When it was time for the offence to take the field again, Noel, the leading quarterback, did not join them. A minute and forty-eight seconds remained on the clock, and their second-string backup had to step in for him. Quinn had to step in for him.
“Oh my God,” I uttered, covering my mouth as my stomach instantly began to churn. The divisional championships now rested on my boyfriend’s shoulders.
Aspen’s phone chimed. She checked the text. “It’s from Noel. Oh God. He says they think he broke his collarbone. They’re going to take him to the hospital.”
“Well, let’s go then,” Caroline announced. “We can meet him there.”
Noel’s family and even Eva, Pick, Mason and Reese all gathered their things to leave. “Zoey?” Caroline asked, glancing at me to silently ask if I was coming.
But I shook my head. Quinn had just been thrust into the spot of quarterback at the most crucial time ever. I couldn’t leave him now.
“I...I’m going to stay.”
Asher took my hand. “I’ll stick around with her and bring her over once the game’s done.”
Caroline nodded, and then she was gone, hurrying away to follow her family.
I glanced up at Asher. He sent me a bolstering smile. “So, I know squat about football, but I can tell your man just got put in the hot seat, right?”
“Right,” I said.
The catcher who’d taken on the punt had tried to run for it, only getting us to the fifteen-yard line. I chewed my nails as a huddle formed around Quinn and he pointed out the next game plan to them.
“But he’ll do just fine,” I told Asher. “He’ll do great.” Because he was great at everything he did.
Asher squeezed my hand. “Yes, he will,” he agreed.
I clamped my grip around his fingers, and the play began. The ball was hiked to Quinn. His lineman charged into the defensive line to keep them at bay, the clang of helmets and shoulder pads making me hold my breath. When a defensive linebacker broke free and charged him, I squeaked in fear, knowing he was about to be sacked. But Quinn spun from the tackle and dodged out of the pocket, looking down the field for a receiver to catch a pass.
Ten broke free of the safety following him. As soon as he was open, Quinn wound back his arm and launched the ball his way with a Hail Mary. When it landed in Ten’s arms perfectly, I screamed and jumped up and down. Ten clutched the ball to his chest and ran a good ten more yards before he was tackled, but I kept jumping and screaming out my excitement. I sprang at Asher and hugged him before laughing and screaming some more. After such a huge play, we still weren’t far enough down the field to try for a field goal, though. And now we only had thirty-eight seconds left in the game with the clock still ticking, and no timeouts left for our team.
Quinn had to down the ball to stop the clock, but that left us with only two tries to make it ten yards before we’d have to kick.
“You can do it. You can do it. You can do it,” I chanted, watching him as he clapped his hands, breaking up the huddle. He would have to throw—there wasn’t time to try to run the ball. And everyone knew it. So the defense covered all the receivers. Quinn looked toward Ten first. But Ten had two defensive players around him, keeping him from catching anything. So, Quinn checked out another receiver, but that guy tripped and fell.
No one was open.
The defense closed in around him. Quinn sidestepped one guy trying to tackle him and found an opening, where he began to run. Oh God, he was going for it.
Since he usually played as a tight end, he knew how to run with the ball. And that’s what he did. He broke free of the main cluster, but a safety started for him and would’ve caught him if Ten hadn’t appeared out of nowhere and blocked that guy, keeping him from reaching Quinn. From there on out, he had a free sprint to the goal line, where he made a touchdown and won us the divisional championship game.
This time, even Asher screamed and jumped with me, sharing my enthusiasm. We danced in a circle and roared with the rest of the ESU fans. Our team was going to play in the national championships for the second year in a row.
“Let’s go see if we can intercept your man.” Asher took my hand and we tried to weave through the crowd together, but there was no way to get out onto the field with Quinn.
So we waited just outside the gates where the team came through. More people gathered, waiting for them as well. When Ten and Quinn came through together, their helmets off, with their sweaty hair sticking to their foreheads while they grinned out their victory, a crowd erupted with cheers.
Some groupie grabbed Quinn by the face and stamped a kiss to his mouth, but he immediately pulled away and scowled at her. I couldn’t even be outraged; I didn’t blame the girl at all for her enthusiasm and wanting a piece of him. And since he instantly wiped the back of his hand over his mouth and glanced around until he spotted me—only me—well...groupies could try to get at him all they wanted. I knew he wasn’t interested in them.