Offside: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (59 page)

This really isn’t an end for us at all, it’s very much our beginning.

A
pproximately six months later.

––––––––

L
andon

Tilly’s waiting for me in the tunnel like always, a last minute kiss of good luck before the big game. She’s showing a lot more now, although I don’t really notice the little changes as much because I get to see her every day. I put my hand on her belly, the warmth of our baby inside, and bring her close to feel the lips I still can’t get enough of kissing.

The last six months have been absolutely wild, both on a professional and personal level. Tilly and I are obviously still together, but that’s no real surprise. Anyone with any sense wouldn’t have bet against us. She’s also pregnant with our baby, which was a kind of happy accident neither of us wanted to change. Tilly took the morning after pill when she got back home after our vacation, but it just didn’t work. That little sucker obviously has Maddox genes, and wasn’t going to let anyone else tell him he had to quit. When we found out it was still growing inside her, there was no way we were going to stop it.

Just like everything else between us, it was obviously meant to be.

Tilly’s had to adjust her University schedule because of it, but I’ve never seen her happier.

It’s a boy too, which makes me more excited that I can even explain. I would have been equally happy with a girl, of course, but I wanted a boy first so he could look after the rest. Tilly doesn’t even know I’ve got a huge family planned for her.

Dad took the news better than I ever imagined, and coach didn’t even bat an eyelid. The papers went to town for a while and Tilly and I got some weird and worrying correspondence but soon after it started and Shoreville began winning again, and they saw just how cute a couple we made, it soon died down. I’m a star again, and Tilly’s right there beside me, our baby on the way, and our families right by our side to support us.

And Rachel? She knew all along. Tilly thinks she’s making it all up, but I wouldn’t be surprised. She even thinks I had something to do with Dad’s mystery illness, but I swear that was nothing but coincidence that brought us together.

Today is the biggest day of my life. Shoreville are in the super bowl final, I’ve broken record after record this year on throws, touchdown passes, yardage and everything else that was left to go and I’m a shoe-in for MVP.

I’m nervous, but I know I’ll have Tilly, Dad, Rachel, my unborn son, coach, the rest of the team and millions of people at home watching me play, so I know it’s going to be alright.

Whatever happens, I know I’ll always have Tilly.

“I love you.”

“You only want me for my body.”

“I want you for what’s inside it too.”

“We have to share it, evens stevens.”

“Evens stevens.”

“I love you.”

“Wish me luck.”

“We already did.”

The roar of the crowd is deafening when we enter the arena, thousands of Shoreville fans hooting and clapping and whistling down from above. They love me here, bad boy turned family man, I’m every fan’s hero and I carry the hopes and dreams of every single one of them on my shoulders. Shoreville have never been to a super bowl final before, and today I’m going to make sure they win it.

As I see Tilly wave from the tunnel before disappearing into the darkness inside it, our baby still growing inside her, I know that I’ve won too, the best prize anyone could ever hope for.

––––––––

T
illy

I have to pinch myself every now and again to make sure I’m not dreaming. I was worried that I’d never get to see him again, and here I am, carrying his baby, one day on the front of Time magazine, the next being commissioned to create artwork for a string of international celebrities. I never imagined any of this would be possible, but here I am, Marvin and Mom alongside me up in the VIP box looking down on my superstar, underwear model boyfriend below.

When it all happened, it happened faster than I imagined. Suddenly Landon and I were together, Mom and Marvin knew about us, and he didn’t see the point in hiding it from the rest of the world. I was worried at first about the baby, but after what happened with the morning after pill, Landon knew it could only go one way. When I saw how excited he was about the prospect, I knew I could allow myself to get excited too. I can’t tell you how happy having his baby inside me makes me feel either. Landon always says his best achievement was making me fall in love with him, I might just have to disagree and tell him it’s what he’s given me for us to share.

There was a backlash from the papers, but we both knew it would come. We are, after all, still stepsister and stepbrother and no matter how many times we explain we’ve known each other less time than many other perfectly happy couples and are not related by blood, it’s hard for some people to get.

Landon lost a couple of modeling gigs and a sponsorship deal on his boots, but they were soon replaced by other, more lucrative companies, and after about a month, when everyone realized we were happy and here to stay, things started to really turn around.

People love us now. Landon is up for MVP this year and if he doesn’t win it the whole world will be shocked. He’s almost single handedly taken Shoreville to the super bowl final this year, he’s broken records people didn’t even know existed and he’s proven to everyone that there’s much more than they might have thought originally to the man the world knows as The Donkey. He’s more than just a pretty face and a big dick, a huge arm that can throw a ball a thousand yards, he’s the best boyfriend anyone could ever hope for, and he’s mine and going nowhere.

I’m out of Uni, but it doesn’t matter. I can go back when the baby is born if I want to. I’ve got enough commissions on the back of the publicity I’ve been unable to avoid, that I’m going to be perfectly busy and content for a number of months. After that, I’ll have a little baby to look after. It’s amazing how things can change so much in such a short time, even more so when you're living a life that’s about a close as anyone can get to their dreams coming true.

The final is a one sided showcase master class of six touchdown passes for Shoreville against three for the opposing team. There isn’t a single moment where they are behind, nor any other in which there is a possibility they might lose. Landon is extravagant, flamboyant and absolutely world class. He is a superstar of magnificent proportions and the round of applause he gets when the game is over, by both sets of fans, threatens to shake the stadium to the ground during the entire ten minutes it goes on.

There’s so much activity outside I can’t get down to the stands quick enough to give him my congratulations, but it doesn’t matter.

When the microphone goes to Landon for a post match interview, his face up on the big screen, he doesn’t talk about where the game was won or lost, nor the touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter, nor the performance of his live, he takes off his helmet, takes something out of it and holds it up in the air for everyone to see.

“Tilly.”

The camera swoops across the crowds and eventually picks me up at the edge of the VIP box. When I look back down to the field, I see Landon has taken to one knee and I know exactly what he’s holding and what’s coming next.

“The last six months have been the best in my life. From that vacation in the middle of nowhere, the lake and the forest and every other intimate moment we shared, from the creation of our baby, to now, you have made me happier than I ever believed was possible. I love you. I will always love you. Will you marry me?”

I shout the words down, but they get lost in the hum of the crowd. Before I know it I’m surfing on top of people, passed from one fan to the next, one row to the one below it until I’m finally at field side and can run, as fast as our baby will allow me into my stepbrother’s arms, into my soon to be husband’s embrace.

“Yes”, I emphatically shout, and Landon holds me up in the air like a trophy.

THE END

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