The Game of Love: (BWWM Romance) (19 page)

They continued to swoon and gush over Olivia whose cries were replaced by curious, contemplative stares. Eventually, both Emma and Caroline had filtered out and on the phone, Austin heard the excited banter of his nieces and nephew as Arielle told him that she couldn’t wait to see Olivia when she visited the next day.

“It’s funny,” Sommer began, yawning. “I would have never thought that this would be us. At least, not us together. I’d just resigned myself to the fact that I’d go on to marry an accountant named Barry whose favorite pastime involved discussing his stamp collection.”

“Never,” Austin answered with a laugh. “But can you imagine what would have happened if I didn’t go back home this summer?”

“No, and I don’t want to think about it.”

He kissed her forehead. “You need to get some sleep, beautiful.”

She reached for his hand and their fingers twined together. Although she was tired, she wanted to feel his lips pressed against her skin for a little while longer.

“I will. In a minute.” She yawned again. “I want to stay up and talk to you a bit.”

He stroked a finger across her cheek. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

“But you might.”

Austin wanted to laugh. “And where would I go?”

“To the cafeteria,” she answered with a chuckle. “To get our parking validated.”

He brought her fingers up to his lips. “I dare them to ticket my car. I’d raise hell all over this hospital. Knock over food carts. Scribble on medical charts.”

S
ommer burst out laughing, and then cringed at the soreness she felt throughout her body.

“You need to rest,
Sommer. I’ll be here when you wake up.” He looked across at Olivia. “I can’t promise that she’ll be here, though. I still feel like I’m in a dream.”

She glanced across at their daughter. “Me too. Overall, I think we did
good.”

“Yeah, I think we did too.” He pressed another kiss against her forehead. “Sleep,
Sommer.”

She tilted her head and he pressed a kiss against her lips. Then, she settled into the bed and dozed while he took a few more moments to watch Olivia’s chest rise and fall as she slept. A nurse entered the room, saw him standing over her, and smiled.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

He looked over at
Sommer, and then back down at their sleeping daughter.

“Everything is perfect.”

Chapter Nine

“We didn’t come this far to go home empty-handed.”

Trent stood in the middle of the huddle and looked into the faces of their teammates. Most of them looked determined, but a few were nervous, which he understood. It was their first trip to the big game. Virtually, the entire world would be watching.

He was one of the few who’d already been, back in his second year when he’d played in Arizona, so the adrenaline was familiar. The rush was welcomed. The only difference was, this time, he’d be going home with a ring.

He looked towards Austin who, as usual, was focused.

“Fourteen and two, best record in the league and in franchise history,” he continued. “Three players lost to injury. Personal struggles,” his eyes flicked over to Cason who’d lost both parents in a car accident that year, designating him sole caregiver of his seventeen-year old sister, “
…and tribulations. People saying that we weren’t going to make it…”

His gaze bore into the offensive line.

“What’s O-line’s job today?”

“Keep our QB’s jersey looking like he just came from soaking it in some Tide detergent,” came Tank’s southern drawl.

The men chuckled.

“Damn straight,” Trent added. “We plan to use the hell out of that rifle tonight.”

Austin “Rifle” Riley was the nickname the media had given Austin after he’d barreled a forty-yard pass to Cason for a game-winning touchdown in overtime against Washington.

“We’re going up against one of the greatest teams in the league,” Trent went on. “They didn’t get here by chance
; they got here by skill. We know that we have the talent and we know that we have the determination, which is what separates us from the teams that didn’t make it. What separates us from the team that did, the team that’s out there waiting for us right now, is our heart. Our drive. No one got us here but ourselves. We won as a team, we lost as a team. We busted our asses in practice to get better, and we rallied around our brother when his world flipped inside out. We’ve grown and we’ve changed. This game is the pinnacle. This game is the top. It’s the peak of Mount Everest and I can see the summit.”

His eyes traveled around the circle.

“Everything that you have, everything that you can possibly give, you go out there and give it. Today, the only number that matters, is one-hundred.”

When the huddle broke, the men made their way out of the tunnel and were greeted by raucous cheer. Austin looked up into the massive crowd as people waved signs cheering on the team
, as well as signs designed specifically for him. The outpouring of support left him with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude.

When he finally reached the sideline, his mind went to
Sommer. A few days after Olivia’s birth, Arielle, his nieces, and his nephew had flown back to Yearwood. Caroline had followed, and though Sommer had pleaded for her mother to stay a while longer, Caroline had reminded her daughter that she had to go back to run the café and oversee the hiring process of the person that would take Sommer’s position. After she was done with that, she’d hand business operations over to Reese and fly out to spend a couple of months with her daughter and grandbaby. Emma had made the decision to stay for a few weeks to help him and Sommer transition into parenthood.

Austin’s first five weeks as a father
had been magical. He learned about all the things babies did that he hadn’t even known existed, Trent knowingly laughing at him along the way. He even learned that it was possible to find the straining face Olivia made when she was soiling her diaper absolutely adorable. His new role had even transferred over to the field since he wasn’t just playing for himself anymore. Realizing that had made him more focused, poised, and confident.

Once Dallas’ spot in the final game was secured, he’d made arrangements for his mother,
Sommer, and Olivia to fly out to Glendale to be with him on that day. Sommer had been hesitant since she was still comfortable being in the shadows, but this was the woman that he’d planned to ask to marry him if Dallas won the game. He didn’t want to hide her any longer as if he was ashamed of the woman he loved, and the beautiful little girl they made together.

