The rest of the game is a nail-biter. Both teams have chances to score. One kick by Portugal almost finds the back of the net, but Herrmann snags it from midair.

Two minutes are added for extra time. My stress level shoots through the roof. Metaphorically, since the stadium is open air.

But those one hundred and twenty seconds pass, and Kluvberg is still ahead when they officially expire.

I sit in shocked silence as the jubilation resonating around the stadium slowly registers, rising and rising and rising like an ocean tide that can’t be contained.

“They won,” I say to myself.

“Get out there!” Hallie urges.

“How?” I break through my daze and look around at the euphoric fans surrounding us. I’ve seen photos of players on the field with loved ones after a major victory, but I’ve never seen how that actually takes place, logistically speaking.

“Um, the field is right there.” Hallie gestures forward.

“I’m definitely not supposed to climb over the barricade, Hallie.”

She smiles. “Since when has that ever stopped you?”

Fair. And Hallie doesn’t even know about my illicit first trip here.

So I do just that, leaping over the plastic fencing. Portugal is standing in shocked disbelief. Kluvberg is celebrating. They’re a huddled mass around the one person I want to see. Eventually, they clear. Thankfully, it’s before security hauls me off the field.

Beck spots me and grins, and that smile is the release I’ve been waiting for. I sprint, not caring who’s watching us. We could be on the fucking jumbotron for all I care right now.

He catches me, barely moving, despite my momentum.

“Holy shit! You won!” I shout the words so he can hear them over the pandemonium.

Pure euphoria is painted over Beck’s perfect features. Some amusement blends in as he takes a few steps back, taking us to the fringes of the celebration where it’s a few decibels quieter. “You know you could have just shown your badge to get on the field, right?”

“Obviously not.”

“I told you last night,” Beck informs me.

“You were naked. I was distracted.”

He chuckles. “Or you like trespassing.”

“I’m not trespassing. You just said I have permission.” I grin triumphantly. “It was a grand gesture, okay?”

“I’m blown away.”

“Yeah, you look it,” I comment. But he doesn’t. He looks sweaty and happy and gorgeous. And the knowledge that he’s also mine swells and swells inside me until it pushes out the words I’ve been afraid to utter until right now. “Ich liebe dich.”

Those three words just sit, encasing us in a bubble of silence amongst the celebration that surrounds us.