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Julie looked down "You’re still wearing his ring"

She knew she should have taken it off, that it should have been off since Saturday e

Julie looked like she was about to say so more, when Melissa and Dominic came around the corner If they were surprised to see her, they didn’t show it

Wanting to do anything but have another conversation about her personal debacle, she said to Doe fan of yours Would youin to say hello to hireat Dominic DiMarco charmed not only her father, but her entire faht for a little while Only her mother continued to watch her with such deep concern that it broke her daughter’s heart all over again

During her breaks at school the previous week, when everything had been going so ith Cole, Anna had studied up on football For her second-ever gaer in the dark, and couldn’t help but be wrapped up in the action, especially with Cole out there And the truth was, knowing hiame When he sacked the quarterback, she kneas his testosterone co back in the hole, she had to smile at his complete and utter confidence

It had been a little over twenty-four hours since the article about the hurt and betrayed And yet, she was here

With the ring he’d put on her finger a week ago in Las Vegas still glittering on her left hand

The field blurred before her eyes as she looked out on it and accepted the truth

He’d hurt her feelings deeply and she didn’t like hiht nowbut she still loved him She would always love him

He’d deserved to be punished by her for what he’d done--she valued herself enough to know that--but not being with hi her, too

A s hi other, far asps sounded in the rooainst the glass

Anna looked around at everyone "What happened?"

Her one completely white "It’s Cole He was hit"

Anna jumped out of her seat and looked out the , but she couldn’t see Cole, only a dozen peoplea circle around soh the crowd in the VIP box for the door She needed to be with him, needed to see for herself that he was okay

"Anna" She realized there was a hand on her ar down the hall Dominic turned her in the opposite direction "The field is this way"

With that, he took off down the hallway, and she was so glad he wasn’t waiting for her to catch up As an ex-pro player, he was naturally fast, but love gave her strength and speed she shouldn’t have possessed By the ti past Doht for Cole, she didn’t see the crowd on their feet, didn’t notice the eerie silence All she could see was her husband lying on the grass

All she could feel was love

Not anger Not bitterness

Only love

She’d thought coh the crowd of coaches and trainers, she finally realized what real bravery was

It was loving someone so much that she would take his pain as her own

And it was forgiving the little mistakes, the bad decisions, the sometimes hurtful words, because she knew that none of that really ht down to it