Page 91 of This Wild Heart

“Okay,” Erik sighed. “I’ll be QB. You two block for me,” he said to a couple of tall guys wearing Wilder Homes shirts. “Greer, you’re the decoy. I want you on a post route like you’re heading to the end zone. Anya, you run a comeback route after about ten yards, see if we can pull Parker back toward the line when he follows you.” Then he turned to his eager niece, who was bouncing on the balls of her feet while she awaited instruction. “Sage, you’re the target. I want you full out on a go-route. Straight to the end zone, okay?”

Her eyes were pure fire. “I will destroy whoever’s guarding me.”

Greer patted her on the top of the head. “Atta girl.”

Erik looked at the two of them for a long moment, then closed his eyes. “I’m too old for this shit.”

Greer laughed, shoving at his big shoulder. “Come on. Quit your bitching, you know you love us.”

“Despite my better judgment,” he muttered. To the rest of the team, he gave a glance. “Everyone know what they’re doing?”

We nodded, then broke out into our line.

Parker strolled in front of me, a bright gleam in his eyes that, I swear on all that’s holy, made my nipples perk up. My jaw tightened, and I set my hands on my knees.

“I don’t think you’re ready for this,” he mused.

I didn’t think I was ready for this either, but there was nowayI was telling him that. He was bigger than me. Stronger than me. Definitely faster. And if he realized Sage was the target, there’d be no stopping him.

“Only one way to find out, Wilder.” I smiled. “See if you can keep up.”

His eyes flashed.

Erik called for the play, a complicated barking of random words that honestly meant nothing, considering he had no center in front of him, and the ball was already in his hands, he just needed to dance back into the pocket to start the play.

Greer rolled her eyes. “This isn’t an actual game, Erik,” she yelled. “Justgo.”

He picked his arms up and took a few steps back, and I took off, ducking around Parker in the middle of the field. Sage and Greer did the same, Greer heading to the corner of the end zone with Cameron right with her, and Sage sprinting her little heart out, a wide-eyed Wilder Homes employee trying to keep up with her.

Parker snagged the back of my T-shirt when I tried to dart back toward the line.

“Hey!” I laughed, swatting at his hand. “Holding. I call holding!”

Erik faked like he was going to throw the ball to me, and Parker snatched me around the waist, sticking his arm out like he might try to intercept it one-handed.

I was breathless with laughter as I tried to wriggle out of his hold, and then Erik shifted his gaze to Sage.

“Shit,” Parker yelled. “Guard the end zone, he’s got Sage.”

He dropped me in the next heartbeat, and by the shift in his body, I knew he was going to try to sprint toward my teammate, hoping to disrupt the play with his long-ass arms.

Before I knew what I was doing, I snagged his arm to stop his forward movement, and Parker swung around, and as he did, I swept my foot behind his knee.

Parker toppled like a fucking tree, landing on his back with a groan.

When I tried to hop over him, he grabbed my leg, and I fell over his body in a graceless heap. His chest was heaving. So was mine, and even though I was half on top of him with our legs tangled and my elbow dangerously close to stabbing him in the throat, we both lifted our heads to watch the play unfold.

Erik’s pass was perfect, a neat spiral in the air that sailed straight over the defender’s head, landing neatly in Sage’s hands.

Greer screamed, running toward her niece to hoist her up in her arms.

“Hell yeah,” Erik yelled, clapping his hands as he jogged toward the end zone.

My gaze found Parker’s, and his mouth spread in a devastating smile. “Cheap trick, wife.”

I scoffed. “You grabbed me first. What was I supposed to do?”

So many of our body parts were touching, and the natural next move was to shift so my thighs straddled his waist to sit up. It was difficult to decide what registered first—the flare of heat in his eyes or the distinct hardness I felt between our bodies, but when his hand curved over my thigh, the calloused skin of his fingertips made my head go fuzzy.

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