse. Staring blankly at the field, I found myself watching a man in bright blue medical gloves sprinting down the sideline. He gave the guys a thumbs up and stopped right in front of the coach. Even from where we sat in the stands, the coach’s words were clear.
“Thank fuck! Get in there, Walker!”
I sat forward and then jumped to my feet when I saw Andrew putting his helmet on and running onto the field. “Yeah, Andy!”
He glanced back at me and Jesse and blew a kiss our way. I laughed when Jesse pretended to catch it. Then he shocked me by slapping his butt with the same hand. On the field, I could tell Andrew was laughing even as he got to the line they were all standing at.
“We left too soon! It’s like as soon as you go to the bathroom at a restaurant, they bring the food!” The woman held out her hand and clasped mine. “Shelly. I’m not leaving again so we might as well become friends.”
I grinned and nodded. “My name is Olive. If y’all leaving did this, then thank you very much.”
“Holy shit. No way.” The guy with her leaned over and shook my hand roughly. “I’m pretty sure your guy is about to do something I’ve heard rumors about.”
