I was now looking up at Ro who looked very confused. I sat my helmet on the ground and asked for the microphone. Gerald, who was smiling widely handed it to me gladly.
Ro’s eyes were wet with tears as she began to see what was coming. This was all working out so spontaneously, and so perfect. I couldn’t believe it.
“Ro Ranier, you have made me the happiest man in the world since the day I met you. Would you continue to do me that honor and become my wife?”
Ro was sobbing now with emotion. She could barely even respond. “Of course!”
I put the ring on her finger, scooped her up and kissed her. The crowd erupted in applause. It was the most remarkable moment of my life by far. Even more remarkable than the pro NFL contract I signed with the Arizona Cardinals two weeks later.
We finished out the last moments of the game by keeping Ohio State from scoring. We were on our way to the bowl game and I was on my way to being a married man. The happiest married man in the world. I was sure of it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ro
“That has to be the one!” Allison squealed. She was dancing around and being the giddiest I had ever seen her. Of course she was going to be my maid of honor and since she’d found out, she had become obsessed about every single facet of the wedding. It was fast approaching in six weeks. I couldn’t wait. I was so excited.
We were trying on wedding dresses. This was the day that I’d been looking the most forward to, finding that perfect dress. We went to one of the bigger bridal chains to find the best one. Allison, Amber, and Rose all came with me. They were such good friends of mine. Amber and Rose actually went to college at Michigan State, but we’d been great friends since high school. They were so pumped to be part of the wedding as bridesmaids.
I had to agree that the dress I was wearing was pretty spectacular. It was elegant, but sexy, and it wasn’t old or stuffy looking. It looked so modern. I loved it. The price was even right.
Allison was running around like a mad woman, mostly because of the champagne she’d drank since we’d been there trying on dresses. This was the sixth dress I tried on. I was getting tired. But this was it. I hoped that Bobby liked it. He’d been so excited ever since the proposal. Everything was just happening so fast. We hardly had time to blink.
The season ended, Indiana went to the bowl game and they won fairly easily. It was tough game the first half, but then Bobby really shined in the second half and brought the game to another level. It was so spectacular to see him play. I loved watching him. It turned me on and made me proud. Just like I was going to be proud to be his wife.
Since the day of the proposal Bobby had been awarded the NFL contract that he wanted. I was going to go to a cheerleader tryout soon as well. After the wedding was when I intend to do that. With planning all of this out, I just didn’t want too much on my plate. I never realized how hard planning a wedding would actually be. But every day a new piece of the puzzle was solved and we were one day closer to being married.
My family was thrilled. I’d finally told them about Bobby. It turned out they had already seen the sex tape online. They knew I was with Bobby. I was so humiliated when I found out, but my parents were fine with it. This was not my fault. This was a man I loved and was going to spend the rest of my life with.
And when I finally introduced Bobby to them, they all hit it off. They about drilled his skull in with a zillion questions, but it was fine. We had a nice dinner, my parents were both very kind and respectful to Bobby. I could tell that they liked him right away.
That was important to me. I’d always worried that my parents would not like the man that I brought home, the one I wanted to be with forever. It was a sticking point with me. I’d never brought any of my other boyfriends home to meet them. To me, there was a big level of permanence with such a thing. It was like introducing them to become part of the family. That was all I could think of when Bobby asked about meeting them. We weren’t engaged yet. We weren’t for sure going to get married yet.
But once it was officially happening, then I couldn’t wait for them to meet the most wonderful man I would ever know. I loved them so much. And they could see how much I loved him, how good we were together. Our love since we’d gotten engaged had only risen higher and higher. I could hardly stand to be away from him for more than a few minutes. I thought about him constantly, and when he wasn’t there, I felt like a big part of my life was missing. This was the way it should be, with the person who made your life totally complete.
After we finished dress shopping we all went out for a few burgers and beers. It had been a long time since I’d gone out with the girls for a fun evening like this. It felt good to bond with them. Allison had always clicked with them. That was also important for me, that my friends got along. The day she met them it was just like she’d gone to high school with us as well. We were a very strong unit, like a sisterhood.
“So, how do I get a football stud like yours. Is there a class I need to take? Do they have a bunch available at Indiana? How does that work?”
I laughed at Amber’s questions. She was the most loud spoken of the group. She was a laugh riot. Whatever was bothering you, she would usually say that beer and burger would fix it. She and Bobby were going to be great friends, I could feel it. The two could have been like brother and sister, they were so similar.
“I just got lucky, I guess.”
They gave me a rolled eye response. I could see how much they wanted my life, my love, the type of man that I had. It was pretty enviable and I would have envied it as well if I was them. I used to envy these types of things too. I never realized it before, in fact I used to think that I never wanted that until I was much older, but when I met the perfect man it all just clicked for me. I couldn’t imagine being any happier.
“So, what happened to those people who did all that to you?” Rose asked.
