Chapter 32: Chapter Quarterback Sneak: Epilogue

It was just barely beginning to warm up in Boston when draft day rolled around. Spring had come, but not barreling in as we’d all hoped. It was soft, quiet, but promising.

Even so, I’d stripped down to my athletic shorts and a t-shirt, and my Uncle Kevin watched me with an amused smile as I leaned against the edge of the kitchen island, pretending like I was calm. The Lions had just used their fifth pick on a defensive lineman from Hawaii.

I checked my phone just to make sure it was charged — it was, ninety-seven percent. I’d had it plugged in most of the day just in case. I’d also had Uncle Kevin do the same, since his was my backup number.

“Relax,” he told me as he passed by with a refreshed plate of artisanal cheese, meat, and bread. “You’ll get a call.”

“I know,” I said, but the truth was I know — not for sure. I hoped. And if the analysts I’d been listening to for the past week and a half had any idea of what was going on, they assumed, too.

Everyone pegged me for a first-round pick.

We just didn’t know in the first round.

I already had a hunch that it wouldn’t be in the first five. None of those teams needed a quarterback. But as we rounded toward the sixth pick, my palms started sweating. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were in the market for a QB, and I swore my phone burned in my pocket as I willed it to ring.

“Hey there, brother.”

I startled when Clay squeezed my shoulders with his massive hands, rounding the island to slide next to me. He offered me a beer, and even though I didn’t really want it, I took it just so I’d have something to do.

“I can’t believe you’re going pro.”

“We don’t know that yet.”

He gave me a look with flat lips. “Just promise me you’ll come back for senior year championship game.”

“Back-to-back wins, huh?”

“You doubt us?”

I shrugged, tonguing my cheek. “I don’t know. Without me?” I whistled through my teeth, and Leo socked me in the arm as he came up on the other side of where we stood.

“You forget that it’s who was your secret weapon these past few years,” he teased.

“Neither of you would have even had a chance if it weren’t for my returns,” Zeke piped in, tapping his beer bottle against mine.

Riley came up right behind him rolling her eyes. “And you’re all so modest, to boot.”

Zeke smirked, tucking her under his arm and kissing her temple as they returned to the living room and plopped down on the couch right in front of the food. Giana was in the corner of the room beside the TV making sure her cameraman was set up with the proper angle to capture our celebration if a call came in.

I tried to chastise myself, but my stomach was tight even as I did.

Coach Lee and Coach Hoover were both in the living room, too. Even Julep’s mom had flown out for the occasion, and the pair of them sat on the loveseat, each of them holding a glass of wine. They were laughing about something, and I didn’t care what it was because all that mattered to me was that Julep and her mom were laughing at all.

On the television, the commissioner took the stage, and everyone quieted.

Not so subtly, eyes floated to me, for my reaction.

If it was me they had picked, I would have had a call. I casually checked my phone just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.

I hadn’t.

“With the fifth pick in the NFL draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select…” He paused for dramatic effect. “Bernie Hoffman, Iowa Central.”

The crowd in Vegas was a mix of cheers and boos, all in good fun as usual during the draft. I forced a smile as the quarterback out of Iowa Central took the stage. They’d asked me if I wanted to fly out to Vegas, too, just in case I was picked early on — but I’d elected to stay here in Boston with my team.

With my family.

“Ah, who wants to play for Tampa, anyway?” My uncle Nathan said, bouncing Joanne in his lap. “Too goddamn muggy in Florida.”

Everyone chuckled, but the energy had shifted with that pick. Slowly, conversation picked back up, everyone drinking and refilling their plates. The Giants were on the clock now, but I knew as well as the rest of the room that they weren’t going to be calling me.

I tried to sneak outside without being seen — knowing even as I slid the sliding glass door open that I had failed. Still, I breathed a little easier once I was on the back patio, a chilly wind sweeping through and cooling the sweat on the back of my neck.

I rested my forearms on the banister, breathing in deep. For a while, I just peered up at the few stars I could see, listening to the wind blowing through the trees.

“I wish you were here,” I said to the back yard, but I knew the message was heard by who I intended it for.

