Superstar

by J Santiago

  And that was way too much temptation to pass up.

  They ended up being late.

  Tank had planned carefully. He’d found a cute art deco café with a booth in the back for privacy. It seemed appropriate. He’d considered a couple of other locations, but none really stuck out in his head. They were more than a favorite location.

  After they’d gotten out of the shower and dressed, they’d made their way down to South Beach. He had his postgame wrap-up with his mom. This time, getting Amber to come with him took zero effort. As soon as Amber had given herself over to the inevitability of being with him, Chantel embraced her wholeheartedly. She also secretly took credit for pushing Amber to admit to the depths of her feelings for Tank. Today, their brunch didn’t last long, and finally, Tank was leading Amber to the bar to settle their bet. They ambled unhurriedly along Ocean Drive, checking out the sights.

  “Breakfast was nice,” Amber said randomly.

  Tank smiled. “It was.”

  At one of their breakfast dates midway through the season, Tank had left Amber and Chantel to go to the restroom.

  He was walking back through the restaurant, coming up on their booth, when he heard Chantel say to Amber, “All I had to do was dangle the Madison carrot in front of you, and you folded like a house of cards.”

  Of course, Amber argued her side.

  She and Chantel didn’t always agree, but they trusted each other enough to actually argue their points. Since he had to work to win any fight with either of them, he often enjoyed being a spectator to their bouts.

  Amber and Chantel’s relationship had been the easiest to navigate over the last couple of months. Amber still hadn’t called a truce with Franco. But slowly, Tank could detect the easing of her anger and betrayal. Like last night, after their Super Bowl victory. When the families joined the team, Amber walked out with Molly, helping her manage the As. Tank watched as Amber took Alexis to Franco.

  She deposited Alexis in Franco’s arms before leaning in and kissing him on his cheek. Some whispered words in Franco’s ear brought a glow to his eyes.

  Tank had hoped Amber would have come to some peace with everything by now, but she just couldn’t seem to put it behind her. Last night had been a step forward. It had taken her three years to forgive Tank, and he wasn’t sure Franco could handle much more.

  And Tank had plans. He needed Amber to move on, so the two of them could embrace the future.

  But he understood the need to hold a grudge. He hadn’t gotten around to talking to Steele yet either. Not that Steele was handing out apologies. But it still hurt. And not having Steele in his life anymore hurt, too. Especially for big things, like Super Bowl wins and for what he had planned for today.

  “You okay over there?” Amber asked.

  He squeezed her hand. “Yeah, just taking it all in.”

  She studied him. “There’s a lot to take in, isn’t there?” she commented, a glint in her eye that he recognized.

  He smiled. He released her hand and slung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. He kissed her on the top of her head and towed her with him as he ducked into the bar. He made his way to the booth he’d reserved. When she sat, he took the seat across from her.

  “You got it?” he asked.

  “Of course.” She smirked as she reached into the little purse slung across her chest. Grabbing her wallet, she rifled through until she pulled out the napkin they’d written on almost a year ago.

  “Hand it over,” he said.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Why do you get to unveil?”

  “MVP. I’m pulling rank.”

  She considered him.

  “Fine!” she said as she pushed the napkin across the table.

  He picked it up and sent her a wicked grin. Carefully unfolding it, he placed his side down.

  He read what was written in her elegant handwriting.

  Predictions

  AFC Champs: Atlanta

  NFC Champs: Arizona

  Super Bowl Champs: Atlanta

  MVP: Tank Howard ♥

  With all her smack-talk over the last few weeks, he shouldn’t have been surprised that she’d predicted everything. But her belief in him was overwhelming. He kept his gaze fixed on the napkin in front of him, needing a moment to collect himself. She dazzled him on a regular basis, but this…

  He cleared his throat. “What’s with the heart?” he asked, his eyes still fixed on it.

  Her fingers slid comfortingly along the length of his, and he looked up to find her gaze locked on him. She didn’t answer him.

  “The heart?” he asked again.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe even then I knew I loved you,” she said softly, like a caress.

  He smiled before he pushed the napkin to her. “Flip it over.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “There’s no way you predicted this. You would never have picked Arizona.”

  “Flip it over, Sunshine,” he ordered again.

  She rolled her eyes and flipped the napkin over. Then, she froze. Her other hand, the one not already held in Tank’s, reached over and traced the letters, but she didn’t look up.

  Tank got a little impatient, and his nerves amped up. But he stayed silent and waited for some reaction.

  A tear hit the table, and he couldn’t wait any longer. He released her hand, stood up, and moved to the other side of the table. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap.

  “Hey,” he said tenderly as he tilted her chin up. “You’re killing me here.”

