Safe to Love (Gridiron Warriors #11)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Ridge Benson

Groaning, I turn over in bed. I spent last night with thoughts of Kresslee swimming in my head again.

She isn’t far from them. I’m either dreaming about her or thinking of what she is doing. Either way, she is always in my head.

I haven’t been free from thoughts of her since junior high school, and I doubted my thoughts would be free from her until she was mine.

But there was the biggest issue. She could never be mine. Not in this life, or the next. Not how I longed for it.

No one, not even my dad, my best friends, Rhodes, and Ryker, knew how obsessed I was with Kresslee.

If my best friends knew about Kresslee, they would never let it go. Those two gossip more than old ladies in a beauty shop.

I was thankful for them; they kept me sane and helped get me to where I am today.

Playing in the big leagues of football. It was always the plan to be here. From when I was four years old, I knew football was my life.

That was the first time I picked up a ball, and I had yet to put it down.

My father took me out to the backyard to throw the football, which helped release some of my energy.

Once he saw how focused I was and how it seemed to come naturally to me, he would always be outside with me, whenever he got the chance.

He showed me how to hold the ball and how to throw it into a perfect spiral.

I loved every minute of those lessons. My father was my hero. He still was.

He was a single father. My mother couldn’t handle the pressure as a young mom, and though my parents were both young when I was born, my father stepped up, taking responsibility for his son.

I was always grateful to my dad. He worked hard to get to where he is today, and I never took that for granted.

He supported me in my dreams. Never once letting me down, even though I knew his work as a small-town mechanic was hard.

He would take off early to attend my games, and then, when I was tucked into bed, he would return to work while his mom kept an eye on things for him.

My grandparents are amazing people, too. They also came to every game, even when I only played pee-wee football.

My grandma, Carol, sewed our last name on their shirts that my grandma sewed to mimic a jersey, knowing we couldn’t afford more than the one the school gave me. Wanting to show the world who supported me.

My grandpa, Patrick, could whistle louder than anyone else on the field, and I always knew he was front and center, cheering for me. If it weren’t for them, and my dad, Liam, I doubted I would be where I am today.

I wanted to prove to them that I had reached where I am today. That I could make it to a team in the big leagues, and I had.

I worked my ass off in college, doing my best to get my degree and keep my focus on the field.

The girls at school didn’t love that, but my heart was already someone else’s.

She had held my heart in her hands for years. I was thirteen the first time I saw her across the field.

She was a cheerleader for the rival team we were playing. It wasn’t the first thing I noticed about her, though.

She was tiny. Smaller than most of the other girls she was cheering with, and she was athletic. She ran fast, then twisted her body a few times in some backflips, and I could only stare in shock until she stood back up, waving at the crowd.

She fixed her dark brown ponytail of curls, then waved once more as she picked up the small pom-poms she dropped.

She looked over at me, her eyes catching mine, and that one look was all it took for me.

I could see our entire future in her eyes, even though she was across the field and I was getting into position.

I watched her face turn pink as she looked away from me, and I shook my head to clear it.

It was one of the only times I almost lost focus.

Thank heavens for Rhodes. He grabbed my helmet. “Dude, get your focus back on the game.”

He hadn’t seen the girl, hadn’t known why I lost my focus for that second, but he kept me safe on the field.

I wanted more than anything to find out her name. To find out who she was, because for the first time in my life, I was floored by a girl. I doubted it would ever happen again. I knew she was meant for me.

Just one thing was wrong with my plan to know about the girl who was now mine. Her brother. Creed Burkheart. He was the quarterback of our rival team and a legend in his own right. He was only my age, but he was meant for big things.

He was ruthless on the field, playing as if his life depended on it. As if college scouts, or scouts for the big leagues, were watching us play. It took everything we had to play against their team and be victorious. I was worried, but I knew my team would do what they did best, and we did.

We won that day. Barely. It took all of us working together to come out on top.

But our victory had come at a price to Creed. He refused to let his team come in second place, but that was exactly what happened. We played better than them, only just by beating them by three points.

Creed hadn’t taken that loss well. He threw his helmet, raging at his team at his coach over the loss. Finally glaring over at me since I was the one who had sacked his player, who was supposed to get the ball to the end zone, and I could see that we weren’t going to be friends.

