Page 96 of The Surprise Play

She flashes me those white teeth again, and I can’t help staring at her mouth and the beautiful shape it makes when she smiles.

Her nose wrinkles at my perusal and she dips her chin, taking another bite of her sandwich before bobbing her head like a pigeon and looking anywhere but at me.

We eat our sandwiches in silence, me devouring three to her one.

She finishes off her cocoa and I offer her a refill, which she accepts. It breaks the quiet between us, and I’m soon talking about the Scouting Combine and how vitally important it is.

She seems really interested as I explain the ins andouts of the week I’ve been preparing for and how it’s going to help me get drafted.

She asks me more questions, pulling details out of me, and soon I’m walking to the center line of the field and showing her my various positions and the lines I run on the regular.

“There are always variations.” I walk back to the picnic blanket. “Each game is different, but you get the idea.”

“Absolutely. There’s actually way more strategy to football than I realized. You showed me that when you taught me the basic game structure, and I’ve only watched two games so?—”

“Only two?” I gape at her. “In your whole life?”

She nods and softly admits, “They were both yours.”

That makes me still and I gaze down at her, all tucked up on the picnic blanket, her winter coat wrapped around her bent legs.

Taking a seat beside her, I run my hand down her arm and try to find the words to tell her how much that means to me.

But nothing comes out.

Instead, I reach for the chocolate chip cookies Zoey, Sienna, and I made this afternoon. Okay, fine, I didn’t really make them, but I did steal a few dark chocolate chips and gave them heaps of encouragement astheywere making them.

Opening the container, I offer Satch one and admit without thinking, “You’re the first girl I’ve ever bought here.”

She pauses before taking a treat, her lips slowly rising into a closed-mouth smile. “Are you serious?”

“I am.” I nod, shaking my head like even I can’t believe it.

I don’t know why I wanted to bring Satch here, but as soon as I asked her out on that date, this place popped into my head… and I couldn’t let it go.

I wanted to picnic with this girl in my favorite spot. And no other woman has ever made me want to do that.

Holy shit.

Stealing a cookie, I shove it into my mouth and hook my elbow around my bent knee.

“Mmm. These are good. Yours too?” she asks, but my mouth’s too full to answer her. “Coyote’s Cookies.” She grins, taking another bite.

“Coyote?” I ask, crumbs flying out of my mouth.

She giggles and brushes them off my short whiskers. “Yeah, Coyote. No one ever calls you that?”

She looks confused by why they wouldn’t… and I’m totally mystified. “Why would they call me Coyote?”

Tipping her head, I watch her eyebrows flicker as she stares at me like it’s totally obvious. “Wile E.” She raises her eyebrows. “You know… Wile E. Coyote.”

“Who?”

Her mouth pops open, her eyes going huge. “You’ve never heard of Wile E. Coyote?”

“Was he like… some cowboy or something?”

“No.” She laughs, touching my arm as she tips her head back. “I thought everyone knew who he was.”