Savior

Epilogue

This is it. Dolphins on the forty yard line. If they can score here, they'll have it. Price goes for the call. No one's open! No one's open! ... Split second decision.... Price's running it in.... And TOUCHDOWN! THAT'S IT! THAT'S IT! For the first time since 1974, longer than any of these men have been alive, the Miami Dolphins are the Super Bowl Champions!"

Wes

The roar of the crowd was deafening. The screams, the celebration, confetti flying through the air. We'd done it. The season had gone by faster than I'd even realized and now I was standing here, in the middle of SoFi, my hometown Los Angeles stadium, with my new team, and I'd won my first ever Super Bowl ring. Wrapping my head around this moment wasn't going to happen for a little while.

Somewhere in this sea of chaos was the singular person I wanted to see. Mia had moved to Miami about six weeks after our reunion. Right into the penthouse with me. From separated to living together in just over a month. Then again, we'd always kind of been on the fast track. She traveled with the team so we were together pretty much constantly. Every concern, every nightmare I had about having to choose between her and the game became nothing more than spats over what Netflix show we were falling asleep to or where we were ordering delivery from. Transitioning to living together was nothing. It was the most natural thing I'd ever done. And just a few weeks ago, curled up in bed after our New Year's Day game, I popped the question. Yes, that question. The question no one saw coming from Playboy Price. But I wasn't Playboy Price anymore. Nor was I Wes the Mess. I was Weston Price, the Dolphins' quarterback and Mia Bowman's fiancé.

Fun fact: despite that in Mia's career, everything had to be planned out and perfect, I cared more about wedding plans than she did. She basically only cared about the location. We decided to do it during the off-season, because with us there was no sense waiting around. So, exactly five weeks from this day, we were flying to Hawaii, with only our closest friends and family, and saying I do. Mia's relationship with her father and sister was better than ever, and even her mother was beginning to come around. In fact, they were all up in the VIP suite for the game, along with Bill and Belinda, a few of my cousin/siblings, Jazz and her new fiancée Cammie, and of course, my Mia, whom I could only assumed had chewed her nails off with nerves.

I kept getting distracted by various congratulatory hugs and celebrations, questions from reporters about how a felt and other things I barely heard. I entertained a few of them, but my head was on a swivel. God, I just wanted to find her, but her small frame was not exactly standing out in this sea of confusion.

Jeremiah pulled me into some interview with him and I tried to focus on answering the questions, but I couldn't. I gave generic, canned answers while still searching for my girl. When I finally gave into the reporter's quizzing, however, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Whirling around, I found Jazz. "Where is she?" I asked, barely even making eye contact as I searched for the petite brunette in question.

"Wow. Not even a "Hey, Jazz, thanks for being here"."

I laughed and shook my head as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "Hi, Jazz. Thanks for being here."

She squeezed me back tightly, conveying her teasing was nothing more than that, just like always. "So fucking proud of you."

I was failing at battling the tears that were pooling in my eyes. "Thank you."

"Go get your girl." She gave me a pat on the back and stepped aside, finally revealing the girl I'd spent the last hour searching for.

"Fucking finally," I sighed as she all but leapt into my arms. "Can you grow like a foot? I've been looking everywhere for you."

I heard a sniffle and felt her tears against my neck. "I'll get on that."

Keeping one arm around her waist, I used the other to lift her eyes to mine. "I couldn't have done this without you."

"Yes, you could've," she insisted, like she always did, with a watery smile.

I shook my head. "No chance."

"So what now?" she asked with a grin. "What does the Super Bowl winning quarterback do now that he's had the comeback of the year?"

"He's gotta go and get himself another kind of ring," I beamed. "And then he tries to do it again, all with the girl of his dreams by his side."

"Yeah? A wedding and football? Sounds like a good year."

"Maybe a baby..."

Her eyes widened. "You think we'll have time for a baby?"

"Girl, I plan on knocking you up before we even leave Hawaii."

She laughed, a glowing smile taking over her face. "That so?"

"Sure is. I've gotten everything else I wanted this year, why not that?"

She shook her head, her dark chocolate eyes locking on mine. "You are something else, Weston Price."

"And I'm all yours Soon-to-be-Mrs. Price."

This one is for my dad, the biggest Miami Dolphin fan in the middle of nowhere South Dakota. Here's hoping your Wes Price is out there, waiting to be drafted.