Page 68 of Risky Game

“No, I’m not mad.” I was fighting an erection I wasn’t too pleased about, but I wasn’t angry. “Need me to swim with you?”

“She can swim with me!” Luke shouted from his spot at the edge. “I told her, too.”

“You like Luke, Amelia,” Ruby said.

I glared up at her because I couldn’t not when that summery, ocean scent hit my nose and her hair blew in the breeze.

A blush crept up her cheeks, but she rolled her eyes at me, at my display of carnal insanity, and turned back to my daughter.

“I can swim with you too, Amelia. See? Lots of people will help you if you need it.”

“I can do it,” Amelia said, and her tiny little hands curled into fists. She glanced down at Luke. “Can you move? I gonna jump.”

“Do it super far!” he encouraged her, and I chuckled, despite the heat building in my groin.

“Here, this way.” Ruby gently tugged Amelia farther from Maggie and Luella. “Jump over here so you don’t splash the baby.”

“Oh.” She flashed worried eyes toward Maggie. “This good?”

“It’s great, Amelia. Show Luella how high you can jump.” Maggie encouraged with her smile. She had a gazillion siblings living with her and Davis, and it shouldn’t have surprised me she’d be good with someone else’s.

Amelia jumped into the pool, making a splash and a squeal at the same time.

Once I saw she was safe and happy, I turned to Ruby. She was grinning and clapping for Amelia, but as soon as my lips were near her ear, her body tightened.

“Meet me in the downstairs bathroom in five minutes. I want to see if you listened to me.”

Her jaw fell and her cheeks turned a hot pink.

I spun on my heels before she could say anything and headed back to the other side of the pool for more ice water.

I was going to need it.

Exactly four minutes and thirty seconds later, and I knew that because I set a time on my Apple watch, Ruby excused herself from where she’d been talking with Molly and headed toward the house.

My heart started racing and I downed the last of the water I’d been holding in my hand. Close to me, Davis and Cole were talking about the losses we had not only in the preseason, but this last week when we had to cut players to reach our fifty-three active man roster.

Talking like their coach, the guy who made all those hard decisions wasn’t right next to them. They didn’t mean anything by it, but this was why coaches and players didn’t often mingle.

“Spanklo will be a tough loss,” Davis said. “I felt like he covered well.”

“Not fast enough off the line,” I told them. “Trust me, that was a hard one to call.” I hadn’t slept for two nights, working with the rest of the coaching staff on our decisions. They sent me the list of players who they thought they should keep for offense and defense and special teams. The final call was mine, but there were several, Spanklo being one of them, I’d wanted to try to move to the practice squad. “We’re working on a trade with Dallas for Bigger.”

I wasn’t supposed to tell them that, either.

“Yeah. Don’t say anything until words get out, but I expect it by Wednesday.”

“No shit?” Davis’s eyes sparked with excitement.

“Keep your fingers crossed and your mouths shut,” I told them with a wink.

“On it.” Davis mimed locking his lips with a key.

I’d given Ruby enough time to anticipate whatever was about to happen.

I could guarantee it wasn’t nearly as exciting as what she was hoping for. Driving her mad was becoming my second favorite game.

I said my goodbyes to the players and excused myself inside. Fortunately, there were only a few kids running around, all the adults outside, and unlike my house that was completely open, Jassen’s was more closed off. I was able to find the hallway I assumed led to the bathroom. Probably should have known where that was first, without having to go through the kitchen where female voices echoed.

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