Unstoppable Love: The Kelley Family Series

27. Cameron

Game day. It was electric. My favorite days of the year. The excitement far surpassed anything else in my life, and the adrenaline rushing through my veins was intense. We were fortunate to have our opening day of the season at home. So much better than traveling to Arizona last year. But we were here at halftime, jogging back onto the field, up by twenty points.

If I turned to my left, behind the team’s bench, I’d find Isaiah and Ava somewhere in the stands. I’d found her after my first passing touchdown early in the first quarter, on her feet, arms thrown high in the air, then slinging an arm around Isaiah in a massive hug.

I loved knowing my family was at home, watching me play on TV with my mom’s incredible cooking filling their plates and their bodies. I’d also always loved when a couple of them or friends from school would come and take the two seats I had available every game. I could have bought more. Hell, I could have bought a suite for the season so everyone could come watch me in person, but I liked knowing my family was together, doing things they loved while watching me do what I loved.

Nothing. Not a damn thing in the entire world was better than knowing my sweet, feisty little Ava Decker was in the stands, watching me in person. She’d admitted last week she’d watched me play my first game last year and then watched the Super Bowl, but couldn’t bring herself to watch any in between.

Now she was here. Back in Denver with me, even if it was only for a couple of days, but the time didn’t matter. Later, I’d steal her away from Isaiah. He’d head back home, and she’d stay with me until I took her back to New Haven tomorrow night.

While I should have been focused on the game re-starting in front of me, our defense on the field for kickoff since we started the game with the ball, my mind was racing with my other, and currently all-time favorite adrenaline rush…

Getting Ava alone in my bed, making good on that threat I sent her earlier in the week when she was with Bryce.

“Feeling good and looking even better,” Joe Hamm, my buddy and lead running back, said as he swung his helmet in his hand next to me.

“Feels better to be back out here.”

“And winning.”

“And winning,” I agreed. “Definitely that. That was a nice run you had before the half.”

I’d handed him the ball when we needed two yards for a first down on a third down. He’d pile-drove his way into a wall of Las Vegas’s defense, somehow found a hole, and ran an additional thirty yards, putting us in field goal range with thirty seconds in the half, which led to us being up by twenty and giving us a chance to breathe easy.

A cheer shook the entire stadium, and Coach was losing his mind screaming, “Offense! On the field!”

“Turnover.” Joe shoved his helmet on and slapped my shoulder. “Let’s go show them how it’s supposed to be done!”

I jogged out to the middle of the field and huddled up with my guys. We’d recovered a fumble from Vegas’s tight end on their forty-yard line.

“Forty yards!” I shouted into the huddle. “Who wants to bet we score six in six plays?”

A quick six plays wouldn’t give our defense much time to rest, but they’d only been on the field for two plays anyway. They could use the exercise.

Marlin joined in. “Five hundred says six in four if you slip it to me.”

“You’re on!” I called the play. We clapped hands and lined up. My center snapped me the ball, and I turned, handed it off to Marlin.

I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not we’d made the bet because Marlin slipped past two defenders, hurdled his last one, and jogged the ball into the end zone.

One play. Six points.

Yeah. This was going to be our year.

By the end of the third quarter, we were up by thirty-five points. The stadium was, surprisingly, not emptying yet, although I anticipated it’d happen later in the fourth. But we had sunshine, good weather, a winning team, and a rabid fan base. It was rare that our seats emptied out.

“Kelley.”

I turned to Coach, who was coming at me with his headset on, microphone tugged down beneath his chin, laminated play calling card in his hand.

“You’re not going to like this, but I’m putting in Potter for the fourth.”

“The hell you are.”

“Game’s a lock, and it’s early in the season. Need you to stay healthy and need his nerves to be a thing of his past.”

It made sense, but no competitor wanted to be sidelined, even staring down a guaranteed lead. “Potter’s nerves are fine.”

It wasn’t like I was worried about him taking my spot. He was good, and in a year or two would be even better, but I sure as hell wasn’t giving management any reason to choose him over me if it wasn’t necessary.

“And you’re sitting. Take a load off. Relax. Or throw on a mic and help him out if he needs it.”

“This is fucking stupid.”

“So’s your attitude, so fix it.” He clamped his hand on my shoulder and gave me a quick shake. “You’ll lead this team to the Super Bowl. We all have faith in you. But if the worst happens, we need him ready to step up. Be the team leader I know you are.”

Shit. Guilt trips from Coach were almost as bad as if they were coming from my dad. Two men I respected most in this world and always had my best interests at heart.

“Fine.” I dipped my chin down, tore off my helmet, and did exactly what he asked.

I grabbed a headset and stood on the sideline while Jamison Potter carried our team through the fourth.

In the end, we kept our thirty-five-point lead, with Vegas finally scoring their first touchdown since the second quarter and Potter firing off a pass to Biles with two minutes left for a touchdown.

I celebrated with our team in the locker room. Showered and then joined Coach Callahan in the media room. Barely the size of a standard bedroom, dozens of reporters were already seated, men and women with cameras at the back of the room, waiting and clapping politely at our first win of the regular season as we entered.

Lights flashed, and I fought against wincing from the brightness.

Coach gave his quick rundown first, his opinion of the game. Where we excelled and where he could see we needed work. Even with a win as large as it was, there was always room for improvement. Vegas wasn’t predicted to be a playoff contender anyway.

I nodded along with Coach’s perspective, and then the first reporter to direct a question my way, asked the one I’d been dreading.

“How’d that feel to sit out today? Taking your team to that win and then not completing it.”

