Chapter 36
Evie
“That’s a pretty good throw,” Quint says, sounding impressed.
I am acutely aware of the fact that I am surrounded by four incredibly talented athletes.
While I never played any official sports in school, I did have a neighbor next door that loved sports and always roped me into playing.
Thankfully, one of his favorite things to do was throw the football back and forth.
We’d go out into the street and take turns throwing it back and forth.
Zane throws it back, and I watch it all the way to my hands now.
My neighbor used to call me butterfingers because I always dropped it in the early days, but I got better over time.
I throw it to Zane, and he cocks an eyebrow.
“You can throw, Bennett.” I smile at the use of my last name.
He throws it back, a little harder this time, but I still manage to get my hands around it.
A grin lights his face. “Yeah, I’m totally taking Bennett. ”
“Like she was going to be on anybody else’s team,” Reid says as he comes out onto the field.
“All right. How are we doing this?” Quint asks.
“How about I just cheer on the sidelines?” I offer.
“Nope. House rules. You sleep here; you play Sunday ball,” Zane says. “Slate, you’re with Evie and I.”
Quint slaps Reid’s back. “All right. Let’s do this.”
Everybody makes their way to the center of the huge backyard. I walk over to Zane. “I really don’t think I should—”
He puts his hands on my waist and bodily moves me to the side. “You’re right here.”
Quint and Reid line up across from us, and it’s impossible to ignore Quint’s grin. “What do I do?” I ask. “Wait.” I put a hand on Zane’s arm. “This isn’t tackle, is it?”
The side of his mouth tugs up. “No. Since we’re all under contract, we don’t do anything to jeopardize any of us getting hurt. It’s just two-hand touch.” Relief flows through me.
“So, I just have to touch somebody with both hands, and they’re considered down?”
Zane looks at me, and I can see his wheels turning.
“I’m switching up the teams,” he says, surprising all of us.
“Quint, you’re with Evie and Slate. I'll be with Reid.” He steps to the other side of the invisible line.
“Only I can touch Evie.” Quint snickers, but Zane ignores it.
His eyes meet mine. “Evie, same goes for you. Only you can touch me to tag me out.”
I frown at him. “Why?”
“Yeah, why?” Quint asks, and I hear his barely restrained laugh. I look at Reid and see he’s biting back a smile. Even Slate looks slightly amused.
“Because nobody touches my girl but me,” Zane says with absolutely no embarrassment. “And I don’t trust you idiots not to hurt her.”
“What about me?” I challenge. “Do you trust me not to hurt you?”
He grins wickedly. “Baby, you can hurt me any time.”
Quint makes a gagging sound, and I can’t help but laugh at his corny line. “That was terrible.” But Zane doesn’t stop smiling, and I can’t seem too either.
“Are we doing this or not?” Reid asks.
“Okay,” Quint says, turning to Slate and I. His face is devoid of all humor now. “Let’s make a plan. Since we have one more player, they’ll get first possession. Evie, your job is simply to go after Zane.”
“And do what?”
“If you can touch him, great. But all you need to do is just go after him.” I look at him in confusion. “Trust me. You’ll distract him; that’s all we need.”
I look at Slate, but he just nods his agreement. I shrug. “All right. I can be a distraction.”
“Yes, you can. Hands in.” I put my hand on top of Quint’s, but Slate doesn’t. “Come on, Slate.”
“I like my hand attached to my body,” he says in a low voice.
Quint glances at me. “Good point.” He pulls his hand out from under mine. “Let’s go!”
I shake my head and line up with them. Reid hangs on to the ball.
He passes it through his legs to Zane, and Zane takes a step or two backwards, just like he does in the games.
I start towards him, but don’t get far before he throws it to Reid.
Reid spins with it and gets past Slate, but Quint touches him, stopping his progress.
We make a new line of scrimmage. “Hey, what happened to distracting Zane?” Quint asks under his breath when we line up.
“I will this time.”
“Good.”
I can’t help my smirk. He’s all in on this; they all are.
Reid snaps the ball to Zane, and I’m moving before I think about it.
Zane sees me coming and grins widely but releases the ball before I get to him.
I turn around in frustration as I watch Reid catch it.
“Gotta be faster than that, Bennett,” he says against my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.
I don’t face him. My competitive spirit is starting to kick in.
I've always had a healthy dose of it. My mom refused to play games with me because of it. The guys stop Reid, and we line up again. This time when I go after Zane, he spins around me and runs, scoring a touchdown for them. He winks at me when he tosses the ball to Quint, and I refuse to get frustrated. It’s just a game.
But that wink might have woken up my competitive spirit even more.
Quint turns to Slate and I. “All you have to do is keep Zane occupied,” Quint says.
I raise a brow at that, but he grins and turns to Slate. “You pass, and I'll run?”
“Yeah.”
Quint turns back to me. “You want to do the snap?”
“Yeah, no thank you.”
He lines up for the snap with Slate behind him.