As if in answer, a gentle breeze rolled through the yard, rustling the leaves in the trees one by one. I heard it before I felt it wash over my face, and I closed my eyes and smiled when it did.

The sliding glass door opened and shut behind me, and after a few footsteps, Julep wrapped her arms around me from behind.

“Aren’t you freezing?” she asked, her chin balancing on the back of my shoulder as she wrapped me up tight.

I turned until I was facing her, and she chuckled at the sheen of sweat on my forehead.

“Apparently not,” she mused.

I tried to smile, but it was weak as I let my hands rest on her hips.

The real reason for my nerves stared back at me.

She’d walked into my trap just like I’d known she would. She saw I was anxious, saw I’d gone outside to get away from everyone. And now, I had her alone, just like I’d wanted.

“You okay?” she asked tenderly, playing with the hair at the nape of my neck.

“More than okay.”

“Oh, really? Because everyone inside that house thinks you’re going to run into traffic if the phone doesn’t ring.”

“I’m not worried about the draft.”

She snorted, shaking her head as she leaned in and pegged me with a brief kiss. “You know, you don’t have to act all macho with me. I’m your girlfriend, remember?”

“Yeah… about that.”

Her face sobered, smile washing away instantly.

“I’ve been thinking… you know, with the draft, and my future up in the air. Maybe I’ll get a call tonight. Maybe it won’t be until later this weekend. But I think it’s pretty safe to say I’m going pro. And that means I’ll be in a new city, who knows where, with a new team and all these new people in my life…”

Julep looked like a ghost as she released her hold around my neck and stepped back. “What… what are you saying, Holden?”

I swallowed, holding her gaze. “I’m saying… I don’t think I want a girlfriend through all that.”

Her face went ashen, her nose flaring as she blinked and stared at me in complete and total shock.

And I wanted to wait. I wanted to get a reaction out of her, to play along with the ruse a little longer, but I couldn’t stand even to hurt her.

So, I moved closer, taking her hands in mine as I slowly dropped to one knee.

“I want a fiancée.”

Her next breath was a gasp, and she nearly burst into tears as she cursed my name. “Holden!”

I pulled the ring from my pocket, presenting it to her between my fingertips rather than in a box. The delicate gold band was weathered but freshly polished, and a lone, marquise-shaped diamond glittered in the porch light shining from above us.

“It was my mother’s,” I said, voice tight. “My father bought this for her as an upgrade once he had enough money to do so. I remember when she got it. Christmas of 2012. She’d cried so hard ugly snot came out of her nose.”

“I’m about to do the same,” Julep choked, and then she dropped to her knees with me, shaking her head as her eyes bounced between the diamond and me. “Are you… is this real?”

“The realest.”

She smiled, then bit her lip. “My dad is going to kill you for not asking him first.”

“Who said I didn’t ask him?”

Her eyebrows tugged inward, and then she glanced behind me at the house. When she covered her mouth and the laugh that bubbled out of her, too, I whipped around to find a dozen faces pressed against the window watching us. Giana was crying so hard you’d have thought it was being proposed to.

I smiled, turning back to Julep. “I meant what I said after the bowl game that none of this means anything without you. I want you to know when I go into this that I don’t care about any of the girls who will follow us on the road, or about going out to strip clubs or whatever else might be presented to me.” I pulled her left hand into my right one and held the ring with my left. “I care about you. More than anything in this world. And I want every experience life has to offer with you by my side.”

She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth as tears filled her eyes, and all the while she watched me.

“Marry me, Julep. Marry me, and I promise to take you to every yard sale we can find in every state we go to. Marry me, and I will grow a garden in your name. Marry me, and I promise to set up a chrome pole in the middle of every piece of property we own.”

She laughed, though it was garbled with tears.

“Marry me,” I repeated, swiping the fresh tears away. “And I will spend the rest of my life loving you. No matter how long that is. Every minute I am here on Earth is yours. And after that, too.”

Julep shook her head, glancing at the ring and then back up at me. “On one condition.”

“Anything.”

“When you win your first Super Bowl, you take me to the Exumas.”