I sighed. “Well, Keith went to prison. He got five years. And he ratted out his girlfriend Dawn about some of the things she did, and she is getting two years. I couldn’t believe that she was convicted, but they had some hard evidence. Apparently, Keith kept some things to blackmail her. That was some relationship those two had.”
The table erupted in laughter. I was glad that Keith and Dawn had what was coming to them, but I did not wish hate or bad will on anyone. It was not my nature. In fact, I still felt guilty about imagining some bad things happening to them. It wasn’t my nature to wish ill on people. I wasn’t sure why I felt so guilty when they had done so many awful things to me. I should have been happy, but I wasn’t. I felt…sorry for them.
“That’s crazy,” Amber said. “But good riddance to them. They had it coming.”
Rose took a big drink of beer. Then she smiled. “I loved the way that you and Bobby were on television. You two look so happy together. It was the most romantic thing that I have ever seen. Are you sure you guys didn’t plan that somehow?”
I smiled and winked at her. “I might have… but no. I am not that creative. What Bobby said to me was that he had the ring in his bag and he had planned on taking me out to dinner afterwards and he was going to pop the question. But when Gerald did that epic gesture, which was so great, Bobby decided that this was the perfect time. So he told Jacob to get his ring out of the bag and he just popped the question right then and there.”
All of the girls went into an “Awwww” moment. It was hilarious. They were adorable. I loved being with them so much. I missed my friends being close to me. I could have used their help so much during this time. They would have been in my corner, which they were doing the best they could from afar, but I’d been so upset and embarrassed by so much that was happening to me that I could not tell really confide in them. It turned out they knew already. They somehow heard about it and when I asked them why they didn’t reach out to me, they said they felt it would humiliate me more and that if I wanted to reach out to them, then I would. They knew me so well.
We finished hanging
out and finished off our beers. After that I went home with Allison to the apartment that we shared. But it wouldn’t be much longer. I would miss living with her, but I knew that I was moving on to a much bigger, happier world with my husband.
Epilogue
Ro
Six Months Later
Bobby popped the cork on the champagne bottle. The bubbly flew up in the air, spilling out of the bottle looking like liquid gold I could hardly wait to consume. I watched as it flowed over Bobby’s thick hand as he walked towards me. I was sitting in the middle of our dining room in our suite at the Canoen Luxury Resort in the Virgin Islands. I’d always dreamt about vacationing here. It had been a lifelong dream of mine and when it came time for a honeymoon destination, this was the best place that we both agreed on. Actually, Bobby didn’t really care. He was just happy being with me and calling me his wife. It was so sweet the way he felt about things. He had this hard exterior, but he was actually full of sweetness and romance.
He poured my glass full and then filled up his own. It was our second day in the islands. The place was magical. It was like going to another world. It was a place to leave all of the stress and strain in our lives strictly behind. We were two newlyweds vacationing in a lavish resort in an island paradise.
I couldn’t believe that we were going to be able to actually spend like this from now on. I’d never really cared about money, but not having to worry about every penny was nice. Not to mention that fun things like this were often a bit on the expensive side. But with Bobby’s sign on bonus, we were able to start living pretty well.
He was so excited. He was going to start training camp in two weeks. This would be one of the last times we had to spend together on any trips until after the season was over. The pre-season was already heating up and Bobby was so excited. Everything that he’d ever wanted, all of his dreams had come true. I’d never seen him happier.
And that made me happy. Soon, I’d be heading off to try out for the cheerleading squad at Arizona. If we were on the same team, life would be so much easier. Otherwise, we would not see each other that much for half of the year.
At least that was the plan. There was something else that I hadn’t told Bobby yet. It was probably going to mess up my opportunity to try out for the cheerleading squad at Arizona. But it was so much bigger. And I had a feeling that Bobby was going to be thrilled with the news.
“To us,” Bobby said. “To our long and fruitful marriage.”
I touched my glass to Bobby’s. “To us,” I said.
“I just have to reiterate how amazing you looked walking down the aisle. I thought every man in that room was going to have a heart attack.”
I laughed as I shoved some of the fresh salad into my mouth. “I think you might be exaggerating, but thank you.”
“Not exaggerating at all, honey. I will never forget the way you looked as you strode down the aisle towards me, locking eyes with me, your dad looking so proud of his beautiful daughter. I hope that one day I get to walk our daughter down the aisle like that. Of course, she will probably end up marrying some loser I don’t approve of.”
Bobby chuckled at his joke. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to segue into what I was about to tell him.
“Speaking of daughters… what if we end up having a son instead? Or all boys?” I asked.
“Well, then I guess I’ll see him marry someone who is only half as great as his dear mother.”
I laughed. “You are too sweet. By the way, did you notice that I haven’t touched the champagne?”
Bobby glanced over at my glass. The glass was still full.
He frowned and looked at me. “Yeah… are you ok? Is there something wrong with the champagne? I think it tastes great.”
