“Holy hell! These seats rock,” Tank exclaimed. “Ax is da man!” It was then that I noticed all the guys were wearing number eighty-seven jerseys or T-shirts, and my heart swelled to twice its normal size at these wonderful, gruff men accepting Axel into our big, crazy-ass family. Sure, free NFL tickets probably helped the situation, but they had also invited him to eat and hang out with them, and I knew they were trying to get to know him because he was important to Carrie and me.

We all screamed when the Wranglers ran onto the field, and I saw Axel’s eyes sweep the area looking for us. Carrie gave him an enthusiastic wave, and he returned it and blew her a kiss. Then his eyes found mine, and he threw me a sexy wink. Damnation, he was one fine man, especially in those pants.

Axel was having a great game. It was a close one, but the Wranglers were ahead when Ax made a crucial block just before halftime, opening up a big hole for the tailback to gain a first down. Some dude with a beer belly standing behind us yelled, “Hell yes! Did you see that block Broxton made?”

Carrie turned around and told him proudly, “That’s my daddy!” and the guy gave her a high five with his meaty hand.

“Your daddy rocks, little girl,” he bellowed. After that, Big Belly and his friends fist bumped or high-fived Carrie every time Axel made a good play.

The Wranglers scored and took a ten-point lead into halftime. “Need to go potty, Care Bear?” I asked as the players left the field for the locker room.

“Yes, and I’m hunnnnngry,” she said, rubbing her little tummy.

Beau nudged Cam and said, “Let’s go get hot dogs for everyone.”

Late in the third quarter, the quarterback connected with Ax on a slant route on the fifty-yard line, and Axel broke one tackle and then another as he headed for the end zone. I was tempted to cover my eyes when a cornerback leaped for him and got his hands around Axel’s waist, but my man churned his strong legs and dragged the defender the last fifteen yards to the end zone. Our section was going absolutely nuts, and Carrie and Cam were doing some kind of crazy little victory dance involving an awful lot of booty shaking.

Axel jogged over and held the ball up for our daughter, and her eyes widened as she took it. He pulled his helmet up, and I held on to Carrie’s waist as she tucked the ball under her arm and leaned down to give her daddy a sweet kiss on the lips. He pulled his helmet back down, and Carrie smacked the top of it and yelled, “Do it again, Daddy!” She turned around and held the ball up, and we all cheered, including Big Belly and his buddies.