19. Chapter 19
Jake
“Again,” Knox barked, pointing to the breakdown. “Lower. You’re too high— If you go in like that on game day, you’re losing that ball every time.”
I reset over the tackled player, dropping my hips, weight forward, hands poised.
“You all know the jackal’s about speed and intent.” He continued. “You hesitate, you lose it. You commit, you own it.” We’d practiced this play and position before, but everyone was determined to achieve better things for our team this year.
I hit the breakdown again, faster this time, locking over, feeling the resistance from the clear-out coming a second too late.
“Better!” Knox called. “That’s what I want.”
Our first game was two weeks away, and we were stronger than last season already. The quake that shook our stadium last year also knocked our confidence, but we were back and had that magic every time we got together.
Coach Em stepped toward Knox, asking something before clapping once to pull attention. “Alright, enough of you pretending you can jackal in isolation. Valkyries are joining.”
My ears perked up. Joint training was something we did once last year, and it ended with me hauling Nate across the pitch, but I was much more hopeful this time around because I had my eyes on a different Davis.
I couldn’t deny that she’d been on my mind since I’d left her place a few days ago.
I texted to check in, making sure she and Cai were both feeling better, pleased to hear they were.
After that night, I worried I’d shared too much, but she never made it feel that way.
She listened and validated some of the scary things I’d never said out loud. Not to Nate, not to anyone.
The Valkyries spilled onto the far side of the pitch in a wave of navy and white.
I found her immediately. Blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail that swung with every step, catching the sun. Her shorts displayed her strong thighs, and I’d looked more than once to know her ass was otherworldly.
“Partner up! We’re going over jackal technique,” Knox shouted, interrupting my train of thought.
My gaze was already on her as I lifted a hand, pointing straight at her before curling my finger in a slow, deliberate “come here” motion.
Amusement tucked into the corner of her mouth, begging to burst out of her. She could see exactly what I was doing and was deciding whether to let me get away with it. Evie bumped into her shoulder, laughing at something, stealing Seren’s attention for a second.
Her eyes flicked across the pitch, landing on her brother, but she just tipped her chin at him and began walking farther onto the green. Toward me.
Every step she took went straight to my ego, feeding it shamelessly.
A faint flush sat high on her cheeks as she came to a stop in front of me. Her lashes sat naturally, framing those green eyes I could never forget.
“You’re pushing your luck,” she said, but her voice didn’t carry the weight it probably should’ve.
My arms splayed out at my sides as I shrugged. “It’s who I am.”
Her mouth twitched, that almost-smile threatening again, and I had the distinct, dangerous thought that I wanted to be the reason it broke free.
“Cai back in daycare?”
“Yeah.” She scratched the back of her neck. “I think I owe you a bigger thank you than I realized. I really am grateful you could”—she frowned and paused before exhaling—“do everything you did.”
Joy filled my chest with a hundred butterflies as I looked at this strong, beautiful woman who was thanking me for being someone she could rely on. “I’m happy I could help. Honestly, I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing the whole time.”
She coughed a laugh. “Are you kidding? You were amazing.” Her eyes shone with emotion. “Whoever gets to have kids with you is a lucky girl.”
The voice in my head shouted something reckless, something that would’ve burned this whole thing to the ground before it had even started, but I caught it just in time, dragged it back behind my teeth where it belonged.
Had I ever considered that before now? I don’t think I had, but the idea of it all didn’t scare me if kids were as cool as Cai.
“Yeah?” I said instead, lighter, easier, even though there was nothing easy about the way my chest felt too full, like something had lodged itself there and refused to move. “I’ll add that to my list of achievements. Rugby player, great kisser, future elite father material.”
“Wow,” she said, grinning as she stepped closer. “I guess I can’t attest to all of those achievements.”
I was aware of everything—her breath, the color splashing across her cheeks, the way her eyes didn’t flick away this time. “Which one are you doubting?”
Her tongue peeked out, licking a smooth line across her lower lip, and my cock practically leaped in my shorts. “Rugby player.”
Was I on fire? I think I might’ve been on fire. Or was the heat bolting down my spine all because of her?
Her teeth captured that lip and, yep, it was definitely because of her.
“Here I thought you were wondering what it was like to kiss me.”
Her focus dipped to exactly where I wanted it, to my mouth, but we were interrupted.
“One attacking player on the floor, presenting. Defender arrives, into position. Clearing can happen later. We’re walking it first,” Coach Em announced, breaking the spell I’d fallen under.
Bobby dropped to the ground beside us with a dramatic groan. “I’m the sacrificial lamb, apparently.”
Evie cackled. “So dramatic. I don’t know how Micah puts up with you.”
Seren laughed quietly, then her eyes locked on me. “I’ll go down.”
A sharp bark of laughter tore out of me before I could stop it, loud enough that a couple of the team glanced over, my head dropping as I dragged a hand over my mouth like I could physically catch it and shove it back in. Never mind how hopeful my dick had just tried to be.
