Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Children’s laughter filled Neyland Stadium as the families from Somebody’s Child ran drills with the players from the Kings.
Reese stood behind Eli, waiting for him to call the play as Eli readied himself to throw the ball to one of the kids waiting downfield for him.
“Ready?” he called. The older boy nodded, and Eli jumped into action, backing up toward Reese as he pushed forward to fake a handoff. Eli shot the ball to the kid, and he caught it, taking it down to their imaginary end zone for the touchdown.
The other kids swarmed him and cheered, sending the offensive line into laughter.
Reese ran down the distance to the fake end zone and patted the kid on the shoulder. “That was a great catch, but can I show you something?”
He nodded and handed the ball to Reese. “Make sure you tuck the ball tight into your elbow. It protects the ball and can keep it from popping out, so it doesn’t become a fumble.”
The boy smiled. “Thanks, Reese.”
“Anytime.” He looked to his left when he felt eyes on him, connecting with the blue eyes that had been haunting his days since the house party.
Damn, she’s beautiful.
Sutton’s face flushed pink at being caught staring, and she gave him a small wave, which he returned with a wink. She looked at the ground, then back at him as she tucked her hands in her pockets before looking away.
“You got it bad, don’t you, Vaughn?” Eli asked, nudging him with an elbow as they got back into position.
“Shut up, Cooper,” Reese replied.
Eli’s laugh was his only response. They saw a little girl up next to catch, and Reese stepped forward. “How do you want to run this one?”
“Why don’t you run it, then you can pass it back to her and help her to the end zone?” Eli replied.
“I like that,” Reese replied. “Not league official, but I won’t tell if you won’t.”
Eli shook his head and got into position to call the play. He jumped into action and backed up, handing the ball off to Reese, who ran forward, then turned back to the little girl.
“Here you go,” he said. She grabbed it the best she could with two hands, and Reese put his hand on her shoulder to guide her to the end zone, making swoosh noises as they made their way down to imitate him knocking back tackles.
She toddled into the end zone, and the offensive line cheered, a huge smile coming to her face.
Reese leaned down and picked her up to put her on his shoulders for them to celebrate, enjoying the fun moments with the kids.
“Can you give him a high five?” Reese asked, holding her middle to keep her steady as she high fived the team. Once she got everyone on the offensive line, Reese placed her back on the ground, giving her a quick tickle before sending her off with her parents.
“What a cute little girl,” Eli said. “Hey, is Sutton talking to Izzy?”
Reese searched for the tall brunette and found her next to Isabella Dawson, the event manager for the team. “Looks like she is. I’ll be right back.”
Eli nodded, and Reese took off, heading for the woman who had been the star of his very dirty dreams the last few days. He took a deep breath, shoving away the image of Sutton naked in his bed before he could get all worked up.
“Hi there,” he said, coming over to join the two of them. “How are you doing, Izzy?”
Izzy smiled. “I’m good.” She gave him a once over. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in casual clothes in a long time.”
He looked down at his jeans, white Reboot tee, and tennis shoes. “I like to look my best when I go out, so I don’t dress down very often.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “That is too much work.”
He shrugged, tucking his hands into his jeans. “It’s become habit more than anything for me at this point, so now I do it all the time.”
Izzy looked at her. “Bet it shocked you the first time you saw him in sweats, hmm?”
Sutton glanced over at him, her eyes a burning blue. “It sure did.”
“Oh, how did y’all meet by the way?” Izzy asked. “I realized I never asked, but I feel like you two should have met before now. Or did y’all meet before now, then just recently get together?”
“We actually met at Carter and Amy’s wedding,” Sutton said. She looked at him and slipped her hands into his, entwining their fingers. “We hit it off there, then it kind of blew up at their housewarming.”
“That’s so crazy that y’all just met.” Izzy tapped her finger on her chin. “Reese has been on the team for so long, and I know you spend so much time with your cousin. She’s also been with Carter for like, two years, and he hangs out with Reese all the time.”
Sutton’s eyes rounded, and she looked at him, the surprise on her face matching his own.
“You’re right,” Sutton said. “I guess we haven’t been in the same place at the same time. That’s so weird to think about now. We should have run into one another at least once.”
“It’s like two ships passing in the night,” Izzy said.
“That’s pretty accurate,” Reese replied. “But I’m glad I met her,” he said, pressing a kiss to Sutton’s cheek.
“Aww,” Izzy said, clasping her hands together as Sutton pinkened. She looked away from them and sighed. “I’m being summoned. I’ll see you two later.”
She trotted off, leaving the two of them alone.
“You didn’t tell anyone about the special surprise, right?” Sutton immediately asked.
Reese shook his head. “The only person I told was Magnus, and that’s because you gave me the okay to do that.”
“Good. Carrie asked me a little while ago, and I told her no, but that doesn’t mean she won’t ask anyone else. And I definitely don’t want her to find out so she can be surprised.” She smiled. “She really likes—”
Carrie headed toward them, and he pulled Sutton to him for a kiss, Carrie’s mouth dropping open as Sutton squeaked, a few cheers coming from his teammates surrounding them.
It was only a quick kiss, but when Sutton stepped back, she was flushed from the warmth that spiked between them.
“Hi, Carrie,” he said, giving her a wink. Sutton’s eyes widened as she realized he did it to prevent her from revealing the secret to her assistant.
