The medical guy stayed with us as we walked toward the sideline, but I leaned over and whispered to him and he stepped away. I was fine.
Lily was next to me and that was all I needed. I clung to her and she kept me up.
Like she had the entire time. We may have started off in a rocky place, but she had stood by me from the start, and I was eternally grateful.
I stopped walking, 10 yards before we hit the side. The crowd watched, and I could tell they were wondering if I was going to collapse again, after effects of the hit.
Instead, I turned to Lily, who looked at me with confusion, and I put my arms around her. The crowd went silent.
And then I kissed her, long and hard, on national TV. She melted into me, and I picked her up and pulled her close.
And then it was too loud to hear anything anymore.
CHAPTER 29 - LILY
That…was unexpected.
Over the next couple weeks, video of Drake kissing me was the biggest thing on the planet. The number of stories written about us eclipsed anything I could possibly have imagined.
We both became celebrities for a hot minute. Interviews, appearances on TV, the whole nine yards. Annie Ross got fired by ESPN - the worldwide leader in sports did not appreciate their on-air talent spreading slanderous rumors about other journalists out of petty jealousy.
It was a huge whirlwind, and I couldn’t believe it was happening to me. Drake took it all in stride, he was used to being in the public spotlight, but this was my first, well, second brush with notoriety.
Drake spent the first day or so convincing the world that it wasn’t a publicity stunt, but eventually people got the point - we were actually in love and now we didn’t have to hide it anymore.
Whoosh, just saying that still felt a little weird. Gonna take some time before I could wrap my head around it.
I was Drake Rollins’ girlfriend.
Damn. Me. Lily Pearson!
I never would have guessed this would happen in a thousand years, yet here we were.
Drake was standing in the parking lot as I entered. I got out of the car after parking in the familiar spot. Preseason was over and the final roster cuts had just been announced.
“Hey there,” he said, smiling as he took me into his arms and kissed me, deep and long.
“Hey yourself.”
“Is that anyway to greet a New England Patriot?”
I shoved him back a bit, but he barely moved. “Ugh, you’re going to be even worse now, aren’t you? Your ego didn’t really need a boost.”
“So much worse, Lily, you have no idea.”
“You’re lucky I like you.”
He frowned. “Like me? That’s all it is? I’m wounded.”
I stepped in close. “You’ll get over it. Maybe I like you a lot.”
“That’s a little bit better. We’ll have to work on that.”
So Drake was a New England Patriot for real now. The front office had decided that now was the right time to get out from under Mike Sampson’s contract, especially since he had pulled those holdout shenanigans instead of coming to camp on time.
That left a roster spot for their new #1 wide receiver, undrafted free agent Drake Rollins of Cal.
That had a nice ring to it.
My coverage of the Drake Rollins story was the biggest thing in sports journalism. I was back in Boston now that the preseason was over, but I had been assigned to cover the Patriots full time during the season.
It was going to be an interesting year - the team looked great and there were high expectations all around.
And I would spend it covering my favorite team.
Oh, and my boyfriend? He was on the team.
Cause, you know, Drake Rollins was my boyfriend.
In case I hadn’t made that part clear.
“You got some time off?”
“Yeah, last weekend before the season starts, everyone gets one last weekend to do whatever they want.”
I tugged at his belt, looking up at him. “And what do you want to do?”
Drake wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in and kissing me. “Lily, I don’t care what we do this weekend, as long as you don’t leave my sight.”
I was OK with that.
Hi! I’m Lucy Snow, and I wrote the book you just read. I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you read the rest of my books!
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