Laughing, I turn his face back to mine. “The candle thing sounds good though, and you know how I love a blanket fort. Let’s do that later.”

  Cam presses a kiss to my forehead and both of my cheeks before taking my mouth with his in one more long, slow kiss. “Anything for you. Always everything for you.”

  The cheers from the crowd and the sidelines filter into our little bubble of happiness and joy and we break apart, laughing as we both catch sight of Riley and Ethan at the same time, standing with the rest of the team, all of whom are watching us with one huge, collective grin.

  “My kids are down here?” he asks, pressing kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, wherever he can reach.

  I slide down his body until my feet are on the ground, laughing when he makes a disgruntled noise, pulling me close like any distance between us is unacceptable. “I got them from their seats. I thought my grand gesture should be a family affair.”

  Cam cups my face in his big hands, threading his fingers into my hair. “I love you so damn much. Be mine, Maddy.” He glances over at his kids and then back at me. “Be ours.”

  “Always,” I say quietly, pressing up to kiss him again, content right down to my toes. There’s nothing in the world that could ruin this moment.

  “Lowry, get your ass off the damn field!” Coach Campbell’s irritated voice cuts through our happy little bubble.

  Except maybe that.

  But Cam just laughs, kissing me again before his eyes travel behind me, amusement filling his eyes. “Look, baby, we’re on TV.”

  I glance up and then toss my head back and laugh. “I’ve always wanted to be a star.”

  He dips his head, his mouth close to my ear, warm breath ghosting over the sensitive skin. “You look so fucking good with my name on your back, Wildcat. I’d really like to see you wearing nothing but this jersey later on.”

  A shiver works its way down my spine as he kisses the spot below my ear because hot damn, me too. “That can definitely be arranged.”

  “I fucking love you,” he says, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. My most unexpected, happiest ending.”

  My heart swells as I cup his face in my hands. “I love you, too. And your kids. I want all of you to be mine.”

  He closes his eyes, taking a slow, deep breath. When he opens them, he looks at me like I’m the center of his entire universe. His only reason for being. “Baby, we already are.”

  “Off. The. Field.” Coach’s voice is low and a little dangerous. When we look at him, a vein is pulsing in his forehead, and his jaw is so tight I wonder if he’s cracking molars right now. Cam chuckles like he’s amused and wraps an arm around my waist, tugging me closer like he can’t stand any distance between us. “Right. Fucking. Now.”

  He spins around and stalks to the sidelines, and I snicker as we follow closely behind. “Sorry, Brookie. I was grand gesturing.”

  When we reach the sidelines, he turns back, narrowing his eyes at me. “I hate that fucking nickname. And your grand gesturing gave us a delay of game penalty and for sure there’s going to be a fine involved,” he says, pinning Cam with an exasperated look.

  Cam just shrugs, like nothing in the entire world could dampen his joy right now and seriously, same. “Worth it.”

  When I cackle, Coach casts his eyes to the sky, muttering something about football players being the literal death of him. “Get off my field.”

  Okay, well, that dampens my joy. And pisses me right off.

  “Hang on.” I drop my arm from around Cam’s waist and put my hands on my hips, leveling Brooks with a glare. “You can’t eject him from the game. It’s the AFC Championship. The team needs him.”

  Brooks rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t ejecting him from the game. I was giving you time to figure out whatever this is.” He waves a hand between us. “Why does everyone always assume I’m being mean?”

  Cam snorts. “Because usually you are.”

  A shadow passes over Brook’s face, but it disappears as quickly as it came. “Well, this time I’m not. Chase can keep playing,” he says, referring to Cam’s backup who he sent in for this set of downs. “This is important,” he says, looking between Cam and me, intensity all over his face.

  “No,” I say stubbornly, turning to Cam. “It’s the AFC Championship, Cameron. You’re playing. I’m not going anywhere. We’ll do us later. You need to do this now.”

  He smiles, sliding his palm up to cup the back of my neck, the possessive gesture making my stomach swoop. “You’ll stay?”

