Delay of Game (Game Time #4)

Chapter One Taryn

Danny Chambers was back in town.

The loud rumble of his vintage Mustang set my heart racing as it turned onto the street in front of my parents’ house. Glancing down at the worn cutoffs and ratty Balefire T-shirt, which I’d thrown on before I came out on the front porch to read, I groaned. It had been seven months since we last saw each other, longer since we’d spent any real time together, and this outfit would be his first impression of me after all that time? Gah!

Couldn’t be helped.

As he pulled up to the house and cut the motor, I shook my head. What did it matter what I had on? He’d pay about as much attention to my clothes as he would to a new tablecloth. I could be wearing a lace string bikini, and Danny wouldn’t notice.

Five seconds after we met when he’d started his senior year at Central Valley High, he’d friend zoned me, and he’d kept me in the friend zone for the past five years.

I gritted my teeth at the ridiculous way my heart somersaulted in my chest when he stepped from his car and pushed his aviator sunglasses on top of his head.

“Hey, T! You’re home!” The smile that broke over his face lit me up like sunshine.

Pathetic.

Even more pathetic? I’d made a visit home to see my parents for the weekend because Danny had mentioned in one of his recent emails he’d be discharged at the end of June. I could have waited until the Fourth of July to come home, but that would have meant he’d be back for nearly ten days before I saw him. I couldn’t wait that long.

God, I was beyond pitiful.

“Yeah. I needed a break from slinging lattes.” Sliding a bookmark into the romance novel I’d barely started, I set it on the patio table beside a glass of iced tea and stood as he bounded up the stairs to the front porch.

“It’s so good to see you, T.” Wrapping me in a brotherly hug, Danny picked me up and swung me in a full circle before setting me down. With a laugh, I swatted at him even as I did my damnedest to sneak a noseful of his delicious scent. He smelled of the berry-citrus body wash he always used, sunshine, and clean sweat. I wanted to bury my nose in his neck and stay there for a week.

Something flashed in his eyes, and for a weird second, I had the idea he didn’t want to let me go either. Then he dropped his arms and stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, and I dismissed that absurd idea.

“You’re home for good now, huh?” I slid my hands into the back pockets of my shorts and rocked back on my bare heels. “No more jetting off around the world to save it?”

He snorted. “You’re hilarious, Taryn. But yeah, I passed my ETS physical with flying colors.”

I shot him a look from beneath my brows. “Of course you did.”

Grinning, he said, “My CO signed my honorable discharge papers, and at twenty-four hundred hours day before yesterday, I pointed that baby north”—he gestured with his thumb at his car—“and headed home.”

Furrowing my brow, I asked, “So you’ve been home for a day and you’re just now hitting my mom up for cookies?”

His tone took on a serious note. “Is that what you think—the only reason I come around here is for your mom’s to-die-for chocolate chip cookies?”

“Yep. That and her dinners.” I shot him a smug grin. “Since I’m only home for today, she’s cooking my favorite meal tonight. You’ll have to wait for yours.”

His face fell. “You’re leaving tomorrow?” Then he rallied. “Guess that means I can talk Mrs.H. into cooking pork chops tomorrow night.”

As though he’d conjured her with her name, Mom stepped onto the porch with a glass of iced tea in her hand. “I thought I heard voices out here.” She set the drink beside mine on the table. Beaming at Danny, she opened her arms. “Welcome home! It’s permanent this time, isn’t it?”

Stepping into her embrace, he laughed and said, “Yes and no.”

Mom held him at arm’s length. “Explain.”

He sent a grin in my direction. “I’m not going back to the Air Force, but I am leaving town.”

At his pronouncement, my stomach bottomed out. He’d only been back for a minute and he already had a foot out the door.

“I’m walking onto the Wildcats football team. Fall camp starts the Monday after the Fourth, so I’m heading to Mountain State then.” He slid me a sly side-eye, and it took everything in me not to choke or do a happy dance.

Clapping her hands, Mom turned her cheesiest Mom smile onto me. “That’s wonderful! I had no idea. Did you know about this, Sweet Pea?”

Though I tried to suppress it—I truly did—the eye roll accompanying her use of my little-kid nickname couldn’t help itself. Tilting my head at Danny, I answered, “No. First I’ve heard it. When did you decide on Mountain State?”

Gesturing to the deck chairs, he waited until Mom and I were seated before joining us. “From everything you’ve said over the past three years, it’s obvious you really like the school, Sweet Pea .” He emphasized the hated nickname with a positively diabolical grin.

