More Than A Game

Chapter 53

A/N: Hope you enjoy this update, I know I double updated but that was because the last chapter was quite short. Above is a picture of Brayden, Carmen's brother who is played by Matt Little; who is currently in Home and Away. xx

"Pick number 60 which belongs to the Gold Coast Suns and they have decided to unfortunately decided to pass."

At this moment, I had lent my head against the table feeling exhausted after hearing number after number after number. Looking at Brayden, it had honestly felt like he wanted to rip his heart out of his chest.

As a footballer, Brayden has to deal with a lot of things both physically and emotionally demanding, so for him to get this far and not be able to get selected for a team would be absolutely heartbreaking.

I turned my focus onto the stage to where Gillion began to fix his tie before moving closer to the podium. Right now I was screaming on the inside. Why wasn't any recruiter taking Brayden? So many questions raced through my mind as I let out a sigh, crossing my fingers that he actually gets drafted to a team before the event concludes.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we're almost there with finalising the draftees for the next season so please bare with me. Pick number 61, which belongs to The Western Bulldogs and they have decided to pick from the SANFL team South Adelaide, Brayden Richwald."

My heart automatically stopped beating as my cheeks went red. They just called Brayden's name, they didn't, did they? I looked around and heard the entire Gold Coast convention centre emerge into loud screams as we all stood up and began clapping. Brayden unexpectedly wrapped his arms around me, giving a huge hug.

Smiling, I released from the hug and muttered a congratulations to him. Brayden then went on to give mum a hug and made his way to Ollie where he shook his hand and gave him hug too.

Wiping away a tear from my eye, I watched as Brayden walked up the stairs on the stage and was greeted by Gillion and then the coach of The Western Bulldogs, Luke Beveridge whom gladly handed him a guernsey with the number 61 on it. Brayden shook the coaches hand before getting his picture taken.

I took out my phone and snapped a photo of my brother as he let out a smile and I tapped send on Instagram. I felt proud of my brother, he was finally going to achieve his dream of becoming an AFL player at the highest level.

"I'm really happy for you Carmen, your brother is going to be a footballer." Ollie whispered in my ears before giving me a kiss on the check.

I was honestly happy with this moment and although it would sad that Brayden is going to have to move to Melbourne, I was proud of him that he was going to be following his dreams. And besides, Melbourne is a beautiful just like The Western Bulldogs are an equally beautiful team. I'm sure Brayden is going to fit right in.

After the drafts had concluded, we stood up as Brayden, mum and Ollie engaged in a conversation. I honestly didn't want to interrupt this emotional moment, so I decided to stand back and saviour these few precious moments.

Out of the sudden, I felt a tap on my shoulder and quickly turned around feeling relieved when I realised it was just Kurt.

"So your brother got drafted to The Western Bulldogs. Congratulations to Brayden and of course your whole family. I really do wish the best for you all."

"Thank you Kurt, the honestly does mean the world to me for you to say that. But I do want to congratulate you and the Sydney Swans too, you've picked up some great talents."

"Thank you but how do you, oh right, a journalist. Yeah, don't answer my stupid question. Thanks again, I'm excited to meet the boys next year and possibly even take a couple under my wing."