The record for total touchdowns (that's a combined passing and rushing) by a rookie in the NFL was 35, set by Cam Newton in 2011.

It was the quarterback Reid had drawn the most comparisons to throughout his transition from college to the NFL. Cam Newton was also the last person to ever earn the Triple Crown of college football, meaning he'd won the Heisman, won the National Championship, and been selected first overall in the NFL draft in the same year - at least until Reid had this year.

I remember at the beginning of the season last year, Reid telling me how much he resented comparisons. But I think he was finally starting to take the comparison in stride - it was now mid-November, and Reid was currently on pace to break Cam's records. He was currently the front runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he even had some actual MVP odds in his favor. Rookies never won MVP, but with Reid, everything was on the table. It was kind of incredible. Not that I was at all surprised. A bust he was decidedly not.

He'd become a phenomenon in New York (despite the fact that the New York Jets don't actually play in New York - they play in New Jersey), and everyone wanted a piece of him. We'd been given courtside seats at Knicks games, he was about to have a Gatorade ad on a big digital billboard in Times Square, and his home Jets jersey was currently the third highest-selling jersey in the NFL, just behind Patrick fucking Mahomes and Joe fucking Burrow.

Of course, the biggest piece of him belonged to me (do with that what you will).

We had a gorgeous three-bedroom condo in Hoboken with a view of the New York City skyline across the Hudson River, and Reid traded in his decidedly unfit for city living Ford Raptor for a devastatingly sexy black BMW M3 that he could speed and maneuver through the narrow Hoboken streets to the Jets practice facility in suburban New Jersey.

We were happy. Like, honest to god, well and truly happy. We were binging White Collar at night in the king-sized bed we shared. We were talking about getting a dog. We slow danced in the kitchen when we cooked dinner together.

I thought about where we were at this time last year, fighting with ourselves and each other because even though we wanted each other, we were tricked into thinking a future with each other would never work. Well, it did. It fucking worked.

And me? I was a contracted media editor for ESPN College Gameday. I put together longform video segments that were shown during College Gameday - something I could do from home, so I could "enjoy my boyfriend's dynamic rookie season in the NFL." In my boss Mariah Roe's words.

When I wasn't doing that, I'd become Reid's de facto manager. Sure, he had an agent (Max - we loved him), but he was for money stuff and legal stuff. But fun stuff? That was all me.

Fun stuff included Reid's debut on late night television. Maddox Madsen was one of the hottest new late night hosts in the city, and so it stood to reason that he wanted the hottest upcoming athlete in the city. He'd sent a big black Suburban to pick us up from our condo on Thursday night after Reid had come home from practice and showered, and we participated in a few bedroom extracurriculars before we got dressed and ready to leave.

Reid kept his gaze out the window almost the entire ride out of Hoboken, and thankfully I had some emails to address so I could give him a bit of quiet time before I started poking at him.

"I haven't seen you this nervous in a long time," I finally said to Reid as we rolled through the never ending stream of traffic in the heart of the city. "You wanna talk about it?"

"What?" Reid had finally ripped his gaze from the window and looked over at me, his chocolate eyes illuminated in bright flashes of light from Times Square. "I'm not nervous."

Not only did I know him well enough to know when he was lying, he knew that I knew. After a moment, he conceded with a sigh and reached over to take my hand in his, spinning the gold ring on my pointer finger with his thumb. He'd bought me it at a market in Mallorca over the summer, on the first real vacation we took together.

"This is different than a game, or really anything football related," he said. "That's all."

"Okay. Well, you look great," I told him with a grin.

"I had help in that department," he mumbled, making an effort to mirror my grin. He wore a sleek but trendy outfit of perfectly tailored chino pants, a tight white t-shirt, and a black silk Prada bomber jacket fitting for a late night television debut. Obviously I'd picked it out - with some help from JJ, who was already the front-runner for "most stylish NFL player of the year." Unsurprisingly so.

I pulled his hand to me and kissed the back of it. "I'll still love you, even if you trip on stage and rip your pants."

"Oh great, way to jinx me."

Tripping and ripping his pants was always in Reid's worst nightmares any time he had to do anything publicly, but it did get him to laugh, and I knew that was probably all he needed.

We arrived at Maddox Madsen's studio in Times Square, where we were met with more fans and paparazzi outside than I think either of us anticipated, and even though I was not appearing on television, I was thankful I'd dressed up a little bit in a long black turtleneck sweater dress and black Louboutin boots.

Reid took my hand in his as we walked in and gave a few people as polite of a wave as he could muster, and when I gave him a reassuring squeeze, he squeezed back. Security led us through the building to the hallways of the studio, where Maddox was eagerly waiting for us in his stylish black suit.

"Thanks for coming man, I'm so stoked you're here." He greeted Reid with a beaming smile fitting for a late night talk show host as he extended his hand to him.

"Thanks for taking a risk on someone who's never been on a talk show that isn't entirely focused on football." Reid let out a dry chuckle as he shook Maddox's hand.