I bared my teeth at him and shot Mom a glare. She shrugged, but I caught the slight lift at the corner of her mouth.

Ignoring my attitude, he said, “I checked into their engineering program and discovered it’s top-ten nationally. From what I’ve seen from watching YouTube videos, the football team could use an ace receiver.” Waggling his brows, he smirked. “All things considered, Mountain State is a good fit for me.”

A swarm of bees buzzed in my belly, and I gulped down some iced tea to cool them off. “Wow. That’s—wow.” Sipping again from my glass, I gathered my thoughts. “Do you have to live in the dorms like regular freshmen? Might be kind of weird to be four years older than most of the guys on your floor.”

“When I talked to the coach, he said most players except freshmen live off-campus. Since I’m nontraditional, he thought I’d probably find some guys on the team who might need an extra roommate.” He tipped back some tea. “After living in barracks on and off for the past four years, I could do with a break from that kind of communal living.”

“You want to play football? And you already reached out to the coach? As a walk-on?” Struggling to wrap my head around all his news—especially the part where he was enrolling in the same college as me—I latched onto to the easy questions.

A cloud passed over his features. “If the Captain had left the service sooner, settled in one place, I might have had a chance at a football scholarship.” He drank more tea and set the glass back on the table. “As it was, I couldn’t accumulate stats, or a rocking GPA with how much we moved when I was in high school.” Running his hands down the tops of his jeans—his tell when he was embarrassed or nervous—he said, “I went into the Air Force so Uncle Sam could put me through college. You know that, T.”

I nodded.

“But I never gave up wanting to play football.”

The quiet conviction of his words pulled memories to the surface—memories of Danny tearing it up on the Central Valley High field every Friday night, the announcer booming his name through the PA system. Other memories followed: memories of me on the sidelines in my cheerleader uniform cheering my heart out for a guy who would only ever see me as a friend.

“Well, I think that’s just wonderful, Danny. Taryn can help you learn the ropes for getting along on campus.”

For my own sanity, I had to put a stop to Mom gushing about Danny and me hanging out at Mountain State. “Danny will be on campus with the team for weeks before classes start. No doubt his teammates will have him all lined out by the first day of class.”

“Oh, but the two of you will still be able to hang out, I suppose.” Her eyes twinkled, and I wanted to shout at her for the bazillionth time that the two of us were friends .

She’d been reading more into our relationship from the first time I brought Danny home to study together when I was a junior in high school. Admittedly, I’d been hoping for more too, but he’d made it as clear as glass he didn’t see me as datable. We were buddies. End of story.

Yet Mom loved to feed him and fuss over him, especially after she found out his parents had divorced when he was small, and he’d spent his life as a vagabond with his dad, moving every year or two for Captain Chambers’ military assignments. Mom always said she was quite happy with my sisters and me, but the big deal she made about Danny implied she’d maybe wished for a son in there somewhere with her three daughters.

“We’re having chicken enchiladas for dinner. I made plenty, so I hope you plan on staying to eat.”

“I’d never say no to an invitation to sit at your table. I’ve been dreaming about your food for months, Mrs.H.” Danny flashed his million-watt grin, and exactly like every other woman who’d ever come into contact with that smile, my mother swooned a little.

I couldn’t blame her. The man could coax a nun to stray when he turned that smile loose.

My mother grinned back at him. “Well then, you should probably make plans to come over for dinner tomorrow night too. I believe pork chops are on the menu.” With a wink, she stood and headed for the door. “I’ll leave you two to catch up. Your dad should be back from his afternoon golf outing anytime now, Taryn. Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes.”

“Pretty good timing there, Ace,” I said with a smirk.

“As usual, the captain’s cupboards are pretty bare.” Another cloud rolled over Danny’s features before he finished off his tea. “I’ve only been back in town for a few hours—long enough to drop my shit off at the house, take a little nap, and run my car through the car wash. I saw your sister while I was washing my car. She said you were home for the weekend.” He waggled his brows. “I’m definitely up for dinner with your family, but I also hoped to see you before you head back to campus.”

Tucking a foot under my thigh, I sat back in my chair. “Huh. You’re still in military mode then, yeah?”

Glancing down at his scruffy jeans with the holes in the knees—and not because he’d bought ’em distressed—he laughed. “Does this look military to you?”

The corner of my mouth quirked up. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around you joining the Wildcats this fall. I mean, you already reached out to the coach and everything.” I fiddled with a loose string sticking out from the bottom of my cutoffs. “I knew you loved football, but I guess I kind of thought you gave up that dream when you entered the military.”