I tilted my head back on a laugh that shook me from the inside out. “I’ll take you with my signing bonus, how about that?”

“Even better.”

“Is that a yes?”

She rolled her eyes. “Put the damn ring on my finger, Holden.”

So I did, and then I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.

Inside, cheers erupted, the sliding glass door flying open as everyone piled out onto the balcony. Even Giana’s cameraman followed. I was swarmed by my teammates first while the girls rushed Julep to see the ring. Coach Lee shook my hand and Mrs. Lee wrapped me in one of her fierce hugs. My uncles hugged me last, holding me a long time to really let their love sink in — like always.

“Welcome to the family,” Nathan said to Julep next, and he tucked her into his side. “We’re going to have much fun with this motley crew.”

Coach Lee arched a brow. “And suddenly, I’m rethinking my blessing.”

That elicited a laugh from the crowd, but it was cut short.

By my phone ringing.

My heart stopped, everyone turning to stare at where I stood. I tried to glance at the TV through the sliding glass door, but I couldn’t see clearly enough to know who was picking. On the third ring Clay snapped me out of my haze.

“Answer it, bro!”

I fumbled with my phone as I pulled it from my pocket, and then I held it to my ear.

“Hello?” I asked.

“

” Giana mouthed, pointing at the camera.

I switched it over to speaker just in time for a booming voice to say, “Holden, this is Coach Nixon out in Charlotte. I’ve got team owner Michael Bradshaw here with me. Are you having a good night out there in Boston?”

A smile split my face as the rest of my family looked at each other with bright eyes, bouncing and hitting each other and making all kinds of muffled, high-pitched noises. I looked at Julep.

My fiancée.

“Yes, sir, I am,” I said.

“Well, I hope you enjoy it, because we’re going to get you on a flight to Charlotte in the morning. That is, if you’d like to come be a Panther.”

My friends couldn’t hold it in. Leo howled first, and then the rest of the guys joined in and so did my uncles. They were cheering so loud I didn’t know if coach could hear me when I said, “I’d like that very much, sir.”

“Good. Well, we’re going to run now, but someone from the front office will be calling you here in about ten minutes with more information, alright? And we’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright, son. Take care.”

The call ended, and the house went absolutely insane.

I was distantly aware of the camera light in my face as Julep jumped in my arms, kissing me hard as her legs wrapped around me. I hoped that diamond was shining on her finger when they showed this clip on television.

“We’re going to Charlotte, baby!” I said.

She just screamed and kissed me harder.

As soon as I set Julep back on the ground, I was enveloped in bone-crushing hugs from my uncles, and then from all my teammates, and finally, from my coaches. Coach Lee held my hand firmly, a soft smile on his lips.

“You proved me wrong,” he said. “I’m really glad you did.”

“Me, too, sir.”

We piled inside the house just in time to see the announcement, and even though we were set up for “live” reaction, it was a ten-second clip from outside that ran on the screen, all of us jumping up and down and screaming with the news.

Just like I’d hoped, Julep’s ring was flashing bright.

When they launched into my backstory, showing highlight reels and talking about my tragic past, I turned the TV off.

“Hey!” Riley protested.

“They’re going to have plenty to say about me for the rest of my life,” I told her and everyone else. Then, I reached for the nearest glass. “Tonight, I just want to be here, with my people, celebrating the best night of my life.” I paused, looking at Julep. “So far, anyway.”

She blushed and smiled as Uncle Kevin scrambled to the kitchen. “Wait! I have champagne!”

That made everyone laugh, and Uncle Nathan helped him distribute flutes until everyone had one in hand. Once they were full, we toasted them together in the middle of the silent living room.

“To Holden!” Uncle Kev said.

“To the Panthers!” Leo added.

“To dreams coming true,” Julep said, her eyes sparkling in the light as she smirked at me.

I looked around the room at the people I loved most, at the people who loved me. I was sad for this door closing. I was impossibly excited at the one that opened behind it. But as my eyes landed on Julep, I knew the emotion I felt more than anything was impatience.

I couldn’t wait for her to be all the way mine.

And so, I lifted my glass last, and I held her gaze as I toasted.

“To my future wife.”