“I know, dude,” I shot back. “Just trust me on this. They push out all their effort on the first tackle but they don’t have anyone leaning back. We can zigzag around that opening once we get the ball behind them.”
“Well, here’s hoping, dude,” Rory relented and we all clasped hands for one last play.
It was a good thing they all trusted me on this, no matter how ridiculous the idea was. I then turned my attention to the big screen – the cameras weren’t focused on Emilia and Jeremy anymore. I looked at the crowd but I didn’t have an idea where they were.
“Well, this one is for you… son,” I whispered as I got ready and positioned myself on the field.
In an instant, the world shifted. Everything seemed quiet as my mind cleared out all the noise and I focused solely on the task at hand. Then the whistle blew and I dashed back, preparing to throw the ball at my left flank runner.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a tackler rushing towards me. He was going to try and stop me dead in my tracks but I quickly twirled and made a mad dash to the left, defying all of their expectations – they thought I was going to throw.
Instead, I made a dash a good twenty yards and then passed the ball all the way to the right to Rory. He caught it with only one tackler trying to jump in and intercept the ball. Rory landed, dashed and was met with two opponents. He barreled through them and at the very
last moment he tossed the ball back to our left flank runner.
We scored a touchdown. The crowd went wild. With the next kick we were now way ahead of our opponent. Even if we were to cut some slack now to recuperate from the replacements and injuries we would still win the game.
Even the opposing team knew. They did their best but even then we wouldn’t just let them take over. We focused entirely now on our defense and they couldn’t even score a single touchdown after. The remaining twenty-five minutes of the game was a sore sight for them to go through.
By the time everything was over we still had a big lead.
“Hey, I bet you’re going to be named MVP of the game,” Rory told me as soon as we hit the benches to relax.
I shrugged, “If I do, can you do me the honors and get the certificate and trophy for me? I got somewhere I need to be, man.”
He looked back at me with confusion, “Dude, we just won the best exhibition match in a century and you’re going to leave early?”
“My son is here,” I told him. “Hey, I promise man, I’ll make it up to you in the next season. We’re teammates if the trade-off goes out well.”
Rory nodded, “My contract with my team ends so yeah, I’ll likely move to your team. Well, I’ll see you on the flight home – unless you’re going to go with your kid. It was a good game, man. I’ll be seeing you.”
I did have to make a longer excuse with my coach and the agents. The team president of Team USA had a long talk about me leaving Europe on my own. I didn’t tell them yet about Jeremy and Emilia but I assumed our talk would be even longer than this one. Boy was I in for a lot of heat.
I didn’t really care though. I ran out of that stadium as fast as I could and started going through the crowd, hoping I could spot Emilia and Jeremy. Thousands of people flooded out of the stadium now that the game was over but many more remained to watch the celebrations and other festivities.
“Hey,” a familiar voice then called out from behind.
I turned around and saw them both looking at me. They were just ten feet away, standing next to a popcorn stall.
“H-how’d you two find me?” I asked blankly.
“We saw you leave the stadium on the big screen,” Emilia answered.
“You were so good!” Jeremy then exclaimed and the sound of his praise made me smile.
I picked him up, held him close to me and then turned to Emilia, “Emie, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything – for acting like a dick, for not realizing what you guys mean to me… I’m sorry!”
She cupped my face and gave me a warm, sweet kiss on the lips, “Damon, I love you.”
“I love you,” I told her back.
“Ew, you guys are disgusting,” Jeremy cut in and he stuck his tongue out jokingly. We all laughed and I rubbed my nose against his chest.
“Hey, how ‘bout we all go back to the hotel? Let me introduce you to all my teammates and get some autographs,” I suggested.
Jeremy raised an eyebrow, “What’s an autograph?”
“It’s when famous people sign something for you,” I answered. “You can then show it to all your friends as proof that you met that someone.”