Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
He slipped from the car and looked around; the large driveway was already filled with cars.
“Pretty good turnout,” he said. He tucked his phone into the pocket of his dark-blue slacks and straightened his matching blue sport coat before he headed toward the front door.
The house was big and white with a large front porch and impressive windows. The French front doors were stained a dark color, stunning against the contrast of the white.
He slipped the bottle of wine he brought into the corner of his arm and walked up the steps to the front door to ring the doorbell.
The door immediately opened to reveal Carter and a few other guys on the team.
“Reese,” Carter said, giving him a hug. “Welcome to the new house.”
“Thank you,” he replied, barely getting a look around before he heard his name.
“Reese!” He turned as Amy came down a short hall from the kitchen to say hi.
“Hello to the new Mrs. Davis,” Reese said, giving her a small kiss on the cheek along with the bottle.
Amy looked down at the bottle, and her green eyes rounded. “Reese, this is a Margaux 1995. This is an eight-hundred-dollar bottle of wine.”
He smiled and shrugged. “You said I should bring something to the party, so I brought that.”
“Only you would bring an expensive bottle of wine,” she said, leading him into the kitchen. “There are some people in the kitchen already. Should be more later.”
“Your driveway is full, though,” Reese replied. “There are more people coming?”
He followed her down the hall, and her lilting laugh reached him as they stepped into the kitchen, the aforementioned people standing next to the giant island in the middle of the room.
“Reese is here, everyone,” she announced, setting the bottle of wine on the island.
He looked around, mostly familiar faces looking back at him.
Andre Green stood next to Reese’s ex-girlfriend Nicole, and he waved at them.
After they broke up, Andre waited a few months before he asked Reese if it was cool if he asked Nicole out. They broke up on good terms, and while Reese did care about Nicole’s happiness, he was okay with her moving on.
A couple other teammates stood around the island, including Eli and his girlfriend Hailey, but there was one woman he didn’t know.
“Reese Vaughn,” Amy said, “this is my cousin Sutton Cooke. You better be nice to her.”
Sutton looked at him and smiled, the bright smile hitting him square in the chest to take his breath away.
“Hi,” Sutton said, holding out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
He cleared his throat and leaned over to take hers. “Nice to meet you, too.”
His hand lingered in hers and when he noticed it, he let go.
She gave him a curious look, her blue eyes light with warmth.
“Amy, your house is beautiful,” Hailey said, breaking the silence.
“Thank you,” she replied. “You should see the wine pantry.”
Carter walked into the kitchen and set his beer bottle down to wrap his arms around his wife. “I made sure to fill it with her favorite wine as soon as the contractor said it was done.”
Amy laughed. “So many bottles. I’ve only gone through maybe two so far.”
“You have plenty of nights ahead of you to drink them,” Sutton quipped, taking a drink of her own wine in front of her.
“Very true,” Amy replied. “Reese, did you need something to drink?”
“You got any scotch in this house, Davis?” Reese asked.
“Yes, sir,” he replied, giving Amy a quick kiss on the cheek before he let go.
“Come on, I’ll take you downstairs to the big bar.”
Reese stood next to Preston a little while later, glancing over at Sutton from time to time.
“Reese, you good?” Preston asked, nudging him with his elbow. He caught on to where Reese was looking, and he grinned.
“Someone’s found their next chase,” he said.
Reese rolled his eyes and took a drink of his scotch. “She's not my next chase.”
“Really?” Preston asked. “Is the infamous playboy Reese Vaughn actually crushing on someone?”
That gained Preston another eye roll. “I’m going to go talk to Spenser.”
“That wasn’t a no,” Preston called.
He walked over to Spenser, who stood next to a very large fireplace. A cozy fire burned brightly, warming the open space of the first floor of the home.
“How are you doing, man?” Spenser asked.
“Getting away from Preston and his damn questions,” Reese replied, taking a long drag on his drink.
“Questions?” Spenser looked at Preston, who pointed at Sutton under the guise of scratching his nose.
“Why is he pointing at that woman?” he asked. “She’s beautiful, but not my type.”
Spenser enjoyed the blondes a lot more than anything else. Sutton was also too short for him.
Spenser was six-four, and if Reese had to guess, Sutton was between five-seven and five-eight, which perfectly fit Reese’s five-foot-eleven frame.
He dated taller women before, and it didn’t bother him in the least if she was taller than him.
Reese loved all women.
Spenser cleared his throat and Reese realized he’d been caught staring again.
Damnit.