  I grin, kissing his nose even as my heart tugs at the vulnerability in his tone. I’ll spend the entire rest of my life making up for leaving him this week. “Just try to stop me.”

  “I love you,” he murmurs, cupping my face and kissing me again, and I want him to tell me a million more times because I will never, ever get tired of hearing it.

  We break apart as the music in the stadium pipes up, signaling the end of the half, and all the players make their way off the field.

  Cam smiles and kisses the top of my head. “Looks like we’ve got a little more time.”

  “Dad!”

  We both turn as Riley and Ethan saunter up, followed by Drew, Tyler, and Sophie.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, throwing my arms around Sophie.

  Sophie shrugs, beaming. “Tyler gave me an all-access pass at the beginning of the season. I wanted to see your grand gesture from the field. It was perfect, Mads. Rom-com level amazingness.”

  “Right?” Riley practically squeals, tossing her arms around me. “Peak romance, Maddy.”

  “Kind of gross,” Ethan says with a grimace, before breaking out into a smile. “But kind of cool too. And I like that Dad is smiling again. He was really insufferable without you.”

  I grin up at Cam. “Insufferable, huh?”

  Cam laughs, leaning down and kissing my head for the millionth time, like he can’t stop. I’m fine with it. “How do you know the word insufferable?”

  Ethan shrugs. “Heard it in a movie.”

  This time we all laugh, and Cam runs a hand over Ethan’s hair before tugging me closer. “He tells no lies. I was miserable without you. Nothing in my world was right without you there.”

  “I’m here,” I say, leaning against his shoulder, speaking to both Cam and his kids. “I’ll always be here. I promise. I love you,” I say, looking up at Cam. “And I love you both, too.” I look at Riley and Ethan, and their triplet grins make my heart pound as I tighten my arm around Cam. “You’re my family now. All of you.”

  “And you’re ours,” Cam murmurs, leaning his cheek on my head, and I am sure that no one has ever been this happy.

  “So what exactly are your intentions with our girl, Cameron?”

  When I look up at Sophie, her eyes are dancing with amusement, the grin on her face huge as she looks between Cam and me.

  I look up at Cam, his eyes catching mine, and in his face, I see love and family and home. I see chaotic mornings and lazy weekends and more kids for all of us to love. I see the brightest future and forever and everything I ever wanted. “To love her until the end of time.”

  Cam’s words have my eyes burning, tears pushing their way up my throat even as a grin spreads over my face. I press my forehead to his, our breaths mingling and our hearts beating out the same rhythm that sounds a lot like forever.

  “That sounds perfect to me,” I whisper, tightening my arms around his neck. “I think I would like to love you for that long too.” With our words hanging in the air, in front of our friends, our team, our kids, and sixty-eight thousand cheering fans, Cam leans down and kisses me.

  And nothing in the world has ever felt so right.

  EPILOGUE

  MADDY

  Two Weeks Later

  “Shit,” Cam whimpers, as he curls one hand into the jersey I’m wearing, dropping his other hand and tracing his thumb over the spot where we’re joined. He collects my arousal and uses it to circle my forbidden entrance, making electricity pulse up my spine. “If you keep doing that I’m not going to last long.”

  “That’s the idea,” I pant, twisting my hands into the rumpled sheets and squeezing around him again, reaching back to grip his thigh, rolling my hips to meet him stroke for stroke. “Let me feel it, Cam. Give it to me so I can watch you play tonight with your cum still inside me.”

  Cam groans, fingers digging into my hip and his thrusts speeding up until he’s driving into me in rough, demanding strokes that light my entire body up. “You have no idea what you do to me,” he grits out. “This perfect fucking cunt. This ass.” His hand leaves my hip, and a second later he brings it down on my ass with a loud crack, his hips never losing their rhythm as his thumb continues to stroke and circle and drive me fucking insane.

  “Cameron,” I moan, panting as I fall to my elbows, my entire body shaking as I start to unravel. “I need…” I have no idea what I need, and even if I did, I don’t think I could say the words. I’m too far gone, pleasure overwhelming my senses as my release barrels closer.