"And you must be Jo." Maddox then turned to me and pressed a kiss to my cheek. "I've heard a lot about you."

"All good things I hope," I chuckled and nudged Reid in the side.

"No, I actually led with the story about how you tried to push me and my bad knee in spin class because you can't control your competitiveness." Reid rolled his eyes, and when my jaw dropped open in faux surprise, he pulled me into a tight sideways hug. "I'm just kidding, baby. Only good things."

He pressed a reassuring kiss to the top of my head.

Maddox obnoxiously cleared his throat, as if to remind us we were not in fact alone. "Well now that you two are done being disgustingly cute, I'll take you back so you can chill and get ready before we go on."

As we followed Maddox down the studio hallway, passing various production personnel who all seemed to gawk at Reid as we walked by, Maddox continued yapping. Again, fitting for a late night talk show host.

"So, I've got you, and I've got that viral metal band who's been doing all the crazy song covers. They're apparently from New York and they've just gotten back from tour, so they're still in live performance mode. I actually had to beg for them, to be honest."

I was a little caught up in Maddox's surprising self-deprecating humor that it took me a second to realize I knew the band he was talking about.

"Oh wait," I perked up and pinched Reid's jacket sleeve. "You know that song Concrete Jungle I listen to all the time?"

Reid snickered. "Uh yeah, you played it non stop when we first moved. You said it was for the aesthetic."

"That's them, right?" I asked Maddox. "The Green Inferno?"

"Yep," Maddox nodded. "Like the cannibal horror movie, so I've been told."

"I didn't realize that was a metal band," Reid added. "They don't sound all that metal."

"Oh wait until you see the singer, he's about as metal as they come." Maddox chuckled and shook his head. "Dude looks like he could conjure the devil, but he's surprisingly timid. I got him to agree to do the musical genre challenge game, though. Feels right for a guy that can convincingly cover any song known to mankind. But you're first, big shot. No pressure."

I snickered and gave Reid a coy sideways glance. He responded by sticking his tongue out at me. Reid being called variations of big guy had been and always would be a turn on for him - not that Maddox Madsen could have known that - but I'd never pass up an opportunity to tease him.

Later, Reid mouthed with a smirk, and heat bloomed in my stomach.

Maddox finally stopped us in front of a big blue door that had Reid's name on it, and it made me smile. He'd so earned this, and I hope he knew he did.

Maddox leaned in to Reid and lowered his voice, but I still managed to pick up a few words "...we've still gotta talk about that other thing."

Reid nodded knowingly, and he turned to me, putting a hand to my shoulder. "I just gotta do some prep with him real quick. I'll be back."

"Feel free to wander around, check out the studio and stuff." Maddox gave me a tight-lipped smile. "I promise I'll get him back in one piece."

I forced a smile. "I'll never hear the end of it from Coach Sanders if you break him."

Reid blew me a kiss before being led away, leaving me standing in front of the door with his name on it. I tried to steady myself as I took a quick picture of it for posterity, but my body stirred with an unsettling buzz. Reid and I told each other everything - even stuff from the team or ESPN that we really weren't supposed to. My type-A personality didn't like surprises, so I did what Maddox suggested and wandered.

Just beyond Reid's dressing room door was the one for the band, and as I passed it, a faint conversation spilled out from under the door.

"...but change the chord progression again on the bridge. It just blends better with the chord changes on the piano."

I hadn't really listened to any of their other music since there wasn't all that much of it to begin with, and if you asked me to point them out in a crowd, I couldn't, but for some reason, I knew the guy talking had to be the singer. His speaking voice just sounded too satisfying not to be.

"Are you sure you're not just making all these changes because you're in a mood?" This time it was a girl who spoke, and I found myself smirking at her bluntness.

The guy groaned. "Bite me."

"Need something?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin as I whipped around on my heels to come face to face with a short blonde girl, holding a tray of coffees in one hand and her sparkly pink phone in the other. Despite the fact that I'd just been very clearly eavesdropping, she offered me a kind smile as she slid her phone into the back pocket of her rhinestone studded wide-leg jeans.

I sighed and offered her an apologetic smile in return. "Sorry, Maddox took my boyfriend, and I don't really know what to do with myself right now. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

She nodded in understanding. "The football player?"

"Yep." I nodded, then offered her my hand. "I'm Jo."

"Sienna," she took my hand and smiled a bright, white-toothed smile. "I do social media and stuff for the band."

I tried to suppress my obvious surprise as I assessed her very Malibu-Barbie-esque appearance, her blonde hair in perfect soft waves and her lips pouty and glossy pink. Not exactly the kind of person you'd expect running social media for a metal band, but if she noticed, she met it with another grin.

"I like your shoes," I pivoted, nodding down to the beige Dior slingbacks she wore.

"Oh thanks," she beamed again, kicking one leg out for effect. "I got them on The RealReal if you can believe it, for like, half the price they normally are."

