Page 93 of Undeniable Love
“Yeah, but…I’ve got money on it. The tile guy on the house I’m redoing was talking shit about the Warriors. He’s from up north, so he’s clearly a Jets fan. I just want to catch at least some of it, but if it’s gonna be weird…”
“No, it’s okay,” Lucy assured. “Before you guys got here, I was kind of contemplating it myself, so…”
“Excellent!”
And that’s how they ended up sitting and watching the entire game. Her heart ached whenever the camera zoomed in on Jax, and she wished she could reach out and touch him.
“Hey, um…Luce?” Gemma whispered sometime in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah?”
“I need to call Mike. He’s been texting and…I just need a few minutes' privacy. Would you mind if I went into your room and closed the door?”
Turning her head, she said, “Why would I mind? Of course you can. You don’t even have to ask.”
“I just didn’t want it to look weird. Thanks.” She got up and walked away just as Jax threw the pass that put the Warriors ahead by fourteen points and, with only a few minutes left on the clock, the win was almost guaranteed.
“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about!” Wyatt shouted. “I can’t wait to rub this in Jeremy’s face! Ha!”
“That’s just poor sportsmanship,” Ty mumbled.
“Dude, we’re not the ones playing. Just talking about it. It’s not the same.”
Rolling her eyes, Lucy contemplated grabbing a second cupcake. The game went to commercial and when it came back, there was less than two minutes of play left. In the background, you could see scores of fans leaving because their team lost, but she always felt it was important to stay until the end because anything could happen.
The clock ran out and the Warriors won; the sideline reporter was touting how this was one of Jax Wylder’s best games all season.
Lucy had to agree. He was magnificent the entire game.
When his face came on screen, he was smiling as the reporter waved him over, and she was desperate to hear his voice.
“What a game tonight, Jax! Congratulations!” the reporter was saying. “You seem completely rejuvenated. Can you tell us how you’re feeling? Is the shoulder finally healed?”
“Thank you, Brent, and thanks for asking!” he said breathlessly. Looking around, Jax was smiling at everyone around him and she knew there were a ton of distractions as the media took to the field for the post-game interviews. “The shoulder is doing great and it feels good to be confident in my arm again.”
“That’s definitely great news. Coming into this matchup tonight, did you have any worries about it? You’ve been back on the field for several weeks, but your playing tonight reminded me of your sophomore season with the Warriors. You were on fire!”
He grinned. “More than anything, I was motivated. It was important to get in here and win so we can get home!”
“Oh?” That clearly wasn’t what he was expecting Jax to say. “And that’s because…”
“Because when we get back to Kansas, I’m hoping my girl is going to be there waiting for me.” He looked right into the camera and winked. “There’s nothing like going home and having the person you love there waiting for you, and Lucy Dawson, I can’t wait to see your face.” The interview immediately went back to the game as if he hadn’t just dropped a huge bombshell.
“What the…how…who…?” Jumping to her feet, she was babbling and had no idea what she was supposed to do. “Oh my God! What do I do?” she demanded to no one in particular.
Gemma came strolling out of the bedroom with a suitcase at the same time her brothers got to their feet, with Ty handing her an envelope and Wyatt swinging his car keys.
“I don’t understand what’s happening right now…”
“Simon chartered a flight for you for tomorrow morning,” Ty began. “He didn’t want you to have to deal with finding a flight on your own or anything else.”
“I’m driving you to the airport,” Wyatt told her.
“And I already packed you a bag,” Gemma added. “You may want to add more, but…this was symbolic.”
“You guys all knew…? How?”
“I got a call from Jax on Friday,” Ty explained. “Noah and Simon had been hanging out with him and helped him see the flaw in his logic about the two of you. He called me because he wanted to make sure that we were fine—you know, since I’m his best friend and have been since we were five and he never talked to me about dating you.”