  “I know what you need,” he grunts, adding pressure with his thumb as every nerve ending in my body burns with the need for release. And when he spits on my hole, using it as lube to press his thumb deeper, breaching the tight ring of muscle, all the breath leaves my lungs, my eyes slamming shut as his thumb pushes the rest of the way inside.

  We’ve played around with this before, but he’s never been this deep, and I wonder if pleasure this intense is survivable.

  “Holy fuck,” Cam mutters, his hips never losing their punishing rhythm. “You look so good, baby. Taking me in both holes, my name on your back. I’m close, Wildcat. So fucking close.” Cam’s gasping words and his ragged breathing have my own pleasure soaring.

  “Please don’t stop,” I plead. “I’m right there. Fuck,” I bite out as he hammers into me.

  “I know,” he groans. “I can feel you clenching around my cock. Squeezing my thumb. Let go, Maddy. Give it to me.”

  Cam reaches around to stroke my clit with his free hand and twists his thumb inside me, hurling me straight into oblivion. My entire body shakes, Cam’s name falling from my lips on a broken moan as pleasure shatters me into a million pieces. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I’m all pleasure and sensation and unbridled bliss as I ride the wave of my orgasm.

  Cam’s thrusts grow jerky and uneven as he pulls his thumb out, gripping both of my hips, his fingers digging into my flesh as he hammers into me two more times before he’s curling his body over mine, a deep groan rumbling from his chest as his cock pulses inside me and he unleashes, sinking his teeth into my shoulder as he fills me up.

  When we’re both wrung dry, Cam wraps his arms around me and we collapse sideways, my back against his chest as he tucks me in close to his body, burying his face in my neck so we can float back to earth together. We stay like that for a few minutes, or maybe it’s a few hours. I have no idea because time has no meaning when Cam’s arms are around me, our breathing evening out and his heartbeat matching the cadence of mine.

  “Do you think that’ll counteract the bad juju you’ll get from sneaking into my hotel room on game day?” I ask, turning my head to press a kiss to his jaw.

  Cam laughs, tipping my chin back to capture my mouth in a longer, far more satisfying kiss. “There’s no way anything about today could be considered bad juju. I’m wrapped around my girl, and in eight hours I’m playing in the Super Bowl. This is the best day ever.”

  It is the best day ever. The past two weeks have been filled with best days ever.

  Fuck, I love him so much.

  The two weeks since the AFC Championship have been a dream. The Renegades won the game, and afterwards, I went home with Cam, Riley, and Ethan and stayed overnight. I’ve pretty much been there ever since, only going home to bring more of my clothes to Cam’s. The four of us were together for one wonderful week of regular life. Of breakfasts together and driving the kids to school. Of homework and dinners and movies on the couch before bedtime. Of spending nights in Cam’s bed—what feels like our bed now—wrapped around each other, whispering hopes and dreams about a future we’ve already begun. I got to hold Cam’s hand as we watched Riley rock the stage in Mamma Mia, surrounded by Ethan, Cam’s mom, and my entire extended family, and it was one of the best days of my life.

  When Cam had to leave for Super Bowl media week, I stayed with Riley and Ethan and then flew with them down to New Orleans on Wednesday. The three of us have spent the last four days exploring, eating beignets at Café Du Monde, walking around the French Quarter, and making it our mission to find the weirdest, most insane souvenirs in the entire city. We had our palms read on Bourbon Street, went to a Voodoo and folklore museum, and did a ghost tour that scared the shit out of us all.

  Cam joined us when he was free, and Lisa, my parents, Sophie, and Tyler’s family trickled in throughout the week, but for the majority of the time, it was just Riley, Ethan, and me, and it was perfect. I have a suitcase full of keychains, shot glasses, and ridiculous T-shirts, a phone full of pictures, and a head full of the sweetest, funniest, and best memories ever.