He shrugged. “I’ve kept up on my skills, spent time in the weight room. The coach liked what he saw from my high school film, and he likes my physical stats.”

I snorted a laugh. “He does, does he?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, T.” He shook his head, but I noticed the little smirk playing over his wide mouth. “He likes my height and weight—which, by the way, are perfect for a college receiver.”

Yeah, I could agree with perfect. Somehow, over the past four years he’d spent in the service, he’d added a couple of inches to his height and stretched out the shoulders of his T-shirt until it screamed at the seams. My hands itched to explore the contours of those broad shoulders and the sculpted biceps his shirtsleeves struggled to cover.

“Do you go to the games?” His tone told me my answer mattered.

“Sometimes.”

His brows shot up.

“I work most Saturdays, so I’ve missed a lot of games.” At his scandalized expression, I hurried to add, “We usually have the radio tuned to Wildcats football, so everyone in the shop can cheer for the team.”

“That’s something, I guess. Not the same as being there in person where the guys on the field can hear you.” His brows came together. “You were one of our best cheerleaders in high school. I thought you loved the game.”

“I do love the game. But I also love a roof over my head.” Pulling a face, I added, “My scholarship only covers tuition and fees. With the three of us girls in college all at once, we all have to pitch in to help pay our rent.” I shrugged. “Football is cool and all, but I’m not going to pass up a shift that doubles my tips to see a game.”

I didn’t bother to add that the most fun I’d ever had watching football was when Danny played for the Central Valley Scarlets.

He rested his forearms on his knees. “You’re saying that after I make the team, you’re not going to watch me play?”

“You sound a touch cocky there, Ace,” I said over the rim of my glass. Then I pulled an ice cube into my mouth to keep from giving myself away by saying something stupid like “If you’re on the field, I’ll have season tickets.”

Clasping his hands between his knees, he shot me a smirk. “There is no question I’ll make the team, T.”

With a smile I said, “Messing with you, Danny.”

Before he could respond, my dad pulled into the driveway and parked his twenty-year-old Chevy pickup. Reaching into the back seat, he hefted his golf bag and stepped around the front of his truck. Only then did he pay attention to the two people on his front deck, and a grin broke over his face.

“Hello, stranger. Back for good, are you?” Dad slid his worn golf bag off his shoulder to thunk on the boards of the deck and reached a hand out to Danny who stood to take it.

“Yes, sir, Mr.Hamilton. The Air Force and I split up a couple days ago.”

Both of them grinned at his joke.

“You look the part, but I don’t know if I’m convinced those flyboys made a man of you. Not like the Army would have, anyway.”

They exchanged another grin at Dad’s opening salvo in their running rivalry over which service branch was superior.

Shaking my head, I mumbled, “You two are ridiculous.”

Dad put a hand to his ear. “What was that, Sweet Pea?”

My eyes rolled like marbles in my head. Why my parents had decided to revive that old nickname I thought we’d put to rest when I graduated high school, I had no idea. Then I glanced over at Danny’s twinkling silver-gray eyes and decided maybe I had a clue after all. Having him here was like old times, complete with all the feelings I’d worked for years to stamp out.

“How was your game?” I asked.

“We just knocked some balls around on the driving range on the public course. I’m still rusty.” Turning back to Danny, Dad asked, “You’re staying for dinner, right?”

“No way am I missing Mrs.H’s chicken enchiladas—even though Taryn plans to hoard them all.”

I hissed indignation, and both of them laughed.

“I’d better head in and clean up then, make sure I’m ready to referee.” Dad chuckled at his lame joke, shouldered his golf bag, and headed into the house.

Since the first time I’d brought him home, my parents had been taken with Danny. Not that I could blame them. With his gorgeous looks and Southern charm—he’d spent his formative years in North Carolina—he drew people to him like bears to honey. Being good at Dad’s favorite sport meant the two of them talked football like a religion. Cleaning his plate of every last morsel of Mom’s food made him her favorite dinner guest. My older sister, Tally, mainly treated him with an air of bemusement. Probably her response reflected her having been out of the house for two years before he hit town, so she hadn’t been around him much. Tina, my younger sister, vacillated between hero worship for his football prowess and torturing him as though it were her right as a younger sibling, what with all the brotherly vibes flowing off him.

In other words, Danny fit right in with my family. I was the only one who couldn’t get it right with him.