Page 194 of Just One More Thing

“Mo.”

“I’m going to die.”

“You’re not.”

“I might.”

Jake gently pulls my hands back down, one finger at a time.

But loving him out loud is not a humiliation.

Even if I do look like ass.

So I start laughing again.

He pulls me into him, arms wrapping tight around my back, and I bury my face against his chest plate, which is hard and smells like sweat and grass and is very uncomfortable.

I could not care less.

“This was in my chart!” Wayne yells.

“I hate that I know what that means,” Ryan says.

A coach appears behind Jake and claps him once on the shoulder. “Wheeler. Media.”

Jake turns just enough to acknowledge him, but his eyes stay on me. “Yes, sir.”

Then he takes my face in his hands again, thumbs brushing my cheeks.

“Don’t move.”

I catch his wrist before he can step back. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He goes still.

It’s only a few words, but I see the exact moment they get past everything steady and controlled in him and hit somewhere deeper.

“I promise,” I say quieter now. “I’m not leaving.”

For one second, he just looks at me. Then he leans in and kisses me once more before starting to jog backward toward the sideline.

Halfway there, he points at me and mouths,You love me.

I laugh and call after him, “I love you.”

I love Jake Wheeler.

Turns out it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever said.

CHAPTER 44

JAKE

“First game returning as the Buccaneers quarterback, you score the winning touchdown and then receive a declaration of love. You’ve had quite the day. Tell us how you’re feeling right now,” Elizabeth Baskins asks.

Ryan steps in from the side, takes my helmet right out of my hand, and replaces it with a black Buccaneers hat. He bumps my shoulder on the way past. Then slaps it once for good measure.

I put the hat on and glance over at Mo. She’s still there. Standing a few yards away despite being in the middle of all this noise, the flashing cameras and red jerseys.