  This morning when I was getting ready to head to the stadium, Cam knocked on my door, having snuck off the team floor to come to mine. He growled at me to keep the jersey on before throwing me onto the bed, playing my body like a fucking fiddle, and in a few hours, after I do my own job, I’m going to watch him play in the damn Super Bowl.

  Life is freaking amazing.

  Turning in his arms, I press a kiss to his neck before leaning back and taking him in. His stubbled jaw and his bright blue eyes, the softness there as he looks at me, and the love. So, so much love.

  “It really is. I kind of wish we could stay here like this for the rest of the day.”

  He pulls me closer, hooking a leg over both of mine and gliding a hand down my side and back up. He leans in to kiss my forehead and then draws back to look at me, stroking a hand over my hair. “Me too. But also not, because I want to watch you cheer for me with my name on your back, while you’re sitting with our families. I want to play in the Super Bowl knowing you’re there, and when we win, I want to kiss you under the confetti and celebrate with you and take you home, knowing that we have the rest of our lives to look forward to. Football won’t always be a part of it, but you will.”

  I stroke a hand over his face, studying him. “Are you thinking about retirement?”

  He shrugs, looking unbothered by the question. “I’m thirty-four. I’ve played for thirteen seasons, which is so many more seasons than most guys get. I have two years left on my contract, and I’m hoping to play them out, but this contract is going to be my last. I love football. It’s given me so much.” He swallows hard as his eyes glaze over a little, his arms tightening around me. “It brought me back to life when I thought my life was ending, and I’ll always be grateful for that dream realized.” He smiles, stroking the back of his hand down my face. “But I have new dreams now. I want to be there for you and for my kids. I want to be a family and make memories together…and maybe have kids of our own someday.”

  Emotion fills my chest at his words, knowing what it cost him to say them. “It’s okay if you decide that’s not something you want. I love Riley and Ethan, and if our family is just the four of us, that’s more than enough for me.”

  He smiles, leaning in to kiss me. “I know. But I like the idea of having a baby that’s part of me and part of you. Giving Riley and Ethan a new sibling or two. A big family was always a dream of mine, and if you want it, I’d like to chase that dream with you.”

  “I want it,” I say immediately. “I want everything with you.” I give him back the words he’s given me so many times, emotion swarming in his eyes as he brings his lips to mine.

  “We should get moving,” he murmurs. “I have to get back before they realize I’m gone, and you have lots of anxious rookies who are going to need you.”

  “Poor guys are scared shitless,” I say on a laugh, rolling us so I’m hovering over him, my knees straddling his thighs. “This is the big show.”

  “It sure is,” he says with a dazzling grin. “You watching from the stands?”

  I nod. “Once the game starts, my job will be mostly over for the day, and I want to watch with Riley and Ethan. My family. Your mom.”

  He pushes up from the bed, wrapping his arms around me and leaning in for one last kiss. “That sounds like the perfect plan. See you under the confetti, Wildcat.”

  CAM

  “Come on, come on, come on.”

  Tyler mutters the words like a prayer as we stand on the sidelines, his hand gripping my arm, Drew bouncing on his cleats next to me as we watch the clock tick down the final seconds of the game.

  It’s been a brutal battle—my favorite kind of game, but now all we can do is watch as the defense takes the field. It’s out of our control, and for a group of athletes who have gotten where we are by always wanting the ball, it’s the worst place to be.

  We’re up by four with five seconds left on the clock, and if our defense can hold the line, we win. We hold our collective breath as the ball is snapped and Seattle’s quarterback drops back, looking for his man. Out of nowhere, our defensive end blasts through the line of scrimmage, taking the quarterback down. The ball comes loose and he scoops it up, sprinting downfield and crossing into the endzone just as the clock winds to zero.

  The stadium bursts into pandemonium. Renegades fans cheer and the ground shakes, fireworks exploding above the stadium.

  “WE FUCKING DID IT!” Tyler screams, jumping on me and swinging his legs around my waist as Drew attacks me from the other side. “SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!”