“Ah, I see it now,” Spenser commented, taking a drink of his beer. “Got a thing for the coach’s niece?”
Shit. She is.
“What is with Coach’s family being so attractive?” Spenser commented half-jokingly.
Magnus Fisher was a bear of a man, but he had the same brown hair and blue eyes as his niece and daughter, giving him a conventionally attractive appearance.
Reese was pretty sure Magnus could easily bench-press him. And Reese was a cool 210 pounds at his last weigh-in.
He wasn’t surprised he had an attractive niece, especially since Amy was beautiful.
“Here come Nicole and Andre,” Spenser said.
Reese watched them walk over hand-in-hand, a happy smile on her face.
“Nicole,” he said, holding his glass up. “Nice to see you and Andre here.”
She directed her happy smile his way. “Thank you.” She looked at Andre. “He was so nervous to come tonight since we haven’t gone to a team thing together yet.”
Nicole couldn’t be at Carter and Amy’s wedding, so Andre had gone solo.
“I didn’t want anyone to say anything,” Andre said.
“Has anyone?” Reese asked, his hackles rising. He hated when teammates dated the same woman and caused problems in the locker room. It happened, but the guys knew better than to bring it into the stadium with them. “I can set them straight for you.”
Andre waved his hand. “No, no, brother, we’re good. Even if anyone did say something, I’d handle it.”
Reese relaxed and took a sip of his scotch, sneaking a glance at Sutton again. He was surprised by the disappointment racing through him when he didn’t see her there.
“Oh, hi, Sutton,” Nicole said as she suddenly appeared to join the group.
“Hi there,” she replied. “It’s nice to see you again, Nicole.”
She cut an amazing figure in a long red dress that shimmered ever so slightly. She wore gold earrings and a necklace with an S on it, along with a thin band on the pointer finger of her right hand.
Her chestnut hair was pulled into a loose bun, and she wore very little makeup to accent her shining blue eyes.
Those blue eyes captivated him in dangerous ways.
I definitely don’t need any distractions right now. Stay focused on the football.
“It’s lovely to see you again, too,” Nicole replied, breaking Reese’s perusal of Sutton.
“How did you two meet?” Andre asked.
“We met at the brunch Amy threw last week,” Sutton replied. “It was mostly WAGS from the team, but since I’m family, I got to go, too.”
“She was telling me all about Amy’s wedding and how beautiful it was. I’m sad I missed it,” Nicole said. “Were you a bridesmaid? I can’t remember.”
Sutton shook her head and took a quick sip of her wine. “Amy only had three bridesmaids, and she has three sisters, so they stood up there with her.”
Magnus was a girl dad through and through, with four daughters, Amy being the oldest.
She flashed another bright smile, and Reese shifted where he stood. “The father-daughter dance was so beautiful. I have to say, I almost cried.”
“I didn’t see you at the wedding,” Reese commented, tucking a hand into his pocket. “I swear I would recognize you if I did.”
“There were quite a few people there,” Sutton replied. “I’m surprised I saw anyone I knew there. I did mostly stay with the family, as the team is…” she gestured with her hands, “very large. And took up the entire dance floor.”
The players in the group laughed, conceding she was correct.
And when there was free alcohol flowing, the team could get rowdy.
“That’s why Carter only had three groomsmen,” Andre said. “He never told us Amy only wanted three.”
They looked over at the couple in question, watching as Carter leaned over and whispered something in Amy’s ear to make her smile.
Sutton turned back to Reese. “So, Reese, what position do you play?”
He chuckled, turning on his charm. “I’m a running back. Been playing since high school.”
“Have you always played running back?” she asked, taking a sip of her wine.
“I have. Too short to play anything else,” Reese quipped, making his teammates laugh.
“Valid point,” Sutton replied. “Did you always want to play football?”
He arched a blond brow. “Are you a reporter?”
She shook her head, the loose brown curls at her temples bouncing. “I'm not. I'm the event manager for Somebody's Child. I coordinate all their fundraising events, including any large community ones.”
He relaxed. “Felt a little bit like an interview for a moment.”
She laughed. “I'm sorry. I like to get to know my uncle's players, especially now that we have another one in the family.”
He glanced over at Carter and Amy again. “True. Doesn't Amy's brother-in-law play for the San Antonio Rattlers?”
“He does. They've been doing excellent this year.”
“They have a great team this year. Their offense is on point,” Spenser commented. “Their game next week against the Wolves should be pretty good.”
“They had an almost perfect season this year,” Andre said. “I heard they didn't even play their first-string players for their last regular season game.”