Chapter 24
Anya
“Auntie Anya, do you want to play on my team?”
It took a second to realize that was me.
I was Auntie Anya.
My head snapped up, pencil still hovering over the sketch pad. Ian and Harlow’s daughter Sage—a tall, gangly bright-eyed thing with boundless energy—had skidded to a halt in front of the chair I’d parked myself in for the afternoon.
“Oh, I wasn’t sure if you needed another person to play, kiddo.”
“We probably do. Plus, you’re tall, and you can distract Parker. It works with my mom and dad all the time.”
Ian gave his stepdaughter a fond glance, one of the rare softening in his stoic features.
A last-minute touch football game had been suggested, and the entire freaking family had moved to a large field deeper into the Wilder’s property which seemed created just for moments like this. There was no goalpost or anything, but very faint white lines lingered on the grass, faded over time, but something that had been well-maintained for a very long time.
From what I heard that morning, it had been a while since they’d done this, but gathering the family around the field lines seemed to be a familiar pattern. An ATV was parked at midfield, Greer straddling the machine with Olive in front of her. They were finishing a shared sandwich before any game play started. Two white pickup trucks—just as large as Parker’s—displaying the Wilder Homes logo on the doors had been transformed into makeshift seating, blankets lining the beds for anyone who wanted to stretch out. Cameron and Ivy were currently sitting on one, whispering something to each other that made her tip her head back and laugh.
Poppy did her best to convince her brothers she could throw a few plays, but the eight-month-pregnant belly disqualified her immediately because, according to Parker, she’d “cheat like hell” since no one would be allowed to touch her. Her current position was in the chair next to mine, arms crossed over her belly and a disgruntled frown tugging at the corners of her mouth while she glared at her brothers and her partner Jax.
On my other side was Sheila and Harlow, both cooing over something Leo was doing in Sheila’s lap. I’d been sketching almost nonstop during any free time that day.
“Whoa, you drew that?” Sage asked, eyes locked on the pad in my lap. “That’s so cool.”
“Thanks.” I turned it around so she could see it better, and her fingers traced over the line of the eagle’s back. He was larger than the others I’d been working on, and I desperately wished I’d brought some colored pencils to fill in the tawny, golden coloring I had in mind. “It’s a work in progress, but it’s getting there.”
Sage bounced on her toes. “So will you play?”
My eyes found Parker, deep in the end zone and tossing a ball back and forth with his stepbrother Erik. It was interesting to watch his dynamic with the different siblings. He was softer with his sisters, teasing them far more than he did his brothers. When he didn’t think anyone was watching, he was constantly checking in with Poppy to see if she needed anything. Earlier that morning, while we’d visited the newly finished Wilder Homes retail store, he continually pointed out things she might trip on, asking if she needed a drink or a rest. Poppy might have rolled her eyes, swatting him away when he hovered too much, but damn if I did not find that wildly attractive.
With his brothers though, he was more serious. He and Erik were talking football, and I watched while Erik demonstrated something in the end zone, gesturing for Parker to run a quick slant route, and when Erik released the ball, he clapped loudly when Parker reached his long arms out to snag the football from the air.
His body, when he was in motion, was breathtaking. It was a warm day, under the sun, and Parker had tossed on an old T-shirt, sleeves ripped off and a hole down the sides, allowing for glimpses of his obliques as he reached out to catch the ball.
“I can’t say I’m all that great at football,” I told Sage. “My athletic abilities are focused more in the gym than a sports field, but sure, I’ll do my best.”
Her victorious whoop echoed across the field, and Sheila laughed as her granddaughter punched her fist in the air and ran to tell Parker that he’d be guarding me. His eyes met mine across the field, and my stomach performed a weightless tumble.
We’d hardly been alone all day, and that was probably for the best. Night time at the Wilder house was an exercise in untapped sexual tension, especially now that the first few days had passed, and the shock of Leo’s appearance had dulled. The distraction was still there, of course, but whatever he’d overcome after the surprise shower, the clouds had cleared from his eyes.
It was dangerous.
I stood with a stretch and groan, tossing my sketch pad back into my seat. Sheila smiled up at me. “Kick his ass, sweetheart.”
I felt his presence behind me before I saw him, the warm wall of muscle almost touching my back, but not quite. “And that’s how my mother supports me. I see how it is.”
His hand touched my lower back, and when I glanced over my shoulder, he was staring down at the baby. “How’s he doing?”
“I think he might be the happiest baby in the world,” Sheila proclaimed.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if other people could hold that happy baby?” Harlow asked cheekily, rubbing a hand over her own pregnant belly—slightly smaller than Poppy’s.