Shitty. It felt absolutely shitty even if Potter looked good. Which was exactly how I replied. “We want every member of this team to be as strong and working at their highest potential capability. Giving Potter that shot today will only increase his confidence in the future, should he be needed.”

“Any health concerns we should be aware of? Any reason why it was necessary to send him in?”

The little shit. He wasn’t from ESPN or the local news. Probably closer to being a gossip blogger than a sports reporter. This one damn question would be picked apart for weeks to come, and if we weren’t in front of the media, I’d glare at the coach for putting me in this position in the first place.

I leaned closer to the microphone and stayed relaxed. “There was absolutely no medical reason for Potter to be in on our part. Like I already said, Coach made the decision purely for the full benefit of the team and the season to come, and I fully support that. We have a lot of weeks to go and need to be certain Potter will perform if needed, which I absolutely don’t plan to allow.” I smirked, gave a little chuckle to lighten the mood. A few reporters flowed in. “But today he proved he can do it, and the next time he takes the field, I have no doubt he’ll be even better.”

Lights flashed. The shitty reporter was silenced by another question, and by the time Coach and I left the media room, I was more than ready to get the better part of my Sunday started.

Something I never thought I’d say. But that was what Ava did to me.

Her presence made everything better.

Since Coach and I had to stay later for the media room, the majority of the team was gone by the time I was back in the locker room, grabbing my overnight bag from the stay at the hotel earlier.

I’d made sure to leave passes for Isaiah and Ava so they could make it down to the player’s lounge, and it was Isaiah I saw first as I pushed open the door that would take me to the hall.

“Nice toss,” he said, referring to one of the many incredible passes I’d made all game.

He came to me, and once the door shut, Ava was there, her smile as bright as always, maybe brighter in the dimly lit hallway.

“Thanks, man.” Since Isaiah was already heading my way, I gave him a hug and a couple back slaps for good measure. “Thanks for coming.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it. And before I see you two get all lovey-dovey and gooey gross and whatnot, I’m headed out. You take care of her.”

“Don’t be dumb,” Ava said, grinning at her brother. “Thanks for bringing me out today.”

“No problem, little sis.” He kissed the top of her head and stepped back. “You two take care. Drinks on me at Kelley Brews when you can manage to head out in public.”

“You’re on.” We shook hands again, and he ambled off back toward the hall that would take him to the stadium and public parking area. We parked in a private lot under the stadium for both privacy and security reasons.

As soon as he was gone, I dropped my bag. “It’s good to see you.”

She was gorgeous. Always had been, always would be the most beautiful woman I ever met, and I was pretty sure I could be ninety and still fight against going hard the first time I saw her every day.

But now? Wearing my team’s colors stamped across her chest, her hair loose and curled, and her cheeks showing the color she’d gotten from the afternoon sun, she was more stunning than usual.

“It was good to see you play.”

“You going to kiss me yet or stand there looking beautiful?”

Her lips kicked up at one corner. “Can’t I do both?”

“Ava…” I growled, but I didn’t have to reach for her.

She flung herself against my body, hands clasping my cheeks, and yanked me down to her mouth. “I missed you,” she whispered, right before I closed the gap and pressed my lips to hers, showing her exactly how much I missed her, too.

The kiss was hot from the first touch, and I lost all sense of where I was, where we were, and who could see us, but I didn’t care. No one inside the stadium would leak anything, and most workers were used to seeing it. Her body pressed against mine, and she let out the cutest whimper as I dove deeper into her mouth and shoved my hand to the back of her head to adjust the angle. Her hair fell through my fingers like silk, and the taste of her had me getting hard.

“Shit.” I pulled back from the kiss and kissed the tip of her nose. “We need to stop and get to my bed.”

“Sounds like exactly where I want to spend the rest of my day.”

Reason number two hundred and fifty-six why this woman was perfect for me.

“This feels a little different,” Ava said, walking into my house.

“Better than the mad dash to disappear the last time you left?”

She turned to me, frowning, and chewed her bottom lip. “In retrospect, it feels a little overdramatic, but I also kind of needed it.”

I didn’t blame her for that. I’d had time to think about it too. She’d gone from living with Kip to me being in her face and then having my tongue down her throat with barely any time to process the end of one relationship and what I was trying to start that night at Tom’s Saloon.

“I didn’t mean to be flippant,” I told her. “You’d gone through a lot in a short time.”

“Yeah.” She brushed her fingers through her hair and glanced around. “Bonus, though, this time I get to finally see your bedroom.”

In typical Ava fashion, she was wearing a short-sleeve shirt, but she’d cut it so it was cropped, showing off that slim strip of soft flesh of her abdomen. As she kicked off her sandals, her hands went to the button of her cutoff denim shorts, and she unbuttoned them.

As delightful as that image of getting her alone in my bed was, there was something else we needed to do.

I kicked off my shoes and tore off my own shirt.

“We’ll get there later,” I told her. I bent low, wrapped my arms around her waist, and lifted her high in the air until she fell over my shoulder with a shriek and her beautiful ass was in my face.

“Cameron!”

“Walked into my home a couple months ago and found you asleep on my couch. You know what I did before I woke you up?”

“No.” Her hands clung to my hips. She was laughing too hard to say much else.

“Went upstairs and took a shower. Jerked off to the image of you on my couch and all the things I wanted to do to you in that moment.”

I reached the couch and carefully dropped her back down to it.

Her face was flushed, her hair now a beautiful, sexy mess, and she blew out a puff of breath. “Oh…”

“Yeah, oh.” I bent down and grabbed the frayed hem of her shorts. With one quick tug, I had them down to her ankles and tossed the fabric out of the way. “Get out of those clothes and spread your legs for me, Sunshine.”