Page 72 of Platinum Pressure

They stepped to the line. My eyes were hyper-focused on his every movement. Every time he ran through a play, my gaze never left his frame. I could tell he was in his head, even though he had played a lot in the playoffs. He was a valuable player to secure the championship game.

“He’s in his head,” Papa P commented as he shook his head.

“You see it too, huh?”

Papa P nodded. “He’s hesitating.”

“He is. I’m about to call Seddrick to talk to him.”

I stepped out of the suite and pulled out my phone. I called Seddrick twice before he finally answered.

“What’s up, sis?”

“You see, he’s hesitating. Do I need to come down there?”

“He ain’t gon’ listen to me, so you might as well. I’ll send an escort if you want me to.”

“Nope. I know how to get down there to the field, and I have my pass for security. Don’t tell him I’m on the way down there either.”

Seddrick chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”

The call ended.

When I returned to the suite, I let everyone know where I planned to go.

“I’m going to go tell Porter to get out of his head. If we can see it, the other team can too.”

“Thank you, daughter in love.” Mama Lottie gave me a bright smile.

Porter’s parents were literally a second set of parental figures to me. They welcomed me with open arms and gave me the same level of care they showed Porter. It was so heartwarming to see all four grandparents be the village we needed the first month of Malachi’s life.

I kissed Malachi on his forehead, gave his chest a good sniff, and headed out. If I hadn’t closed the ring to prepare for tonight, my exercise ring on the fitness app would have closed during the trek to the field.

On the journey to my man, I thought about everything leading up to tonight.

In the last year, I received so many unimaginable blessings. I began as an overworked physical therapist and nurse with a long client list that kept my days busy. Answering one phone call at the end of the shift changed my life forever.

When I met Porter, he was an asshole celebrity with unrealistic expectations about his recovery. He was fire, and I was gasoline. We weren’t supposed to mix, yet we fed each other the perfect amount of care and attention until we couldn’t fight the attraction anymore. A year with this man and I’d gotten pregnant, opened my dream practice, and expanded my family in more ways than one.

Malachi was born on December 3rd at six in the morning. He was eleven pounds and five ounces and came vaginally with no tearing. He was a carbon copy of his father, which I loved so much. Malachi had doe-like eyes like me, though. He was already so expressive at just two months old. He was our world.

Motherhood was beautiful. The moment I laid my eyes on the chubby creation made through love, I knew I was exactly where I wanted to be. There were so many hard times, but seeing Malachi’s gummy little smile always made it worth it. Plus, the sight of Porter’s large build compared to Malachi’s tiny little body always made my heart dance. I planned to give him a couple more kids in the future.

The roar of the crowd became increasingly louder as I showed my pass to security and walked out onto the field. I made my way over to where the Silverbacks were. A few of them spoke to me, but everyone’s main concern was the game.

When I saw Porter pacing, I closed the distance between us.

“Do you want to win?” I asked.

His whole body turned to me. “Dow, what are you doing down here? Where’s Chi?”

“He’s fine with the grandparents. Right now, I’m here because you’re supposed to be the best defensive tackle in the league. What’s going on with you?” I explained.

“I don’t know, Dow. I can’t get out of my head. I feel like I came all this way to lose it all.”

“We didn’t work our asses off to get you to this point to fail. You didn’t give the game a thousand percent of your heart to come all this way to fail. You are Platinum mothafuckin’ Jones, and you’re about to show all these haters who the fuck you are. Do you hear me?”

“Yeah, but⁠—”