Her eyes widened in realization. “Oh my god, I didn’t. That’s not—”
I stepped closer, looking down at her with so much need, wanting to touch her but resisting the urge. “Relax, mama,” I cut in, tone deepening, even as I grinned. But because I have no fucking self-control, I also added, “Let me go down. It’s only right a man gets on his knees for you first.”
The heat in her eyes made them darken to a forest green, and I knew I was in for trouble. That nickname had slipped out before, but I wanted to brand her with it because I fucking loved how her lips parted when I’d said it.
“Maybe,” she said quietly, dark intent in her voice that I hadn’t heard before. “I’d be willing to let you test that theory, another time.”
Was it appropriate to suddenly disappear with a teammate?
I mean, probably not, but it was hard to focus on anything else right now that wasn’t my interested dick.
Was she green-lighting this between us? It fucking felt like it, but Knox’s whistle cut through again as he shouted for positions, and I knew we both had work to do.
Then she lowered herself onto the grass laying sideways, leaving me standing there like an idiot trying to remember how rugby worked.
“Don’t forget,” Knox called out, pacing past us, “players above, we want forearms to the floor, not hands. Get as low as you can, legs wide apart.”
Seren stayed focused. I’m glad one of us was.
I stepped in over her, forcing my head back into it, widening my legs so one foot was near her shoulders and the other behind her hips.
“Lower,” she said immediately, “you’re too high.”
I wanted to get lower, for many, many reasons, but I also knew it would mean being so much closer to her, and she already smelled so fucking good. Like damn marshmallows, I swear. My mouth watered.
“Hold it there,” Knox called out. “Feel that position. If you’re not solid here, you’re not winning anything.”
Seren pushed back against my legs. “Where’s your weight?”
“Through my feet,” I said.
“Liar,” she replied, and before I could react, her hand pressed lightly against my thigh, nudging. “You need to keep your weight even, ready to pull back once you scoop the ball.”
I knew this, but for whatever reason, I’d shown up today without my years of rugby experience. “Yeah, okay,” I said, adjusting and feeling my thighs tremble with effort.
I dragged in a breath through my nose, trying to focus on anything other than the fact that she was directly beneath me. Is this how Connor felt last year when we did the combined training with Teddy? It was torture being so close to Seren but having to keep it professional.
“Hands ready,” she added. “Don’t grab too early.”
“I know,” I said. God, her eyes were bright today. So was her attitude, and I fucking loved it all.
“You’re thinking too much.”
I snorted, letting my mind go to the places it wanted to be, just for a second. “You really wanna know what I’m thinking?”
Her eyebrow quirked as my mind filled with more dirty thoughts of her.
“If the ball got snatched, that would be embarrassing for you.”
I smiled, dropping just a fraction more, settling into it properly. What would be embarrassing would be the fact that both our teams could see how much I was enjoying this.
“Okay, positions down so I can see,” Coach Em yelled.
Moving forward, I held my weight, keeping as close to her and the ball as possible as I hooked my arms around the ball in her arms, waiting for our coaches to review us. My body shook with the effort it took to stay in this position, and my breaths stuttered out as I tried to keep them even.
“Hold it,” Knox said somewhere above us.
I did. Or I tried to.
Because my focus should’ve been on my base, on my hands, on whether I could actually keep this position under pressure, but it wasn’t. It was on her.
She wasn’t looking at me, and that didn’t matter, because I could stare at her side profile all damn day.
The little lift of the tip of her nose was cute as fuck.
As were the freckles dotting her hairline.
Her chest rose and fell with each breath, the fabric of her shirt shifting just enough to make me aware of every inch beneath it, every inhale a reminder of how close I was, how easily I could close that gap if I stopped pretending I had any control left.
Her lips parted slightly, drawing in air, and my attention snagged there, because I couldn’t stop imagining what they’d feel like, how they’d move, whether she’d taste like the marshmallows she always smelled like.
A strand of her hair had slipped loose, catching against her cheek, and I had the completely useless thought that I wanted to tuck it behind her ear, just to see if she’d look at me after.
Seren shifted her elbow a fraction, adjusting her presentation.
My weight tipped forward just as Knox came behind me and said, “Take the ball.”
I dipped quickly, hands clamping in, dragging it back toward me.
I should’ve been focused on the distance between the ground and my ass—on staying low, controlled, actually doing the drill correctly—but instead, my brain snagged on the fact that my hands had definitely, absolutely just dragged across Seren’s boobs.
And I dropped backward with a solid thump, air punching out of me as I hit the turf, dick twitching relentlessly inside my boxers.
“You owe me a round of sit-ups and squats for that, Ledger.” Knox’s voice was amused, like he always was when he’d make us pay for messing up.
“Sir,” I agreed, grunting at the pain in my butt cheeks.
Seren had turned and was on her feet already, looming over me. “What happened? You had it.”
Your boobs happened, is what I didn’t say. “Just lost my balance,” I said, discreetly adjusting myself.
Her head tilted, and that stray hair taunted me again. “I’ll show you how it’s done then.”
I fucking hoped so.