Page 95 of Down & Dirty

He paused, and I thought he was going to listen for once. But then he smacked my shoulder. “Holy shit, you haven’t slept with her yet.”

I let out a sigh, my breath finally even. “No. We’re still new. I’m not in any rush.”

“Man. I never thought I’d live to see this day. Holy fucking shit.”

He sounded so shocked, I turned to see his wide eyes trained on me and his mouth hanging open in a bewildered grin.

“What?”

“You. You’ve never so much as hinted at being serious about a woman before. Like, the real deal. But you’re gone for this one. I can see it all over your face.”

Since when had my friend gotten so soft? “I’ve liked plenty of women, Grady, come on.”

“No, you haven’t. You’ve enjoyed them. You’ve accepted them and whatever they offered you. But you’ve never given a shit whether they stuck around. You’re not in any rush now? You brought her home? Man, that’s big.”

Itwasbig. It was massive. And even though I hadn’t really known just how big when I’d invited her, I did now. It wasn’t just about getting Sky away from the team, or California, or work. It was about this place. Being back didn’t hurt so much with her next to me. And I had never been happier. I knew it was only a couple of days, but Grady was probably more right than I’d ever admit to him; Iwasgone for her. But I was also gone forus, and before her, I’d never even considered the possibility of being an ‘us’ with anyone.

“You two Nancys gonna play or start a fucking knitting circle?” Mack called from midfield.

“I’m happy for you,” Grady said when I didn’t reply. I didn’t need to; he knew me well enough. His voice lowered as we headed toward the others, “I hope it works out.”

“Thanks,” I said, keeping my head down. “Me too.”

The next play, Mack gave me a nod and I knew it meant he was going long. I pretended we were going to run the ball again, and then as he stepped back, I turned and started to race down the field.

But my top speed racing down the field is like Grady doing a warm up. He was on my heel as Mack let the ball fly and I lost sight of where I was. I searched the sky above me for the ball, but just as I was about to catch it, Grady caught up to me, and with both arms around my chest, took us to the ground.

I hit first, with his body landing on top of me, crushing me into the frozen earth. At first, I couldn’t breathe, but then when I did, a pain in my back shot through me like a spear and I rolled on the ground, grabbing fistfuls of frozen grass as I groaned.

“Shit, Ellis, you all right?” Grady scrambled to get off, but stayed on the ground beside me.

“Fuck,” I got out, pounding my fist as I tried to catch my breath.

“I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to take you down like that.”

I laughed, realizing too late the foolishness of it. “Sure you did, fucker. You hate to lose.”

Grady sighed with relief. “Like you don’t?”

It had to have only been a second, but suddenly I felt a soft hand in my hair, and warm breath on my cheek. “Cory, are you okay?”

It was Sky. The distress in her voice made it sound shrill, and I crawled toward her.

“I’m fine,” I exhaled shallowly, wrapping my hand around her leg as I rested my head in her lap. “Just taking a little rest.”

“He told me earlier that he though the field looked cozy. I think he just wanted to test it out.” Grady was joking, but when I finally opened my eyes to look at him, I could see the concern on his face.

The pain was already evening out, so I knew this wasn’t as bad as before. “I’ll be okay. I just need a sec.”

“I’d give you all day, if you’d have caught the damn ball,” Mack said, from somewhere behind me.

And damn it, even knowing it would hurt, I laughed again. “Next time throw it better and I will.”

Jacob appeared next to Grady. I realized everyone was gathered around me, and I didn’t like it. The only reason I didn’t force myself upright was because Sky’s fingers were still in my hair, and that was the single point of comfort in my body.

“Catch your breath, and then let’s get in one more down before we call it,” Jacob announced to me and everyone else, using his steely authoritarian voice as if he was the ref for the game. I hadn’t heard him take charge in a long time, but judging by the grin on his face, he was enjoying himself.

The others began walking away and I sighed, staring up into the most beautiful face I’d ever seen. “Hey gorgeous.”

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