Probably.
“Oh God!” Willow was a shouter when it came to watching the games. She made Aubrey jump every single time she yelled. “I think they’re going to try to run it.”
Aubrey watched the field, her gaze zeroed in on Flynn. Her heart was in her throat, and her pulse hammered through her veins, buzzing in her ears and brain. She felt faint. Faint. All over a freaking football game. Everything was on the line. The entire season came down to this one final moment, and it was all on Flynn’s broad shoulders to carry it through.
She didn’t know how he could take it.
Willow’s phone dinged with a text, and with a mumbled curse, she pulled her iPhone out of her pocket, her eyes going wide when she read the message. “Sheridan’s okay,” she breathed, lifting her head so their gazes met.
Relief made Aubrey’s head spin. She didn’t know if she could take much more. “That’s good news,” she said weakly.
Another message pinged through, and Willow muttered, “You gotta be kidding me.”
“What?” Aubrey shook her arm, her eyes glued to Flynn as he threw a ball out-of-bounds. Not so scarily accurate.
She really needed to stop thinking like that.
“She’s going to have twins,” Willow whispered. “They did an ultrasound. Twins.” She burst out laughing and shook her head. “Figures Jared would shoot double.”
Charlie Monroe took that particular moment to turn around and study them both. “What did you say, young lady?” Half the time Aubrey figured Charlie didn’t recognize the majority of the players’ wives and girlfriends, though he should know Willow, since Charlie was friends with her father, Walter.
“Jared Quinn’s wife is fine.” Willow smiled at him. “She’s healthy, but she needs to remain on bed rest for a little while, maybe throughout the entire pregnancy.”
“Did you mention twins?” He swung his head in Aubrey’s direction. “The minute the game is over, you make sure and announce that.”
“Only if Jared gives us permission,” she said, not about to go against the star quarterback’s wishes. This was his private life they were talking about, after all. She didn’t want this situation to turn into a fiasco. He deserved respect. They all did. Even Flynn.
Especially Flynn.
Charlie made a grumpy noise and turned to watch the game once more. They were going to make another play. Another drive down the field. Flynn stood tall, the ball in his hand, over his head as he prepared to send it flying through the air, and Willow grabbed hold of her, smashing her face against Aubrey’s shoulder.
“I can’t watch,” Willow said, though Aubrey knew without a doubt she was definitely watching.
And so was she.
…
Flynn threw the ball, his gaze never leaving it as it sailed through the air…
And landed in Nick Hamilton’s wide-open hands.
He turned and ran, while Flynn bounced on his feet as he watched. The clock was ticking, the crowd was going wild, and all the air was stuck in Flynn’s throat as Hamilton plowed through the defensive linemen, his legs eating up the yardage when he ran straight into the end zone.
And scored a touchdown.
“Fuck yeah!” Flynn roared as he started running down the field. He had to go grab Hamilton and give him some love, because that play had been amazing. They’d scored with less than fifteen seconds on the clock. This was it. A kick for the remaining point, and they were done.
They’d won the biggest game of the season.
His other teammates slapped him on the back, offering happy shouts, and he yelled back his congratulations, euphoria filling him up and making his chest light. He slowed to a jog, saw that Nick was heading right for him, and they embraced, their shoulder pads knocking against each other. Nick slapped Flynn’s helmet, and Flynn backed away from him, tearing off his helmet so he could look around the stadium.
He wanted to soak up this moment. Savor it. Camera flashes were going off. The crowd was one giant, moving mass of people, some of them booing but the majority of them cheering. Yelling and screaming and bouncing in their seats.
Flynn loved every fucking minute of it. He was grinning so hard his face hurt. He would never forget this moment. Ever.
“Come on. Let’s get this over with,” Nick said with a matching giant grin.
The team went back into formation and the final ball was kicked, giving the Hawks the last point. The moment the game was declared over, the field was flooded with people offering their congratulations, the media coming at him like a swarm, ready to take him over. He talked to a few, nodding and smiling and saying inane things because, holy hell, he could hardly concentrate. His team had just won the freaking Super Bowl.