  She buried her face in his neck. “That was almost a year ago,” she muttered.

  His nerves were stretched tight, but he managed a short laugh. “Yeah, well, if I’d had my choice, this would have already happened.”

  She giggled once, and the vise gripping his gut began to loosen.

  “Seriously, Sunshine,” he murmured against her hair.

  She picked her head up, her brown eyes luminous with unshed tears. Her hands came up and cradled his jaw.

  “I love you,” she breathed before she pressed her lips against his for a brief kiss.

  “Okay,” he said, uncertainty clouding his voice.

  “And, of course, I’ll marry you.”

  His hands came up to mirror hers, and he dropped his forehead to hers. “I love you,” he said.

  Their mouths met then, a promise of forever sealed with a slow, deep kiss. When they surfaced, he moved her off of his lap. He stood up from the booth, digging in his pocket. When he retrieved the ring, he dropped to his knee on the outside of the booth.

  Amber’s smile dominated her face. She swung her legs to the side of the booth and reached out, so her hands were draped around his nape, her fingers meeting in the back of his neck.

  “I talked to Franco a while back,” he said. He hated the shadow that dimmed the light in her eyes, but she needed to know about the ring. “He gave me your mom’s ring. It was a simple gold ring with a small diamond in the middle and two rubies on the sides. I thought about using pieces of it but figured you should be able to decide what to do with it. Instead, I just used the same design but bigger and platinum and onyx. It’s more you.”

  He slid the ring onto her finger, and she dived into him. He stood, a little unsteady, both physically and emotionally, and held her.

  “Is it a done deal yet, Sunny?” Iman said from a seat at the bar.

  Tank smiled as she pulled back and looked at him. “I asked our friends to stay to help us celebrate,” he said a little sheepishly.

  Tilly, Keira, Iman, Hawk, and Nicky stood up from the bar. They all surrounded them, offering up their congratulations.

  Keira hugged her close. “Hey, don’t forget this,” she said as she reached out for the napkin. “So damn cool,” she said, studying it.

  Predictions

  Marry me?

  “I’ll take that,” Amber said, picking it up and gently folding it. “Have to frame this as soon as we get home.”

  “Round of drinks
,” Iman said.

  They all started in the direction of the bar.

  Amber’s hand stayed Tank. “I need to make a phone call,” she said.

  “Of course,” he responded, a little confused.

  “Do you think they have Wi-Fi here?” she asked.

  His eyes narrowed. “Pretty sure. Why?”

  “I want to FaceTime.”

  “Okay. Who’re ya calling?” he asked finally since she didn’t seem to want to offer anything up.

  “I want to call Franco.”

  He pulled her close and dropped a kiss on her head. “Good. Want me to wait?”

  “Yeah.” She took a deep breath and reached for his hand. Placing it on her still flat belly, she said, “I want us to see his face when we tell him he’s going to be a grandfather.”

  It took Tank a second. “A what?”

  The End

  Statistics on the rate of reporting sexual assault.1

  RAINN, 2015, The Criminal Justice System: Statistics, RAINN, https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system

  * * *

  1 Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2010-2014 (2015); ii. Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Incident-Based Reporting System, 2012-2014 (2015); iii. Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Incident-Based Reporting System, 2012-2014 (2015); iv. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2009 (2013). (This statistic presents information together, which originated from separate studies. RAINN presents this data for educational purposes only, and strongly recommends using the citations to review any and all sources for more information and detail.)

  During Tank’s explanation to Amber, he mentions a group, TeamUP. Although TeamUP is fiction, it is based on the National Consortium for Academics and Sport’s program Huddle Up. The outreach of this group is both groundbreaking and relevant.

  THE POWER OF THE HUDDLE

  Huddle Up leverages the transcendent power of sport to eradicate gender violence, in all of its forms, and the sexism underpinning this abuse. In sport, the huddle is a powerful symbol of togetherness, a place where many become one. In the huddle, teammates convene to reinforce their union, challenge & support one another, and communicate strategy. In the huddle, teammates forget past set-backs, galvanize conviction, and always have a unified front against the opponent. Huddle Up harnesses that power by challenging, educating, and empowering participants to be “all-in” to defeat our opponent—sexist abuse.

  Huddle Up addresses the full continuum of abusive behaviors and empowers participants to understand how misogynistic language, sexual harassment, gendered bullying, sexual assault, rape and domestic violence are linked together. This understanding inspires participants to have the courage to challenge behaviors on all levels of the continuum.

  J. Santiago is a graduate of Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania. She gets her love of sports from her fifteen-year career in the field and a houseful of boys who love to play. A former English and history teacher, she understands and embraces the power of stories in our lives.

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