She mouthed ‘thank you,’ and he squeezed her hand still entwined with hers.
“Hello, you two lovebirds,” Carrie replied, pointing between them. “That was kinda hot.”
“Carrie!” Sutton admonished, but her assistant just laughed and waved her concern away. “It was; don’t act like it wasn’t.”
Sutton rolled her eyes. “Are you all right? Did you need something?”
“The director said he has everything he needs, and Izzy let me know that the majority of the families have rotated through the stations, so they should be ready for the special surprise in a half hour.” She sidled close to Reese. “Do you know what the special surprise is?”
Sutton squeezed his hand, and he faked a confused look. “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me either.”
Carrie’s eyes narrowed. “I doubt that.”
“Didn’t Izzy say we only had a half hour to find out what it is?” Reese asked. “You can’t wait thirty minutes?”
Sutton pursed her lips to avoid laughing at the disgruntled look on Carrie’s face. “You’re as bad as she is, you know?”
Reese grinned, pressing a kiss to Sutton’s cheek. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Eli called his name, and he gave Sutton’s hand a quick squeeze and let go, leaving the ladies to go back to the offensive line.
Forty-five minutes later, Magnus made the announcement that the surprise was about to start. The families gathered around as they wheeled out the stage. Jace’s band was already set up and waiting for him.
Sutton stood at the edge of the crowd, watching as they announced the partners of the team members, the team cheering as they made their way onto the field to join them.
Carrie sidled in next to Sutton, her jaw dropping as Jace walked onto the stage, guitar in hand. She let out a squeal so loud, everyone turned to look at them, and Sutton hid her face.
“Is this really happening?” Carrie asked, clasping her hands over her face. “Is it?” She turned to grab Sutton’s hands. “I love you!”
Jace started to sing, and she let go of Sutton’s hands to raise hers in the air.
Reese came back to join her at the edge of the group, sliding his arm around her waist to pull her back against him.
“I think this was a great idea,” Reese said, leaning over to whisper in her ear.
Shivers slid down her spine, goosebumps covering her arms at his coarse voice filling her senses.
“I do, too,” Sutton replied. “Carrie is ecstatic.”
She looked over and smiled as Carrie sang along to the song, a huge grin on her face.
His first song ended, and he gave a shout out to the team, thanking them for inviting him here. Everyone cheered, and he strummed a couple of chords, starting the next song.
“Wait, is this Think I’m In Love With You?” Sutton asked, her jaw dropping as Jace sang.
“It is,” Reese replied. “He loves covering this song, so I asked him to do it here so we could dance to it.” He held out his hand to her. “Want to?”
She nodded and took his hand, warmth blooming in her belly as he tugged her close to him, fitting their bodies together as he took her hand and led her into the dance.
“I didn’t know you could two-step,” Sutton said, a small squeal elicited from her when he spun her around.
“One of my hidden talents,” he said, leading her effortlessly through the dance.
“A dancer, an athlete, and handsome to boot,” she said. “How’d you get so lucky?”
Her eyes widened. “You can’t sing, can you? Because that would be too much in one package.”
He laughed with a shake of his head. “Don’t worry, I’m tone-deaf. The only time I’ve ever sung is in the shower, and even Nicole begged me to stop.”
The song ended, but they kept dancing as Jace immediately launched into his next song.
“Good,” Sutton quipped. She glanced around the field, a grin coming to her face when she saw Carrie dancing with one of the single players.
“I’m glad my flaw can make you happy,” he said, dipping her as the song ended.
“Nothing wrong with being imperfect,” Sutton said. “I can sing, and I can dance, but I can’t play sports to save my life. I tried once.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “What sport did you try?”
“Volleyball.” Heat washed over her face. “I was so bad, the coach led me off the court and told me that she didn’t want me to hurt myself.”
“I didn’t make the football team the first time I tried out, if it makes you feel any better,” Reese said, spinning her around as Jace sang.
“Why not?” she asked, brushing closer against him to avoid running into another couple.
“I was too short,” he replied. He let go of her hand and reached up to brush some hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.
Her breath caught in her chest, and she realized they had stopped dancing, barely swaying to the music together.
“Well, you’re definitely not too short anymore,” she said.
His smile was soft as his hazel eyes burned into hers, the music drowned out by the desire thundering in her ears. He gently cupped her cheeks in his hands, teasing one thumb over her bottom lip and sending heat slithering down to her core.
Tell him to kiss you. You know you want to.
“Kiss me,” she whispered, her hands clutching his forearms as he leaned down to do as she asked.
A soft moan escaped her when he slid his arm to her waist, bringing her flush against him. She could feel the firm outline of his erection against her thigh, the knowledge that he was as turned on as her fanning the flames that burned inside her.
She broke the kiss and looked up at him, his hazel eyes ablaze. Her breath came unevenly when she asked, “Is there somewhere we can go?”
He nodded and stepped back to grab her hand, drawing her off the field, making sure no one saw them leave.
They stopped to kiss a couple of times as they made their way down the concourse tunnel, Reese pressing her up against the bricks as they drove their desire higher with each step.
I can’t believe I’m going to do this.
She was more than ready—she was excited to sleep with Reese.
You’ve been wanting to do this since the night you met him.
And she was finally going to get her chance.