Someone from NBC approached him and started talking, asking all the usual questions, and Flynn gave him the usual answers. He knew millions of people were watching. Hell, he could hear his voice echoing all over the stadium, since they were broadcasting the interview live to all the Super Bowl attendees, and he hoped he didn’t sound like an idiot. This was his dream, finally come to life, and he hoped his dad saw it. And his mom. Was she crying? Was his dad crying?
Hell, he felt like crying. This was just…unbelievable.
Despite the mass quantity of bodies out on the field, despite trying his damnedest to focus on the questions the interviewer was asking him, a weird, prickling sensation started at the back of Flynn’s neck. Like someone was watching him, which was ridiculous because everyone in the freaking free world was currently watching him.
Slowly he turned his head and glanced over his shoulder to find Aubrey standing not twenty feet from him, looking unsure. Looking beautiful.
She wore his jersey. His number was on the front, and she had on skintight jeans that made her legs look impossibly long. She smiled shyly, hope shining in her eyes, and without thought, he reached out and clutched the reporter by the shoulder, giving him a squeeze, effectively cutting off the interview before it had really even started.
“It’s been an honor, man, but I gotta go. My girl is waiting for me,” he said just before he turned and walked away from the reporter, ignoring the other reporters on the field as they shouted his name, continued to shout questions at him.
He didn’t care. He had eyes only for Aubrey.
“Flynn, you need to go back and finish that interview. You just played an amazing game. Your fans want to hear what you have to say,” she said when he stopped right in front of her.
She was always working, his sweet little publicist. The sudden tension that had been in his chest slowly eased, and he took another step toward her, damn near invading her space. “There’s only one fan I need to hear what I have to say, and that’s you.”
“Flynn—”
“Hear me out. I played the most important game of my life today, but it doesn’t matter unless I know I have you by my side. You’re everything to me, my entire world.” Her eyes glinted with tears, and that was the last thing he wanted to see. “You look damn good, Aub.”
She blinked away the tears, her smile growing. “I’ve got team spirit.”
“You’re wearing my number.” His voice was low as he studied her chest, fascinated by the rapid rise and fall of her breasts beneath his jersey.
“I am.” She took a deep breath. “You like it?”
“You put it on after you found out I was playing?”
She slowly shook her head. “I put it on first thing this morning. I, um, wanted to show you my support.”
“And show everybody that you’re my girl?” He wanted her back. He needed her back. This was his day. She wouldn’t turn him down. “Did you mean what you said that afternoon? That it was real for you, too? Every bit of it?”
“Yes. It was, Flynn. It still is.” Aubrey wavered a little bit on her feet, like her knees had just gone weak. “I wanted everyone to know that I’m your girl, especially you,” she admitted softly. “For real.”
With zero hesitation, he swung her into his arms, spinn
ing her around and making her squeal. Before she could utter a protest, he sealed his mouth over hers, kissing her long and hard. Putting every bit of love he felt for this woman into the kiss until he finally broke away from her to find her staring up at him with stars in her eyes.
“Wow,” she breathed. “I guess that means you forgive me?”
“When you show up at a game, wearing my number, you’re forgiven,” he said as he slowly dropped her to her feet, his arms still firmly around her waist. “And I was an idiot, not to listen to what you really said,” he admitted, his voice low. “I’m so damn sorry for being a stubborn ass.”
“I’m sorry too,” she said, then tipped her head in the direction of the herd of reporters just behind him. “They’re all waiting for you.”
“I don’t care.” He bent over her, pressing his forehead to hers. “I missed you, Aub.”
She smiled tremulously. “I missed you, too.”
“We just won the freaking Super Bowl,” he said, sounding like a little kid, but he couldn’t help it. Life couldn’t get much better than this.
“I know.” She laughed. “I watched you. You were amazing.”