That morning, he assumed that he’d risen first since excitement had kept him restless for most of the night, but he found
Sommer sitting on the balcony looking out towards the stadium. He moved to the doorway and, sensing his presence, Sommer had suddenly said, “You’ve got this, Riley,” before turning around to look at him.

“I’ve got this?”
he asked.

“Under control,” she
finished. “Pittsburgh doesn’t know who they’re messing with. My Austin Riley. My baby. I have nothing but faith in you, and I’m so proud of the work that you’ve put in not only to be a great player, but also an excellent father.”

The compliment had made him grin as sheepishly as a sixteen-year old boy. “Thank you, beautiful,” he replied. “I love you. I love you so much.”

Leaning down, he kissed her delectable, soft mouth. This was a woman that he was never going to let run away from him and that night, he was going to make sure that the world got the opportunity to meet his little Olivia, and the future Mrs. Austin Riley.

“It’s heads. Dallas will receive,” the referee said after Trent made the call. Austin slipped on his helmet, adjusted the chin strap, and looked over at Cason. Cason winked, and after Dallas’ twenty-yard return, the offense took the field.

*****

Sommer
, shaking all the way down to her fingertips, was thankful that it had been Emma holding Olivia. Although she’d initially been concerned that the noise and crowd would be too much for Olivia to take, the little girl had loved it. From above in the luxury box, she’d studied the field, the people around them, and had even cried briefly when Cason’s fiancé, Amelia, had to hand her back to Emma to go grab a bite.

The game had been intense and tied virtually every step of the way. Now, there were seven seconds left on the clock and Dallas was down by four points. It was fourth down and long at the goal line, and though Austin appeared collected as the coach relayed the final play to him,
Sommer knew that his heart was pounding in his ears. If he didn’t make a touchdown on this last drive, that was it. Pittsburgh would get the title.

Sommer’s
phone vibrated in her pocket and startled her out of her seat. Seeing her uncle’s name across the screen, she eased into the slightly quieter hallway, but kept an eye on the field.

“Uncle Reese?”

“Hi baby girl.” From the tone of his voice, she immediately knew that something was wrong.

Walking down the hallway, she
ducked into an alcove. “Uncle Reese, what is it?”

He didn’t respond.

“Reese Williams…”

“How soon can you get home?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“It’s your mother,
Sommer.”

When the crowd roared,
Sommer looked up just in time to see Austin and Cason connect for a touchdown in the end zone.

*****

The moment the clock went to zero, Austin looked up at the scoreboard to make sure he truly understood what was going on around him. With only seven seconds to go, he and Cason had pulled off nothing short of a miracle play that had put Dallas on top. They’d won. They’d really won.

He nearly fell over as players crushed into his back, squeezing him into the air. It was the first time in his life
that he’d seen so many grown men in tears, but they’d fought hard to get where they were. It was an overwhelming feeling to see that their hard work had ultimately paid off.

Cason was in the middle of the field on one knee with his forehead against the back of his palm, the coaching staff and the rest of the team surrounding him. In week six, when Cason’s parents were killed, he’d as
sumed that he’d lost everything. But the team had rallied around him. He’d fought for himself and his sister, and Amelia had been his rock.

Austin walked over, knelt with him, and soon the crowd also lulled to give Cason his moment of silence. After a couple of minutes,
he raised his head to the sky and he recited a silent prayer before standing. He received congratulatory hugs and pats from the team, and then smiled at someone standing behind Austin. Amelia pushed her way through the crowd and rushed into his arms.

Austin turned around to find his mother standing there with Olivia, but
Sommer was nowhere to be found. He gently touched Amelia on the back of her arm.

“Where’s
Sommer?” he asked.

“We couldn’t find her,” she replied. “She got a phone call, stepped out, and when I went to get her so she could come down with us, she’d just disappeared.”

A man came running up to Austin. “They’re naming you MVP, Riley. Did you want to do your special announcement before or after your speech?”

Austin scanned the sea of faces for the one he wanted to see the most. “We’ll do it after.”

A championship T-shirt was handed to him and he tossed it over his shoulder, lifted Olivia from his mother’s arms, and parted the crowed as he walked up to the podium to give the customary MVP speech. Looking around one last time, he hoped Sommer showed soon.

“Before I actually begin my speech,” he began, “I would like to introduce everyone to a special lady in my life.”

A cameraman zoomed in on Olivia’s face.

“This is Olivia Camden Riley, my little princess.”

In the luxury box,
Sommer had lost track of time as she sank to the floor. Her uncle was still on the phone, but his words were coming through in short bursts: “metastasized,” “surgery,” “collapse.” Somewhere between the words, the dizziness, and the chaos swirling in her head that impeded any ability for coherent thought, the only thing she’d been able to make out was that her mother needed her.

“Olivia Camden Riley.”

Her head popped up when she heard Austin’s voice and there, on a flat screen TV, was their daughter’s little light-brown face.

“Austin, no,” she squeezed out. She raced back the luxury box and searched for Amelia and Emma, both who were nowhere to be found. Grabbing her purse, she dashed to the elevator. She loved Austin with every fiber of her being, so she completely understood why he continuously fought her on the issue of keeping their relationship a secret.
But there was still something bigger that Sommer was concerned about. Something she was pretty sure that neither she nor Olivia would be able to handle.