Sheila sighed, about to hand him over, when Parker gestured that he wanted him. Leo was scrunched up when Parker picked him up underneath his armpits and held him up in front of his face.
“Better pay attention, little lion,” he said seriously. “Your first of many football games.”
Then he brought him in for a kiss on the cheek, one of his big hands spread wide over Leo’s little back when he briefly cuddled him against his chest, and I swear, every woman in the vicinity sighed. It wasn’t even logical, the reaction I felt inside of my body. My skin practically melted off my bones as he handed Leo over to Harlow and then straightened, looming over me slightly with a daring glint to his eye.
“You think you can guard me?”
I tilted my head. “If you’re as slow off the line as you were last season, yeah, I think I’ll do just fine.”
Cameron whistled. Sheila laughed in delight.
I brushed past him, shoulder glancing off the hard wall of his chest as I did, and he let out a low, rough laugh that had my stomach turning in a delicious coil. Ivy gave me a high five as I passed the truck.
“Aren’t you going to join?” I asked her.
She raised a perfectly manicured brow. “Absolutely not. Besides, someone has to be an unqualified judge from the sidelines.”
“You will be perfect at that, baby,” Cameron answered gravely.
Her response was a narrowing of her eyes, but when he snuck a kiss, she softened.
The teams started huddling up, and when I jogged over, Greer stuck her fist in the air.
“Yes , we have a ringer.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Me?”
“Oh yeah. Now his concentration will be shot to hell. It’s perfect.”
There were a few people on the field I didn’t recognize—some cousins that had been roped in, a few employees from Wilder Homes—and as a result, they’d managed to piece together a six-against-six lineup.
“Beckett isn’t playing?” I asked.
Greer glanced over at her husband, waiting on the sideline with folded arms. “Nah, only hard and fast rule we have is only one professional football player per team. Otherwise, it’s unfair. He’ll rotate in on the next one.”
“That’s the only hard and fast rule?” I laughed. “I mean, you can’t tackle, right?”
Greer’s face went deadly serious. “You do whatever you have to do to take that man down if he gets the ball.”
I blinked. “Oh. Umm, sure.”
Erik sighed, giving his sister an affectionate look. “Not whatever it takes, Greer. We do have some limits.”
“No she doesn’t. She’s married to that oaf. If she needs to strip her shirt off to distract him, I’m on board.”
Erik looked over at me. “Please don’t do that.”
“I can assure you I won’t.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Good.” Greer was leaning down to whisper in Sage’s ears, and Erik dragged her back. “Quit teaching the kid to cheat.”
“I would never .” Then she winked at Sage. Sage winked back, but it was basically a blink, because she couldn’t quite close one eye by itself.
“Okay,” Erik sighed. “I’ll be QB. You two block for me,” he said to a couple of tall guys wearing Wilder Homes shirts. “Greer, you’re the decoy. I want you on a post route like you’re heading to the end zone. Anya, you run a comeback route after about ten yards, see if we can pull Parker back toward the line when he follows you.” Then he turned to his eager niece, who was bouncing on the balls of her feet while she awaited instruction. “Sage, you’re the target. I want you full out on a go-route. Straight to the end zone, okay?”
Her eyes were pure fire. “I will destroy whoever’s guarding me.”
Greer patted her on the top of the head. “Atta girl.”
Erik looked at the two of them for a long moment, then closed his eyes. “I’m too old for this shit.”
Greer laughed, shoving at his big shoulder. “Come on. Quit your bitching, you know you love us.”
“Despite my better judgment,” he muttered. To the rest of the team, he gave a glance. “Everyone know what they’re doing?”
We nodded, then broke out into our line.
Parker strolled in front of me, a bright gleam in his eyes that, I swear on all that’s holy, made my nipples perk up. My jaw tightened, and I set my hands on my knees.
“I don’t think you’re ready for this,” he mused.
I didn’t think I was ready for this either, but there was no way I was telling him that. He was bigger than me. Stronger than me. Definitely faster. And if he realized Sage was the target, there’d be no stopping him.
“Only one way to find out, Wilder.” I smiled. “See if you can keep up.”
His eyes flashed.
Erik called for the play, a complicated barking of random words that honestly meant nothing, considering he had no center in front of him, and the ball was already in his hands, he just needed to dance back into the pocket to start the play.
Greer rolled her eyes. “This isn’t an actual game, Erik,” she yelled. “Just go .”
He picked his arms up and took a few steps back, and I took off, ducking around Parker in the middle of the field. Sage and Greer did the same, Greer heading to the corner of the end zone with Cameron right with her, and Sage sprinting her little heart out, a wide-eyed Wilder Homes employee trying to keep up with her.
