Page 2 of Personal Foul

It took a moment for Kaiden to remember who the man was. “He’s a defense coordinator, right?”

“Yeah, now promoted as the new head coach for the Archers.”

“Archers?” Kaiden asked.

“It’s St. Louis. Figure it out.”

Right, he thought.

“I’ll call Joe tonight to see if there’d be a place for you on the team, although I can’t guarantee anything.”

Once more, the GM typed something in his phone and waited for a response. A moment later, he looked up. “The owner would approve of the new team taking over your contract.”

Kaiden’s heart beat furiously as relief flooded through him, leaving him shaking a little. He had another chance. He could handle anything, as long as he was playing the game.

“But,” Coach emphasized, “this will be your absolute last shot if you blow it. I’m not willing to put my neck on the line a second time, so you’re going to have to work your ass off to not screw up. If you want to keep playing football, you have to clean up your act.”

“I will,” Kaiden vowed. “I swear it.”

“I’ll contact Sigworth and the owners of the Archers,” Bobby told Coach. Then he glanced at Kaiden. “If they agree to buy your contract, you’re going to have to come up with a game plan.”

“Reparation to your public image,” Coach said.

“That’ll be my top priority,” Kaiden vowed. He’d do anything he had to in order to clean up his act.

Even if that meant confronting his personal demon.

Chapter One

Romilly smiled and waved at some of the dog owners as she entered the dog park. The little Jack Russell, Toby, jumped in excitement so she bent and unhooked the animal so it could play with his doggie friends. Then she headed over to the benches to sit with her friend, Elanie.

“Hi there, sweetie,” Elanie greeted. The woman had snow-white hair and the glasses on the end of her nose had a chain that went around her neck. Next to her was a bag filled with yarn as she knitted.

“Hi, Elanie.”

“Still walking the little tyrant for your neighbor?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “I just feel sorry for the pup.”

Elanie patted her hand. “You’re too soft-hearted.”

“It’s not Toby’s fault his owner neglects him. That just makes him super excited when he gets here.” She laughed as she watched Toby nip and yowl at a shepherd, who watched the little dog with his tongue hanging out. “Those two are the best of friends.”

“Speaking of which, shouldn’t you be out enjoying your own friends instead of talking to an old lady at the park?”

“You’re my friend, Elanie.”

The older woman patted her hand. “You’re a sweet girl. Make sure you don’t squander your youth.”

Romilly stayed for an hour, letting Toby run his energy out while she chatted with Elanie. Then she spent another ten minutes chasing after Toby to get a leash on him. She waved to her friend as they left the dog park to start the trek back home.

She glanced upward, loving how the sun played peek-a-boo through the tree branches. The scent of wildflowers hung heavy in the air. She wasn’t looking where she was going and ran into a jogger, bouncing off a hard male body. His momentumand sheer muscular size knocked her completely off balance. Then Toby must have thought she wanted to play and darted between her legs, tying the leash around them. She teetered and then pitched forward, falling onto the man’s chest. Knocking him off balance, they fell together in a tangle of arms, legs, and energetic dog. Toby jumped on her back, adding insult to injury.

Her lips were pressed against a sculptured pec, which might have been really gross if she hadn’t been distracted by his smooth, perfect, hard, tattooed … wait, she lost her train of thought.Muscles. Yes, that was the word she was looking for.

“I’m so sorry,” she gasped. “It was, um...”

The second their gazes met, everything came to a screeching halt. The edges of her vision went a little out of focus, and all coherent thoughts fled her mind. What the hell? She’d seen beautiful men before, but this man was a different breed altogether. Rugged, with short, dark cropped hair and scruff on his jaw. Hazel eyes that stared into her own with a deep, penetrating gaze before it dropped to her mouth.

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