I laughed. He was not great at picking up subtle clues sometimes.
“No, there is nothing wrong with it. I’m sure it is fine. But there is something different about me.”
Bobby looked at me curiously as if he was trying to decide if I had a new hairstyle or something. There was something different about me that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Like I was glowing for some reason. I might have been, but it was probably not for the reason that he thought.
I couldn’t wait for this man to become a father. If we did have a girl she was going to have him wrapped around her finger so tightly. I was going to have to poke him with a stick when he was being taken advantage of. But if we had sons and they had one half as much charm as their old man did, then they were going to have me believing every weird thing that they did. I thought we would even each other out that way.
“Bobby, I went to the doctor last week.”
Bobby’s eyes went wide. He grew very concerned. “Is everything ok?”
I smiled. “Yes. Everything is wonderful. I’m pregnant.”
He didn’t speak. His eyes went wide and I saw tears in his eyes forming. Wow… he was really crying. The man was overcome with emotion. He was so happy, so shocked. I wanted to hold him and console him, but first I needed him to understand fully what I had just said and what this meant for our lives moving forward.
“You’re pregnant?” Bobby asked. “Really?”
I laughed. “Yes. Really. We are going to have a baby.”
Bobby got up from his chair and came over to me. He kissed me softly on the lips and held me closely. “I love you.”
“I love you, more,” I said.
“Not possible,” he replied. “Not possible. I can’t believe this.”
He gestured towards my stomach. He was so overcome with glee and happiness. I wanted to always remember this response, this look on his face. It was the way I thought it might be, but better. It was even greater than I’d expected.
When the doctor told me I had about the same response. I cried at first, then I went to laughter, then I went to worry. Then finally, I went to acceptance. This was happening to us. We were going to be parents.
“But what about cheerleading?” Bobby asked. “That’s your dream.”
I smiled. “I’ll put that on hold for a while. Becoming a mother is a much bigger dream. This is what I have always wanted. The perfect man, the perfect family—it is all coming true.”
“You will do cheerleading, too, right. I don’t want you to ever give up on that.”
I shrugged. “It will be there for a while. But if it doesn’t happen, then I will know it’s not meant to be. I am not the least bit concerned. I am very happy.”
Bobby smiled and held me closely to him. He kissed me. Then he held his forehead against mine, the two of us caressing and holding each other.
“I have so many plans for the baby,” Bobby said. “We have to get a nursery together. We have to shop for clothes. But first we have to see a sonogram. When does that happen? How far along are you?”
I laughed. “Wow, those are a lot of questions. All the answers will be revealed in time. But I am eight weeks.”
“Wow… that’s astonishing. I… I can hardly believe it. We have to tell my family. Or should we tell your family first? What do you think? Are we going to put it on social media? Are we going public with it now? I guess I am going to be a real public figure, right?”
I shook my head. Wow, this man was really going to town with this news wasn’t he? It was adorable. And it was only going to grow greater.
“How come you waited so long to tell me?” Bobby asked.
“I wanted it to be a special time. It’s very special news, so I figured some presentation was worthwhile. That’s why I suggested we do this very romantic, private dinner here in the room.”
“Ah, you are so crafty,” Bobby said. “That is another reason I love you so much.”
“I love you way more,” I said.
“No way.”
“Of course.”
“How do you figure?”
“It’s just the way it is,” I said.
We kissed hard then. I had a feeling the evening was going to end up between the sheets.
That night after we made love, I laid in bed thinking about everything and how much my life had changed. Everything had come together in a way I had never really fathomed, but it was even more perfect than I ever could have imagined.
I had never been happier. I had everything I ever wanted.
I hope you enjoyed reading The Touchdown. I have also included in the following pages an excerpt from my other bestseller HOTSHOT.
Excerpt
Am I crazy to think that this quarterback deserves my V-card?
Chance Atkins…
Sexy, tall, and charming.
Nothing turns me on like he does.
The way he moves on the field with his tight muscular body makes me blush.
He was stark naked when I met him for the first time.
I mean, who does that, right?
I still dream of wrapping my legs around his waist.
But now that his career is on the line…
I might be stupid to think that he feels the same way.
The universe has some cruel plans for us.
And he has a decision to make.
It’s either me…or his lifelong dream of playing for the NFL.
Well what’s it going to be?
Chapter 1
Jamie
Alright. This is it. You can do this. You have nothing to worry about. Just don’t blow it.
I rolled out of bed and walked over to the floor length mirror to check myself out. I was a bit tired having tossed and turned all night. I was just too amped up to sleep. Today was the day. My big break was coming. I’d worked so long and hard for this. It was my spot and I’d earned it.
After three years of busting my tail in the journalism department and becoming one of the top sports journalists in the school, I had finally been given the assignment of interviewing the top football players. This was it; I’d been waiting for this type of responsibility ever since I’d declared myself a journalism major during my first semester of freshman year.
The Touchdown Page 23