Guy and Reason

Chapter 30 (Eden/Reason): The Only Thing He Saw

Copyright © 2025 by GroveltoHEA

If Guy was disappointed when he spotted me in the stands at his first game not wearing his jersey, he didn't show it. He just smiled, raised his index finger and made the you're number one sign to me, rubbed his upper chest where I knew my old promise ring rested and went on to play a brilliant game. He hoped, but he didn't expect.

Watching him play as a professional athlete, as a man, made me a little sentimental. I thought of the boy he'd been, playing his heart out for our dream, never before realizing exactly how much pressure he'd been under at such a young age so he could get us what we wanted.

For most boys, playing in the NFL was the dream. For Guy, it'd been a steppingstone to the dream, and football was a means to an end. He'd worked incredibly hard for this so we could achieve our shared vision.

Even though I hadn't been there to share it until now.

Noting the number of fans wearing his jersey -- the old ones with the number seventeen -- spoke to his popularity. Guy wasn't the quarterback, but fans recognized that he was both a special player and a special person, and they supported him.

After his game and the press interviews, Guy met us at his SUV (we'd arrived in a limo he'd arranged) and gave all of us hugs (although I got another sweet kiss that may have been edging toward spicy). We drove to a quiet restaurant near the airport for a quick dinner before we had to leave for our flights. From across the table, Guy and I talked quietly as our mothers talked more animatedly.

"Thank you for coming, Reason," he said when he let us out at the airport, wrapping me up in his arms. "It meant more to me than you know."

"You're an amazing player, Guy," I said, easing back from him so I could touch his cheek with my fingertips. "And you're an even better man."

Grinning, he said, "If you're trying to make the tough football player cry, you're doing a good job."

The officer directing traffic at Departures gave us a sour look. "This isn't long-term parking."

Guy gave him a nod that he'd heard, right before he pressed one last kiss to my lips.

"I love you, Reason," Guy said before he got into his SUV and drove away as I walked into the airport with our mothers. They left me alone, sensing I had a lot on my mind and leaving me to it.

The two old friends had reconnected this weekend, trying to make up for three years of no contact. I'd always felt awful that they'd been casualties of our breakup, but I hoped they could become the friends they had been before. They'd both been mothers protecting their young, so to speak, but now that there was no need for it, I expected calls, coffee dates and lunches to start happening on a regular basis. 

The old becomes new.

Seventeen and fifteen becomes thirty-two.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Guy's second game was an away game, and although my mom couldn't go, Leslie and I flew out together. I'd missed her and enjoyed catching up, our conversation becoming easier the longer we talked.

She pressed my hand as we landed.

"You coming to Guy's games means the world to him, Eden. I haven't seen him so happy since...well, in years."

I smiled, unsure how to respond, but she continued. "I don't know what's going on in your head, I don't know if my son has any part in your future, but I want you to know --"

She stopped, her eyes teary.

"I know what he did, and I know how it hurt you. And I just want to say, if you can't forgive him for it, I understand. If you decide your involvement with him doesn't go past A Reason to Care, I'll understand, but I just want you to know that I'll support whatever decision you make, Eden."

"Thank you," I said, wanting to say more but afraid I'd start crying. 

All I could think was her son would say the same exact thing. He hoped, but he didn't expect. He loved me whether or not I loved him. 

When he found me in the stands during his game, he held up his index finger to me again, smiling huge. Once again, he played brilliantly.

Leslie claimed she was too tired to go out that night and just wanted to order room service, but Guy and I both knew she was allowing us to go out and have dinner by ourselves.

"It was nice to fly out here with your mom," I told him as I attacked the basket of warm bread our waitress brought to us. "I've missed her."

"She's missed you," he said immediately. "But not as much as I missed you."

 I missed you, too.

"You were incredible out on the field today, Guy," I said, lightening the mood.

His smile hit me hard and he took hold of my hand. "I play better when I know you're watching. Always have."

"How did you manage to play so well when I wasn't watching you? I've heard people in the stands talking about how awesome your first three seasons were, and they're expecting your fourth season to be the best yet."

The hard planes of his face softened. "I pretended you were in the stands, or I pictured you watching from wherever you were, even though I knew you probably weren't."

He'd hoped.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I didn't know if Guy had realized what today's date was for his third game of the season. But I'd checked the team's game calendar looking for one of two dates, and this was the first date he had a game. Fittingly, my mother was on one side, and his mother was on my other side.

The seventeenth. Full circle.

As he jogged to the sidelines at the end of the first quarter, I stood up, shedding my jacket, and his eyes came right to me, as if they were laser guided.

I could see the moment his eyes registered that I was wearing his jersey, and his steps faltered, then stopped. He'd never expected to see me in it, but he'd hoped. He'd spent three years hoping without any expectations. He'd built a monument to me without knowing if I'd ever find out about it. He'd spent three years making sure he worked on himself, so he'd never hurt me again. He lived simply and humbly so the lion's share of his money could go to A Reason to Care since he didn't have me. Since he'd come back into my life, he'd shown me the changes he'd made, his dedication to me, his utter remorse, his desire for us to reconnect as the people we'd become.

He'd made me laugh again.

And now, I'd made him smile again.

A huge, stunning smile.

Guy came as close as he could get without leaping into the stands, eyes on me, and the people around me suddenly quieted. Had I been able to take my eyes off him, I would have seen that the Jumbotron had put me on the screen. Photographers suddenly started flocking toward Guy, but he didn't notice them. I was the only thing he saw.

Flattening his palm over my ring hidden under his shirt, he pointed his index finger on his other hand toward me and shouted so I could hear him.

"You, Eden, you have always been my Reason."

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