Page 108 of False Start

It was just carnal need and unbridled pleasure. It was hands and lips and sighs and moans. It was her surrendering to me,and me kissing unspoken promises along every slick inch of her skin.

I will protect you.

I will love you.

I will never leave you again.

You are mine.

Kyle

“Are you nervous?”

The question came out on a grunt as Braden pressed up from his squat, the barbell on his back loaded with weight. I stood a few feet behind him, close enough that I could help him if he needed a spot, but far enough away to give him space.

“About?”

“Camp,” he breathed as he lowered, and his face turned red with strain as he pushed the weight back up again.

“Two more,” I said, knowing he was close to failure, but he could push a little more.

Braden groaned, but determination slid over him as he gritted his teeth and sank down for another squat. He shook all the way back up to standing, hissing through his teeth when his legs locked.

“Last one,” I said.

He looked ready to throw in the towel, but he didn’t. He squatted low, and on the way up, his body started to stall. I stepped in just enough to give him the slightest bit of assist, andthen with sweat dripping down his neck, he racked the barbell, hanging his hands on his hips.

“No,” I said as he rested, and I changed the weight up on the barbell, adding another twenty pounds to each side for me.

“No?”

I cocked a brow at him. “When have you ever knownmeto be nervous.”

He rolled his eyes at that, nodding for me to take his place in the torture chamber and get my squats in.

Braden and I had trained together relentlessly over the summer. Now, we were just a little over a week away from training camp starting.

I didn’t lie. I reallywasn’tnervous.

But I was unprepared.

We were rookies. We had zero idea what to expect — no matter how we tried to watch tape, learn the playbook, and train until our bodies were weak. The truth of the matter was that we were young, and compared to the beasts who had been playing in the NFL for years, we were weak.

“Are you?” I asked when I got through my set. “Nervous, I mean.”

“Fuck yeah, I am,” he said. “I want a spot on this team so fucking bad, Kyle. I…” He shook his head, swiping his water bottle from the ground. “I can’t fail at camp. I just can’t.”

I knew without asking that he was thinking about his sister, his parents, about the weight of the world he’d always worn on his shoulders so they wouldn’t have to. He was quiet about it most of the time, but every now and then, he’d talk about his sister’s illness. I didn’t know everything, but I knew he’d been the responsible one in his family for years now. I knew he was the kid his parents didn’t have to worry about, that he took it on himself to care for them and for his sister, too.

I knew he had his reasons for not blowing through his signing bonus — no matter how much I loved to give him shit about it.

“You won’t,” I assured him, clapping his shoulder. “Especially because I’ll be there to push your ass.”

“Sure you won’t be distracted by a certain redheaded MILF we know?” Braden smirked.

I punched him hard enough in the arm to make him yelp. “Watch it.”

He laughed, holding up his hands. “I’m thinking things aren’t so fake anymore with that reaction.”