Page 49 of Touchdowns and Temptations

“A little, sir.” Cara looks at me and I wink at her. Alex and Logan sit back down on the couch.

“Come on,” I say, pointing to the second TV chair.

Cara looks at me skeptically. I sit down and pull her onto my lap. She seems uncomfortable, but my brothers and dad don't notice us. Instead, they analyze the game.

“That wasn't a touchdown!” shouts Alex in disgust. “No way!”

“Of course it was,” Logan counters. “The ball was over the line.”

“It wasn't!”

Cara looks at me and I shrug.

“It's always like this here,” I tell her. “Don't be surprised. Would you like a drink?”

“Not right now,” she says, looking at the TV, which is now showing a charge by the opposing team. The defense of the Nashville Warriors is really bad. Logan buries his face in his hands.

“Let's watch Noah and Alex's game against Seattle,” he suggests to avoid his own embarrassment.

“No!” Alex and I shout. The game was a disaster, and I don't need to see it again. Cara laughs and I give her an annoyed look.

“What?” she says with a grin. “Are you afraid they're going to tear you apart?”

She nods at my dad and Logan.

“No,” I lie, even though I know they would.

“Good thing I record all your games,” our dad says, changing the channel. I groan and lean back. Cara grins at me and looks at the TV. The game was a disaster.

“You can see right away that Noah is out of position,” Logan analyzes, his mouth full again. “The Seattle defense knew right away.”

I roll my eyes. I know that myself.

He doesn't have to tell me.

“Oh, come on,” Cara says. “They came back in the last quarter, but then they were too stubborn.” My dad rewinds to the scene she's talking about. “That's right!” Cara shouts. “You wanted to go up the middle and score the touchdown yourself. Toby is wide open in the end zone.”

I roll my eyes and my brothers and dad giggle quietly.

“You could have easily thrown over Seattle's defense. Instead, you wanted to be the hero and let a rookie show you up.”

Dad and Logan yell, Alex laughs, and I roll my eyes.

“Thanks, Cara,” I say sarcastically. “We never would have thought of that.”

“Please,” she says, laughing and puts her hand on my neck. I jump for a moment because I wasn't expecting it. Her fingers caress my skin. Once again, a touch between us goes far beyond friendship.

“You really know your stuff,” my dad praises her, smiling at Cara. “Football fan?”

“Kind of,” she says with a grin and looks at me. “It runs in the family.”

Her little white lie makes us all laugh and makes my dad look pretty stupid.

“Why are you laughing?” he asks, reaching for his beer. “It's great that she's interested in football.”

“No, no,” Cara says, waving him off. “My dad played football too.”

I bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud. The way Cara says it is really too cute. Our dad is still on the fence and raises his eyebrows questioningly.

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