Parker snagged the back of my T-shirt when I tried to dart back toward the line.
“Hey!” I laughed, swatting at his hand. “Holding. I call holding!”
Erik faked like he was going to throw the ball to me, and Parker snatched me around the waist, sticking his arm out like he might try to intercept it one-handed.
I was breathless with laughter as I tried to wriggle out of his hold, and then Erik shifted his gaze to Sage.
“Shit,” Parker yelled. “Guard the end zone, he’s got Sage.”
He dropped me in the next heartbeat, and by the shift in his body, I knew he was going to try to sprint toward my teammate, hoping to disrupt the play with his long-ass arms.
Before I knew what I was doing, I snagged his arm to stop his forward movement, and Parker swung around, and as he did, I swept my foot behind his knee.
Parker toppled like a fucking tree, landing on his back with a groan.
When I tried to hop over him, he grabbed my leg, and I fell over his body in a graceless heap. His chest was heaving. So was mine, and even though I was half on top of him with our legs tangled and my elbow dangerously close to stabbing him in the throat, we both lifted our heads to watch the play unfold.
Erik’s pass was perfect, a neat spiral in the air that sailed straight over the defender’s head, landing neatly in Sage’s hands.
Greer screamed, running toward her niece to hoist her up in her arms.
“Hell yeah,” Erik yelled, clapping his hands as he jogged toward the end zone.
My gaze found Parker’s, and his mouth spread in a devastating smile. “Cheap trick, wife.”
I scoffed. “You grabbed me first. What was I supposed to do?”
So many of our body parts were touching, and the natural next move was to shift so my thighs straddled his waist to sit up. It was difficult to decide what registered first—the flare of heat in his eyes or the distinct hardness I felt between our bodies, but when his hand curved over my thigh, the calloused skin of his fingertips made my head go fuzzy.
“Didn’t peg you for a cheater,” he whispered.
The arm not touching me was lying on the ground, hand loose, elbow bent at a ninety-degree angle, a deceptively careless pose for such an imposing man. I moved quickly, sliding my arm across his body before he could blink.
My hand wrapped around his wrist, fingers facing away from his body, my elbow immediately wedging up against his throat. His eyes widened in the exact moment I pushed my other hand underneath his biceps, fingers locking around the wrist holding his in place.
He was stuck. He just didn’t realize it yet.
Parker let out a strangled laugh and tried to turn over, but I released my body weight, my back leg hooking behind his knee, my knee touching the ground cinching in around his waist.
He couldn’t move.
And he tried.
It was a beginner move, something I’d learned early in my jujitsu classes, but the surge of triumph was glorious, and I knew he could see it on my face.
“Anya.” His ominous tone hit me like a blast of heat. Again, he tried to dislodge me, but the elbow against his throat and the pressure of my hands locked together around his wrist meant he was good and stuck. If he tried hard enough to dislodge me, he’d feel a pain in his shoulder that no NFL player wanted to feel.
“This would be cheating,” I said lightly. “Maybe next time you’ll believe me when I say I can handle myself.”
His eyes were hypnotic. “You are so fucking lucky we’re not alone right now, wife.”
I tilted my head. “Yeah? You’d still be pinned, wouldn’t you?”
Parker lifted his head as far as he could manage, his lips almost brushing mine. “Try this again when we are, golden girl, let’s see what happens. No pretending necessary.”
That snapped me out of it, my hand releasing his wrist immediately.
I hadn’t been pretending, had I? There’d been no thought of putting on a show or what his family might think. It was that unconscious reaction that was terrifying because his was real too.
I slid off his lap as gracefully as I could manage. Parker rolled to his feet, and I kept my eyes away from the telling bulge in his shorts.
Sage and Greer jogged up, and I gave Sage a high five. “Nice work, lady. You’re fast.”
“That was awesome,” she breathed. “How did you pin him when he’s so much stronger than you?”
“Lots of practice.” I smiled. “But I could teach you a few things if you wanted.”
She brightened. “Really?”
Ian came up behind his stepdaughter and laid his hands on her shoulders. “I like this plan.”
Sage smiled with such vicious glee that I laughed.
“I should’ve brought Willa,” I said. “You and my sister would get along very well.”
“Maybe we can do a big family vacation next summer!”
My stomach hit the floor, and when I looked over at Parker, his face was inscrutable. “Yeah, maybe,” I said.
Greer raised her hand. “Can you teach me how to pin someone too?”
“No,” her brothers yelled in unison.