by Maya Hughes
James had been promised an executive director position on the TV network that was filming Kate’s reality show. He’d promised them big ratings, which was where his whole plan with Kate came in. The last they had seen of Kate, she was doing department store catalogues in Asia. None of Aedan’s sponsors or anyone else that had anything to do with his team would have anything to do with a company that dealt with her. Jess didn’t feel sorry for her at all. She brought it all on herself when she started trying to manipulate other people’s lives.
Last Aedan had heard, James was somewhere in Micronesia trying to find sports clients down there. Once Aedan the Kate news hit the papers and James’s involvement was discovered he had been dropped by the sports management agency, who was bending over backward to make Aedan as happy as he could be. He was getting bigger percentages in all his contracts and could pick and choose from the best deals. James tried to get back into their good graces, tracking them down when they were out for dinner one night. But all he ended up with was a chipped tooth courtesy of Jess’s child sized bag of wonders.
The roar of the crowd brought Jess back to the present, Aedan had the ball now. He made his way past two defenders before passing it to Deano, who was in a much better scoring position. Aedan was always generous on the pitch and never a ball hog. He did what was best for the team, which made him an exceptional captain. Deano had the ball and took his shot.
Aedan watched as the ball he passed to Deano sailed through the air, right past the goal keeper’s gloved hands and into the back of the net. There was a moment of silence in his head, where his heart skipped a beat and the earth-shattering sound of the crowd made its way into his head. They’d won. His team had won the World Cup! The team were all running for Deano and piling into each other. Jerseys were being ripped off and whirled overhead as his team lost their collective minds.
Aedan stood there almost frozen as he searched the stands for her face, for Jess’s face. After everything they’d been through, this wasn’t just his victory or his team’s victory, this was their victory, and he was so happy she was there to share it with him. They held each other’s eyes for a second before some of his teammates picked him up and carried him into the huge huddle forming on the pitch. Everyone off the bench rushed the field and jumped together as one, hugging, screaming, and chest-bumping.
The weight of the Captain’s pin felt as light as a feather at that moment. All his hard work—all the hard work of every man on his team—made this moment and it was a bit surreal to believe it was happening. Looking to the stands again, Aedan found Jess in the pandemonium. Evelyn, Sam, and Meg had her crushed in their own celebratory huddle in the stands just above their bench. He was glad she’d decided to sit in the stands and not the team box. Being able to see her was another way that he could tell it was all real.
The blur of interviews, camera flashes, handshakes, hugs and dousing in what he imagined were champagne consumed the next two hours of Aedan’s life. They all stayed on the pitch surrounded by teammates and a swarm of sports photographers looking to document history. The stage was finally assembled and it was time for the awards ceremony.
Walking up on the stage lining up next to his teammates, Aedan found himself searching for his mum, brother, and Jess. His mom and brother had watched the game from the box, with his mum complaining about not being able to keep an eye on Patrick and keep him from getting sauced in the stands. He imagined they had made their way down by now.
Looking up into the stands as he and his team stood to receive their medals, Aedan didn’t even realize he was crying until the tears began rolling off his nose. His dad would have loved this. He would have been in the stands right next to Jess with a pint and a smile, cheering him on. Wiping the tears from his face, he kissed two fingers to his lips and held them up to the sky, “I hope I made you proud dad. I love you.”
Searching everyone on the pitch, awaiting the ceremony, he found Jess, with Steven right behind her. She had tears in her eyes as she mouthed, “I love you”. He mouthed it back and the fanfare began again. Each member of the team had a medal placed around his neck by the Singapore FIFA representative and Aedan was handed the trophy, which he held over his head as the roar in the stadium became deafening. Teammates crowded around and he passed the trophy off to Deano, “Great shot!” Deano beamed at him and held the trophy up for another round of cheers. Every member of his team was smiling so widely that he knew they would all have sore faces tomorrow. The confetti cannons went off and made the display even more festive.
He stared out once again into the sea of people on the pitch to see Jess and Evelyn jumping up and down with Steven standing next to her, remaining stoic as always, but there was a small smile on his lips. Aedan would be sure to rib him for his exuberant display later on.
His eyes fell again to the face of his angel; he loved that woman with all his heart. He already had the ring sitting in his locker, just waiting for the right moment to make it all official. He was going to make Jessica Montgomery his wife!
Afterword
Thank you so much for reading Passion on the Pitch, I hope that you enjoyed the journey we went on with Jess and Aedan. These two crazy kids may pop up to say ‘Hi’ in my future contemporary series, Breaking Free!
The first book from the Breaking Free Series, Blinded, will be available for pre-order on April 15th.
I truly appreciate your readership and feedback and look forward to bringing you even more stories throughout the year and beyond!
All the best,
Maya Hughes
mayahughes.com
About the Author
Maya Hughes is an emerging romance novel author. This is Maya’s first book and thank you for reading!
Be on the look out for her upcoming scifi romance, Her Forsaken Prince and contemporary series, Breaking Free.
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@mayahugheswrites
mayahughes.com
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