Once the ball is in Slate’s hands, Quint takes off down the field.
I run towards Zane who’s trying to catch up to Quint.
But Quint’s too fast. He scores, and we gather to celebrate.
Slate smacks him on the back. “It’s a tie game, people,” Quint calls out.
Reid lines up in front of Zane with the ball.
As soon as the ball leaves his hands, I’m running towards Zane.
He sees me coming and dances away from me.
I get a small idea of why opponents get frustrated with him.
He gets a pass to Reid, but Slate stops the run.
We line up again, and I watch Reid and Zane, trying to figure out how in the world to stop them.
On the next snap, they score again. Our next drive, we fail to score and have to give it away.
When we line up again, I watch Zane. He catches my eye and grins.
It’s that grin that makes my blood boil.
He knows they’re winning, and he knows there’s nothing we can do to stop it.
An idea takes hold, and I wonder if I’m brave enough to pull it off.
I turn to Slate, who’s standing right next to me.
“You take Zane,” I whisper quietly. He gives me a tight nod, letting me know he heard me.
When Reid snaps the ball, I lift the bottom of my shirt and pull it up to wipe the sweat from my face.
I’m careful to keep my sports bra completely covered. I hear Quint hoot and drop my shirt.
“You’re down,” Quint hollers.
I look up and meet Zane’s gaze. His green eyes pierce mine. “That was a dirty move, Bennett.”
I give him my most innocent look. Quint turns to look at me. “What’d you do?”
“Does it matter?” I ask as he jogs back to our side. “It worked.”
He grins. “Yeah, it did.” He gives me a high five, and we line up again.
I can feel Zane staring at me, but I refuse to meet his gaze.
On the next snap, Zane moves backward. He throws it to Reid, but Quint intercepts it and runs it in for a touchdown.
Quint and Slate gather together and wait for me to join their circle.
“Whatever you did, keep doing it, Evie,” Quint says with a grin.
I’m not really sure my stunt will work a second time.
A hand suddenly wraps around mine. “You trying to distract me, Bennett?” a husky voice asks right next to my ear.
“You don’t have to try hard. Just you being out here on the field is distraction enough.
But add those short shorts and your crop tee, and you’re downright lethal to me. ”
I look up at him and realize he’s like right there.
I lick my lips, and his eyes follow the movement.
I watch in fascination because that move wasn’t even planned.
Knowing his broad shoulders block me from the other guys, I reach out tentatively and put my hand on his chest. His eyes shoot down to my hand, and his green eyes darken.
Encouraged by his reaction, I run my hand over his chest. I can’t believe how firm it is.
I swear I can feel his breathing speed up.
Then without a word, I turn around and line up with Slate ad Quint.
“Let’s go,” I say quickly.
Reid snaps the ball, and I’m already moving. Zane nearly drops the ball, and I touch him a second later. “Gotcha,” I tell him with a grin while Quint whoops and hollers behind me. I run back over to our side, and Quint and Slate both high five me. Slate even smirks at me.
“You’re wicked, Evie; and I love it,” Quint says with a laugh. “Evie, we’re throwing it to you. Run straight at Zane, cut into him and then run to the right.”
“Ohhhh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I start.
“It is,” Slate says.
“Okay; I’ll try. Don’t throw it wicked hard.”
“I won’t,” Slate reassures me.
Nerves hit me as we line up, and I don’t dare look at Zane.
Quint punts to Slate, and I run towards Zane.
I cut hard to the right and watch as the ball spirals towards me.
I grab it out of the air and run. Quint blocks for me, keeping Zane away, and I run it in.
Quint and Slate both shout behind me, and I whirl around and meet Zane’s gaze.
“Missing something?” I ask holding up the ball.
Quint hoots and hollers and Zane grins at me, shaking his head.
We line up again, and I can’t help my grin.
It feels good. When Reid mumbles something under his breath about Zane not focusing, I can’t help my laugh.
Zane’s head jerks up at the sound, and I watch as his eyes soften.
I don’t look away; I don’t think I could if I tried.
Suddenly, the ball is snapped. I don’t even have a clue where I’m supposed to be.
But then Zane throws the ball, and Reid gets it.
He gets past Slate, and I move to intercept him.
He never saw me coming and gets tagged. He scowls at me, even as Quint and Slate slap me on the back, not as hard as they would one of the guys, thankfully.
On the next play, I run towards Zane. He looks for a pass to Reid and then decides to run.
I can’t redirect; I’m too much in forward motion.
Unfortunately, so is he. We collide, and I feel strong arms wrap around me as we both go down in a tangle of bodies and limbs.
His back hits the ground, and we jerk to a halt.
“I’m sorry; I couldn’t stop. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“I’m good,” I say breathlessly. I try to scramble to get up off him, but his arm is banded tightly around my back. “I can get up now,” I tell him.
“What if I don’t want you to?” I stare down into his eyes, so aware of his big muscular body beneath me.
“You two going to play, or should we just consider you both done?” Quint asks wryly.