The Wrong Play: A Football Romance (The Wrong Player Series Book 2)
The Wrong Play: SECOND EPILOGUE

A WEEK BEFORE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

I wiped sweat from my forehead as I jogged back into formation, my cleats digging into the grass. Practice was dragging today. Coach was in one of his I’m trying to kill you before the playoffs moods, and I was mostly just counting down the seconds until I could get home to Riley.

But at least I had entertainment.

“So, remember Riley’s roommate?” I started, shaking out my arms, rolling my shoulders before getting into position for the next drill.

“How could we forget?” drawled Matty, looking a bit growly that I’d even brought her up.

“She texted Riley,” I continued, ignoring his rudeness.

“What did Creepy McCreeper say?” Parker asked, sounding intrigued because he’d never actually met Emma. He hadn’t seen her staring, and he’d just heard secondhand about her femur fantasies and her love of crazy clowns…you really had to meet Emma in person to understand.

I grimaced. “She said her new roommate isn’t nearly as interesting to watch.”

There was a beat of silence. Matty looked horrified. Like, full-on, flashbacks to war, thousand-yard stare, kind of horrified.

Which was fair…and appropriate considering he’d been the one stuck keeping Emma distracted while I snuck into Riley’s dorm that night.

He hadn’t been the same since.

“She—she’s texting her?” Matty croaked, like he was moments away from having a full-body shiver.

I grimaced. “Well, not anymore. Riley doesn’t even know how she got her phone number. She never gave it to her.”

Matty made a strangled noise, looking like he was reliving the moment Emma had told him—dead serious—about her fixation on the taste of human flesh.

“Riley thinks it was Emma’s attempt at being sweet…like in a ‘definitely-should-have-ended-up-on-a-true-crime-podcast’ kinda way.”

Parker snorted. “Yes, real heartwarming. I bet she’s crying herself to sleep at night, clutching the hair she probably cut off Riley’s head while she was sleeping…like it’s a long-lost love story.”

That thought wasn’t pleasant.

“There’s no way she doesn’t have a playlist dedicated to Matty—one of those dramatic, longing ones. I Will Always Love You, Under My Skin, maybe Every Breath You Take—really good ones like that,” I mused.

Parker barked out a laugh, but Matty threw a water bottle at me.

Minus ten best friendship points right there. Per se.

Coach blew the whistle, cutting off our shit-talking, and we launched into another drill, running routes, cutting past defenders, pushing through the burn in our legs.

I wiped sweat from my neck as we reset for another rep. “Oh, by the way, I recently came into a bunch of money,” I announced.

Parker looked confused. “One of your investments?”

“It’s strange for me, because I usually just use a paper towel,” I finished.

Parker barked out a laugh, but Matty was being suspiciously quiet. Why wasn’t he paying attention to me?

I glanced over, frowning when I saw that Matty had frozen on the field.

No sarcastic remarks. No eye roll.

Not even a shut the fuck up, Jace-face. What was going on?

“Hey.” I nudged him with my elbow. “Why aren’t you appropriately worshiping me right now?”

Matty didn’t even look at me.

His jaw was tight, his brows drawn, his gaze locked onto something in the distance.

Something out in the parking lot.

I exchanged a glance with Parker, who had also noticed.

“What’s up with you?” Parker asked, half-laughing, half-confused.

Matty’s scowl deepened, his voice quieter than usual. “She’s not here.”

Parker tilted his head. “Who’s not here?”

Matty didn’t answer right away. Instead, his throat bobbed, his stance stiffening, like something was actually wrong.

And then I followed his line of sight.

Right out to the spot where that beat-up old car was always parked during every single practice.

Where that girl was always watching, always waiting—wasn’t.

The air suddenly felt heavier, like we had all just noticed something at the same time.

Matty clenched his jaw, his voice quiet but full of something I couldn’t quite place.

“Why isn’t she here?”

“Who?” Parker asked again, looking back and forth between the lot and Matty’s face, taking a minute to get it. “Your stalker?” He barked out a laugh. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yeah, Matty-boy, maybe she just finally decided to trade up and stalk someone funnier,” I inserted helpfully, kind of loving how he seemed to be freaking out right now.

Matty shook his head. “Something’s wrong.”

I blinked, and then Matty was turning and sprinting off the field.

Like a maniac. Like he’d suddenly picked up a habit of drinking iced milk.

Coach Everett hollered at him, probably done with all the running away his players had been doing lately. The rest of our teammates just watched in confusion.

Parker whistled low under his breath. “Huh. Didn’t expect that.”

A grin stretched across my face. “Didn’t know Matty had it in him. He just gained some bestilicious bro points.”

Parker bristled. “For what?”

“For finally doing something cool.”

He watched Matty disappear from view and sighed in defeat. “True.”

Brooks, one of our running backs snorted nearby. “There is seriously something wrong with you guys.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

We believed in true love, obviously, and I was proud of that fact. It had gotten me my Riley-girl, after all. And for her, I’d be wrong, insane, and completely fucking psychotic every single day if I needed to be.

Because with her, everything was right.