Promise

Bonus Scene

As promised on my Instagram page (megreads99) here's the Christian & Robyn bonus scene for my birthday! This is in the past, when they were in high school & Christian played football. Enjoy!

—

Christian — The Past

8 seconds.

We had eight seconds left. And if I didn't score this fucking touchdown, we were going to lose.

I could hardly hear what Coach was saying because the pressure was pounding in my ears, building to insurmountable levels.

It was all on me now.

My stress levels were off the charts. So I did the first thing I always did when I needed to calm down—I looked for a petite little Italian girl with blue eyes and brown hair.

In the sea of irrelevant faces and screaming voices, she stood out to me. She always stood out to me. When she was around, she was the only thing I saw.

When her eyes locked onto mine, she grinned. So bright, so genuine, so happy that it tugged at my heart every time she did it. I fucking loved her smile. I'd do anything to see it on her face all the time.

Clad in skinny jeans and my jersey—of course, because who the fuck else would I let wear my number with pride—she was standing at the very front of the crowd.

She was at every single one of my games. All the time. No matter what. She'd always be there for me.

Truthfully, I didn't give a fuck if the entire stadium wasn't there. Even if there wasn't a single soul here to watch me play, that'd be fine. If she was there, nothing else even mattered.

Those blue eyes sparkled in the midst of all the chatter around her. She tilted her head to the side with a questioning look in her eyes when she saw my grim expression because there was nothing Robyn knew better than how to decipher my feelings before I even figured them out myself.

It was like she was connected to me in some way. Like she just knew who I was, all my thoughts, all my deepest desires. She just had a place in my mind, my heart, my soul. She belonged there.

I shrugged and darted my eyes to the scoreboard. We were losing. We had eight seconds left. If I didn't get this, my team was going to lose.

A slow smile crossed her face.

I vaguely registered Coach asking me, "You ready, 22?" but I couldn't answer because I was just looking at her.

She placed a hand over her heart—right where my #22 was stitched into the fabric and mouthed Six. Seven. Eight.

I placed my own hand over my heart and repeated after her. She grinned, raised my #22 token in her hand, and brought it to her lips, kissing it for good luck.

"Ryder?"

"Coach," I replied, still staring at my best friend.

"You ready?"

Robyn winked. Smiled. Blew some hair out of her face.

"Now I am."

When we broke and got into position on the field, there was no more pressure. No more stress. Nothing but serenity.

Nothing but Robyn Hale in my head. And therefore, I was as calm as I'd ever been.

Eight seconds.

It all happened too fast for me to be sure but one second, I was touching the floor, ready to sprint, and the next, I was sprinting across the line.