I didn’t want him to be my enemy, but that was where he landed.

He walked over to my girl, her eyes wide as he gestured for her to get her things.

She did as he asked, and it bothered me that he was rude to her.

I started to make my way over to them, but my coach stopped me. “Not a chance, Benson. You don’t want to do that.”

I looked up at him, “Why? He shouldn’t boss her around like that. I don’t like it.”

The coach shook his head, “Rumor has it, the Burkheart twins are inseparable. Don’t do it. Leave them be. Creed is pissed. You played a hell of a game today.”

I nodded, “Thanks, Coach.”

I walked back to the bench, cleaning up my gear as I watched Creed bully his sister into getting her stuff ready.

Twins. I hadn’t been expecting that. They were as different as night and day. Creed was huge. And his sister? The girl who now held my heart in her hands without me ever even speaking to her was tiny.

She barely came up to his shoulder, and they had to be my age at least.

She dropped her water bottle, and Creed growled, “Damn it, Kresslee. We gotta go. Dad is pissed. He isn’t thrilled about the last throw. He already messaged me.”

Kresslee. My girl. That was her name. Kresslee Burkheart.

She was meant to be mine. I knew it as much as I knew that football was in my blood.

I just had to figure out a way to make her mine, but seeing as I was only thirteen, I knew it would be a while.

It bothered me for years. I only wanted her, and I gave up a lot in my years in school because I was already taken.

I hadn’t looked at another girl, never gave any the time of day.

I had no regrets on that front. The only regret I had was that Kresslee wasn’t mine yet.

Sighing, I shook my head. That game and those days were long gone.

Kresslee was all grown up now, much to my dismay. She was as sexy as ever, also much to my dismay.

But thankfully, Creed kept all the males around her at a distance. I heard from several men on my team that she wasn’t allowed to date players.

Creed wouldn’t allow it. He had done great things with his life, as I had predicted. Becoming the quarterback of our biggest rival team in the state.

He was still as focused as ever and still hated my guts. Throughout junior high and high school, we always played against each other, and my team somehow always came out on top.

With each loss, Creed’s hatred for me grew. I could feel it. He seemed to pick me out, glaring at me from across the field.

I didn’t want his hate. I never did anything to deserve it, other than playing better than him. That was what I was supposed to do. My coach was always proud of me when I played, as was my dad.

But with every win under my belt against their team there was a strike against me when it came to Creed.

It wasn’t my favorite thing. I only wanted to speak to Kresslee, to show her that no matter how much her brother hated me, I wouldn’t go anywhere.

But that hadn’t happened. Creed had kept Kresslee far from my team. He wouldn’t even come to shake hands with our team when we were done playing.

Every other boy on his team shook hands with us, but Creed always pulled Kresslee away, even when his coach got angry with him.

Creed would lift an eyebrow, refusing to answer the man, then pull Kresslee away.

I could see her look over at me, a look of what I hoped was longing in her eyes, making it take everything I had inside me not to charge over there, punch Creed, and making sure that nothing happened to her again.

It was harder than I thought possible.

I dreamed that she wanted to speak to me, that she longed to let me hold her in my arms as much as I wanted it.

When we were fifteen, I saw her walk into the school, alone, before one of our games.

I knew it was my only chance to speak to her.

I made an excuse to Rhodes that I forgot something in the locker room, rushing after her.

I was grateful to see the school was empty.

I leaned against the wall outside the bathroom, my arms crossed as I waited for Kresslee.

She came out a few seconds later, stopping in her tracks when she saw me.

I stood to my full height, which wasn’t as tall as I knew I was going to be, but I still towered over her.

She bit her lip, then tucked her hair behind her ear, “Hi.”

I smiled at her, “Hi. Kresslee right?”

Her cheeks went pink, and she looked away from me, “Yeah, and you are, um Ridge?”

I grinned, “That’s me.”

“Did you need something?”

I shook my head, “I just wanted to speak to you.”

Her eyes widened, “You did?”

I nodded, “I have seen you around for a while. I just wanted to talk to you.”

She looked down at her shoes, then up at me, “I have seen you around too. You are really good at football.”