Page 41 of Sidelined By Love

If that is supposed to be an insult, it fails. Miserably. I flex my back and shoulders to show her that I didn’t waste my off-season.

If it’s possible, I can hear her smile as she settles deeper against me. Her curves are soft and warm, and the heat between us notches up, making me feel light-headed.

Before taking another step, I suck in a breath that I hope will clear my spinning head. I can’t afford to slip on the Incline. For a lot of reasons, not the least of which is next Sunday’s game.

And also, because some of those hikers in front of us have pulled out their phones and are spending more time capturing the view than watching their steps. Zoe doesn’t need to end up on her butt—and she sure doesn’t need it recorded for posterity or plastered across tabloids. One event a month is plenty, I’m sure.

I boost her up again, my arms hooked under her knees, and push out all thoughts of the shape of her legs squeezing my sides.

She is beautiful though.

I’d have to be dead not to notice.

And the hammering of my heart is onlymostlydue to the grade of the steps. It thunders in my ears so loudly that I almost miss her soft sigh as she melts into me, pressing her face into my neck. And jabs the back of my head with the bill of her hat.

“Jeez! Warn a guy before you attack next time.”

“That what you said at the game last week?”

“Their D-line is paid to come after me. You, on the other hand, should be grateful for the lift.”

She snorts a laugh that has no business being quite so attractive, and her arm disappears from across my shoulder as she flips her hat backward. When her arm comes back around, she’s got a hairband in her fingers that she slips around her other wrist.

I can picture it, but it takes every ounce of my self-control not to look over my shoulder to see if her heart-shaped face is as cute as I imagine with her chestnut-colored hair spilling out from under the cap.

She leans closer again, and I can smell her scent over the mingle of pine and earth. Maybe it’s her shampoo. Or her perfume. Or maybe it’s just her.

The source doesn’t matter. Only that it smells better than anything I’ve ever experienced before. It’s sweet but subtle. Whatever it is, it’s making my mouth water.

“All right. Next time, I’ll warn you.” Her lips are pressed against my ear, and her warm breath shoots a lightning bolt straight through me. My toe slams into the next step, and I stumble, lurching to correct myself so we don’t both hit the ground. She doesn’t weigh much—at least compared to the guysI spend most of my time with—but it’s still enough to throw off my center of balance.

Zoe sucks in a hard breath, and her legs squeeze tighter, like I’m a bull about to buck her off. But I’ve got her. I grip the underside of her thighs just hard enough to let her know I won’t drop her, and she immediately relaxes into me again.

Her trust makes me feel like I can fly.

“You okay, Uncle Grant?” Kenna asks from my left side.

Her cheeks are rosy, and sweat is dripping down her temples. But her eyes are bright. Determined. With that mop of blond hair piled on her head, she looks just like her mom did at that age.

“I’m good.” I follow her up to the next step. “You?”

She nods, but her eyebrows pinch together as her gaze darts back and forth between me and my passenger. “You sure? You’re kind of red in the face.”

Zoe remains silent, but I can feel her laughter reverberating through her whole body and into mine.

It’s best to move to a new topic, so I quickly nod to the water bottle hanging from the belt around my waist. “You thirsty? Need a break?”

Kenna looks at me like I’ve lost my ever-loving mind. “Need. Pan. Cakes.”

Right. A promise is a promise. And the sooner we make it to the top, the sooner I can fulfil it.

Fourteen

Zoe

My legs are still shaking, my head spinning, as the bell over the door at Uncle Sam’s Pancake House announces our arrival. I would really like to blame it on the strenuous hike, but even I wouldn’t buy that after being carried for the majority of it and all the way back to the base.

Maybe it was the altitude.

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