Page 77 of How to Prevent a Fumble

Dropping the blankets onto the ground, I spin around, looking him up and down as he offers me one of the bags. Elara runs out of the room, Champ behind her. She may tune out half of what I tell her but the wordgiftwill instantly have her running.

“What is it?” I ask him, taking it.

The bag isn’t heavy, but it certainly has some weight to it.

Peeking in, I see something wrapped in purple tissue paper.

“Just open it,” he says with a shy smile, and it dawns on me that I don’t think I’ve ever seen Leo Warner look shy… ever. There’s never been a time when this man ever looked anything other than confident.

But now, standing in front of me in his home, his eyes downcast, his hands making themselves busy, he looks anything but.

And it’s really cute, if I’m being honest.

Reaching in, I grab the first thing and pull it out. “A jersey?” I ask, unfolding it. It’s a beautiful Limited jersey, patches and all with a large 8 on the front and back, the nameWarnerwritten across the top.

“This is beautiful,” I tell him. I always loved the traditional purple jerseys.

“I got Elara one too, and well, I even got Champ a jersey for dogs. And uhh, some other things too.”

I continue reaching in, pulling out a small clear purse with “Warner” written on the side. On top of that, there’s a baseball cap, and at the very bottom, a Cobras bomber jacket.

“This is a lot, Leo, thank you.”

“I wanted you to have something to wear tomorrow,” hesays, and the way his dimples deepen when he says it makes me almost feel bad when I shake my head.

“Leo, I’m a Crosby. Elara is a Crosby. We have to wear our Crosby jerseys.”

His face falls, and I instantly feel absolutely horrible as Elara pulls out her jersey and baseball cap, as well as a matching small bomber jacket. I can’t wait to match with her tomorrow.

“Oh, yeah, that’s fair, well,” he brings his hand up to rub his neck, “sorry about that, I should have asked.”

“It’s okay,” I say, putting them back in the bag for now. “We’ll wear them at some point, okay?”

He nods, still looking a bit more sad than I would have assumed he’d be.

Closing the distance between us, I grab him into a hug, and when I feel his large arms close around me, I take a deep breath.

Because Leo Warner smells like heaven.

When I pull away, he looks around for a moment before checking his phone. “Well I have to go,” he says a little too quickly, and without another word, he turns, grabs his bags and is out the door.

“I don’t know. I think the hand flex is possibly one of the hottest scenes in any movie ever,” Heidi says, curled up under the blankets.

“I’ll drink to that,” I tell her, holding up my tea.

“Me too,” Isla chimes in, tapping her own mug against mine.

Zara shoots us a side-eye. “I must be watching far better movies than you guys because what?”

I shrug. “It’s just powerful, you know?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll let you have this one,” she tells me with a sigh, taking a long sip of her hot chocolate.

“I don’t know what they’re thinking, either,” Elara whispers to Zara, lifting her glass of chocolate milk. Zara taps her mug against it with a smile.

“Hey! You’re too young to understand,” I point at her, narrowing my eyes. But she knows I’m just being playful, and I’m not angry with her.

“I do understand,” Elara says, flopping back into the pillows dramatically.

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