“The team was amazing,” he corrected. “Did you see the way Hamilton caught that ball? Unbelievable.”
“Did you see the way you threw that ball? Unbelievable,” she mimicked softly.
“Yeah, it was pretty awesome.” He went solemn as he remembered why he was playing the game in the first place. “How’s Sheridan? Do you know?”
“She’s okay. She’s been put on bed rest.” Her voice dropped to a bare whisper. “She’s pregnant. With twins.”
“Twins?” His brows rose, and Aubrey shushed him. “No way.” No wonder Quinn had taken off. He got it. If anything ever happened to Aubrey, if she was ever at risk…
He’d go to her, no matter what.
“They’re going to trade me,” he said, needing it out there. “Maybe this is the wrong time to tell you, but I know I’m leaving the Hawks. Despite what just happened, they won’t keep me. They have Quinn. And they could gain a lot from trading me.”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Wherever you are, we can make it work.”
He knew she was right. It didn’t matter if they lived across the country from each other, they could make it work. Maybe he could even convince her to come with him eventually….
“We’re going to make an announcement later. But first, I think you need to go attend to your duties as the reigning Super Bowl–champion quarterback.” Aubrey gave him a nudge, and he glanced over his shoulder to see everyone watching them. Reporters and photographers—who were taking plenty of pictures of this moment—fellow team members, Harvey Price—hell, even Charlie Monroe was down on the field.
He turned back to Aubrey and kissed her. “I love you, Aub,” he murmured close to her ear before he pulled away to smile down at her.
She sucked in a sharp breath, and he swore he saw tears sparkling in her eyes. “I love you, too.” She gave him another shove. “Now go attend to your adoring fans.”
…
“I feel like I’m dreaming.”
Aubrey shifted so she could rest her chin on Flynn’s bare chest, her hair falling across her forehead. He smoothed it away, his fingers tangling in the strands, and she closed her eyes, wanting to purr at the blissful sensation of his hands in her hair, his hot, naked body pressed to hers.
“Oh, what happened today was 100 percent real, baby. Trust me.” The pure satisfaction she heard in Flynn’s voice made her smile. Made her body heat up in all the right places, too.
“You won the MVP,” she murmured, turning her head so she could press her cheek to the center of his chest, his steadily beating heart beneath her ear reassuring. She sort of couldn’t get over that. He’d gone from the bottom to the top in less than twenty-four hours. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Hamilton deserved it more than I did,” Flynn said grimly.
“No, you deserved it. You were amazing.” She snuggled closer, kissing his skin, loving his taste. “You should be so proud of yourself.”
“It was an amazing day. Made better because you’re with me now.”
“You just won the freaking Super Bowl,” she pointed out, drifting her fingers across his firm chest. She couldn’t believe she was here with him, lying next to him. She was the luckiest girl in the world. “That’s pretty major.”
“I just told a woman that I love her for the first time,” he countered. “That’s pretty fucking major.”
She lifted her head so she could study him once more. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to you saying bad words.”
He chuckled, and his hand drifted down to curve along her waist, rest on her hip. “Will you get used to me telling you I love you?”
Her heart threatened to burst, she was so happy. It had gone from a terrible day to a hopeful day to a scary day to the absolute best day of her life. So many emotions, so many things happening, the very best of them all that Flynn was back in her life. Back in her arms. Her heart finally felt full. Complete.
“I don’t know,” she said, smiling up at him. “I may need to hear it a few more times.”
Flynn smiled in return, dipping his head so he could kiss her, his hand tightening on her hip, pulling her so she lay sprawled across the top of him. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.” She nipped his chin, making him laugh. “Say it again.”
“Aubrey.” Another kiss, this one deep, his tongue lazily tangling with hers. As if they had all the time in the world, which they did. “I’m in love with you. I love you.”
“I’m in love with you, too.” She giggled. “Now, maybe you should show me how much you love me.”
“Gladly. We have all night long, and I plan on using every single hour to its capacity.”