Now I was intrigued. "Really?"

"Oh yeah," she nodded, her tone suddenly as serious as a heart attack. "I've gotten almost all my handbags from there. I mean, designer stuff is meant to last, right? It's like an investment-"

"You done yapping, Polly Pocket?"

I recognized the singer's voice again, although this time he sounded much closer. I turned to see him leaning against the doorframe of their now open dressing room door, and I understood why Maddox said what he said about him. He was almost as tall as Reid, his messy hair dark and his hooded eyes darker, and underneath his black button up short sleeve shirt were tattoos all the way from his neck down to his fingernails.

I was so taken aback by him towering over me like he was freakin' Slenderman or something, I couldn't even appreciate that he had just called this girl Polly Pocket. I mean, it made sense.

Sienna scowled at him and shoved one of the coffees from the tray in his hand. "Your tea, your majesty."

This time I couldn't swallow down the snicker that escaped my mouth.

The singer rolled his eyes before taking a sip of his tea and retreating back into the dressing room. Sienna followed him, but spun around on her heels to face me again just as she reached the threshold of the door. "He's irritable when he's nervous."

"You don't say."

She shrugged it off and gave me another beaming smile. "Anyway...see ya out there?"

"Yeah, definitely." I returned her smile as she stepped through the threshold of the door and shut it behind her.

I decided that was enough excitement before the night had even begun, and I slunk back to Reid's dressing room. He never ended up coming back - instead, I was summoned by a production assistant to wait in the wings of the stage when the show began.

Reid was brilliant as he bounced off of Maddox almost effortlessly, smiling and laughing as he talked about our favorite thing in the world - football. Pride swelled like a balloon in my chest, threatening to burst altogether. It wouldn't have even been painful, because love never was. Not with him.

"So, I know your girlfriend's here," Maddox had said, and suddenly my attention was locked onto Reid as he bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. "And if you've never seen these two together, they're disgustingly cute and make you believe in true love and all that jazz."

"Yeah, she's...well, she's my best friend."

The audience let out a big aww.

"So this little secret you planned was hard to keep from her," Maddox continued, and my whole body seized.

The production assistant that had been standing beside me the whole time suddenly nudged me forward.

"Go on," she whispered harshly.

Reid made eye contact with me, and his bright smile was the only thing that pulled me forward. When I stepped into the glaring light, I heard the audience cheering. Reid got up from the cushy chair next to Maddox's big desk and motioned for another production assistant to slide a big box onto the stage.

I was slightly relieved he wasn't proposing, because I don't think I could handle being proposed to on national television. I wanted that to be private - something just between us. I think he knew that too. That being said, I now had no idea what to expect.

"I know we've been talking about this a bit lately," Reid began, and he crouched down to open the top of the box and reach into it. Needless to say, when he pulled out a Cane Corso puppy, I couldn't stop myself from squealing even though we were in fact on national television. This was why I belonged behind the camera.

"Oh my god." I nearly cried as Reid handed me the puppy, who immediately snuggled into my chest. "He's so cute, is he really ours?"

Reid nodded, still grinning ear to ear. "I know you're home alone a lot during the week, so I wanted you to have a companion, and something that reminds you that I'm always with you."

He had big blue eyes and the silkiest dark grey coat of fur. Despite the cheering of the crowd, he was half asleep as I stroked his big head.

"Like I said, disgustingly cute," Maddox chimed in with a laugh. "And that's why he's America's favorite quarterback. Ladies and gentleman, Reid Donahue."

The show had gone to commercial, and we were led off stage by a few production assistants as the audience still cheered. I kept the puppy in my arms, his oversized paws dangling over the crook of my elbow.

"I hope you don't mind, I named him already," Reid told me when we were alone backstage.

I pulled at the silver tag dangling from his collar. Etched into it was Peyton.

"I love it," I told him as I hugged our puppy close to my chest. "I love him, and I love you."

"I meant what I said." Reid pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I'm always with you, even when I'm not, and I will be forever."

━━━━━━


i know with bonus chapters there's not much plot, it's just for fun, which is why it IS a bonus chapter to begin with. but alas, in honor of clemson making the playoffs AND winning a watty for BIG SHOT in the same weekend, a bonus chap felt super necessary, and this picture did everything for me lol

when i tell y'all a crossover has been brewing in my mind basically since i started FEEDBACK, and i've finally found the perfect way to do so (thanks to my soulmate w1ldflow3r for the best idea). obviously this was more BIG SHOT focused, and since as of posting this chapter these events haven't happened in the FEEDBACK timeline yet, i didn't want to give too much away on that end anyway. just a little teaser, if you will. btw maddox madsen is totally jimmy fallon, i love him.

that being said, if you're NOT currently a FEEDBACK reader and have been intrigued by this silly little metal band as much as jo has, y'all can find it on my profile page. i mean, why would you NOT want to get to know polly pocket and the prince of darkness? 😉🤘🏻