Page 41 of The Game Plan

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 theground, 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?”