A shiver moved through her. She couldn’t even worry about sleep. Not when she had the man she loved beneath her. “More like we have the rest of our lives, you know.”
“Yeah, we do.” His hand cradled the back of her head, pulling her down for another kiss. “So we better do this right.”
“I think we already are.”
Epilogue
“Tell me you have names picked out. I’m dying here. I have to know what you’re going to name them.” Willow wouldn’t leave Sheridan alone. She’d been harassing her for months, constantly asking if she had chosen the names for her baby girl and baby boy.
Sheridan rubbed a hand over her big belly, a serene smile on her face. She was huge, due in a month and could go into labor at any given time. This was why Jared was at Sheridan’s baby shower, keeping watch in case something happened.
He was the cutest father-to-be Aubrey had ever witnessed. He hovered. He took care of his wife by waiting on her hand and foot and was so gentle with her, shot her looks filled with so much love, his love for his wife almost took Aubrey’s breath away.
“She’s not answering me.” Willow threw Aubrey an irritated look, and it took everything Aubrey had not to laugh at her frustrated friend. “I give her the most beautiful baby shower ever, and she just smiles at me like she’s the Mona Lisa while not saying a word.”
“Oh, leave her alone,” Aubrey said as she stood. “I bet if you stopped nagging her all the time, she’d tell you the names freely.”
“In my dreams,” Willow said with a laugh as she rolled her eyes, making Sheridan laugh, as well.
“Maybe they haven’t made up their minds yet,” Aubrey suggested.
The men—including her man—were in the kitchen, gorging themselves on the leftover food. The baby-shower attendees had all left, but Aubrey had stayed behind to help clean up and also because she was Willow’s cohostess.
“Oh, we have,” Sheridan said, laughing even harder when Willow cursed low under her breath. “It’s fun torturing her, though.”
“You’re mean,” Willow tossed over her shoulder as she flounced her way into the kitchen.
“
You feeling okay?” Aubrey asked Sheridan. She was sitting in an overstuffed chair, looking slightly uncomfortable as she readjusted her position. “Want me to get Jared?”
“Please.” Sheridan smoothed a few stray hairs away from her face. “It’s exhausting, carrying two babies around all the time.”
“Babies that are going to be spoiled rotten when they decide to come on out,” Aubrey said, waving a hand at the giant stack of opened presents sitting on a nearby table.
“I have good friends.” Sheridan beamed, then made a little face and clutched her stomach. “They’re kicking extrahard today, I swear.”
“You all right, babe?” Jared appeared out of nowhere, kneeling beside Sheridan, his big hand sprawling across her belly. “Ready to get on home?”
“No. This is my party.” She leaned back against the chair and closed her eyes. “And this chair is so comfortable.”
“Everything okay?” Flynn snuck up behind Aubrey, slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.
She turned in his arms, smiling up at him. “Just talking about all the great gifts Sheridan and Jared got for the babies.”
“For Sadie and Aidan,” Sheridan added.
Aubrey peeked around Flynn’s shoulder, her mouth dropping open in shock at the casual way Sheridan had just revealed her babies’ names. “Did you really just say that?”
Sheridan nodded, smiling when Jared kissed her cheek. “Those are the names. Too bad Willow isn’t in here to hear that particular announcement.”
“I heard everything!” Willow yelled as she exited the kitchen, Nick right behind her. “Oh my God, I love them both! So perfect. Sadie and Aiden Quinn. How cute is that?”
Pretty dang cute. Aubrey blinked hard, trying to fight off the tears that threatened. She was just so happy, and she couldn’t believe her life could be this good.
She had friends who loved her and a man who loved her, too. Babies on the way, babies she couldn’t wait to spoil and hold. So she could imagine herself as a mother someday. And there was a wedding to plan…the most overwhelming thing of all. But she was still in a blissful state of shock, considering Flynn had asked her to marry him only a few days ago.
Game For Tonight (Entangled Brazen) (Game for It) Page 19
