Page 65 of Out of the Shadows
He had his helmet in his hand, so I was able to see his cheeks turning a little red, but he winked at me before lowering his gaze. I would wager he wanted his hair to fall over his eyes to hide behind it, but I’d put a stop to that. As it turned out, there wasn’t much Colt wouldn’t do for me, especially when I was enticing him with sexual favors. I’d been tired of him hiding all the time, and he’d needed a decent haircut. A sloppy BJ later, my boyfriend was no longer sporting a shaggy head of hair, but a slightly longer faded faux-hawk that looked amazing on him.
Colt’s friends walked past me, all giving me a quick nod or smile, and even Hunter gave his chin a tiny twitch — that was a lot as far as he was concerned. Unfortunately, my gaze also met Nico’s — stupid fucker — who sneered at me, his cold eyes mocking.
We lined up on the sidelines, where we spent the next quarter doing stunts to keep the crowd happy. Conveniently, it also gave me a front-row seat to ogle Colt.
The team was in position, Colt was on the field, which meant the opposing offense had the ball. He was lined up, crouched down, fingertips dug into the turf.
I had watched him so closely in high school that I knew his plays practically as well as I knew my choreography. Of course, he had a new playbook here, so I wasn’tup to old form, but I could guess, and I’d often been right.
It looked like they were lined up for a stunt play. The ball was snapped, and … I was right. Colt crashed inside, his target the gap between the offensive tackle and the guard. At the same time, the defensive tackle looped from the outside to where Colt was no longer covering and attacked the edge. One of the linebackers, whom I didn’t know, blitzed up the middle.
The entire opposing offensive line was confused, gaps opened up, and Colt got his chance. With one mighty leap, he pounced on their quarterback and knocked him to the ground. A collective “Ooooh” went through the crowd as the QB hit the turf, flattened by Colt’s massive frame.
As the two scrambled to their feet, I yelled as loud as I could. “Hell yeah, Colt! Keep it up!”
There was no sign he heard me, he was wearing his helmet and the crowd was deafening, but I’d still scream my head off for him. Whether he heard it or not, he deserved the cheers and all the hype more than anyone else.
The defense, including Colt, left the field to make room for our offense.
Our quarterback had enough time in the pocket to throw a deep pass to Knox, who got it close to the end zone. Two snaps later, we scored another touchdown to tie the game.
The fourth quarter began, and Colt took the field with the rest of the defense. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the score was still tied, so if we wanted to win, the best plan was to get their offense off the field as quickly as possible.
My squad and I performed stunts and lifts on the sideline, encouraging the crowd to chant. Being one of the lightest and smallest members of the team meant I was a flyer. Mybases lifted me into the air, so I balanced on one leg, then bent the other and extended my arms in a V.
The controlled step-down worked just as smoothly as in practice, so I had no problem getting my feet back on the ground.
I had missed the first down, but Colt and his boys seemed to have been successful since we were on the second down. The center snapped the ball, and the quarterback fired a pass to an open receiver before Colt or anyone on defense could get to him, then the receiver took off.
Instead of running straight ahead, he ran at an angle, apparently seeing no possibility of a straight path. I didn’t realize what was happening until it was almost too late. The opposing receiver tumbled out of bounds, people jumped out of the way, and I almost got hit myself.
Shocked, I looked down at the figure lying at my feet, not sure if I should help him up, or if I even could if I wanted to, but before I knew it, the guy jumped back to his feet.
Unsurprisingly, he towered over me by more than a head, and beamed a brilliant-white smile.
“Sorry, shorty, wasn’t on purpose. Good thing I didn’t knock you down like those idiots.” He pointed behind him with his thumb and walked back toward the field. “See you later, hopefully.”
I stared after him, speechless — college football was fucking crazy.
My eyes met Colt’s, who had taken more than one step in my direction. Hunter had a firm grip on his arm and was arguing with him. The look Colt was giving the guy who almost flattened me was murderous.
I tried not to let myself get distracted by what had happened.A smoldering look from Colt before they lined up again sent a swarm of butterflies fluttering in my stomach. God, I loved it when he was all intense and aggressive like that. It was a side of him he displayed almost exclusively on the field, a side I loved to catch glimpses of, because it meant his calm and collected mask had slipped and he’d lost control for once.
Before taking his usual stance, Colt lifted his head and yelled something at Hunter, which I was pretty sure had never happened before.
The ball was snapped, and in a flurry of movement, Colt and Hunter switched positions in the blink of an eye. Colt’s movements were more energetic than usual. I’d never seen him run so fast, and he headed straight for the guy who almost bowled me over.Oh, shit.
Colt’s cleats sank into the turf, he dug deep, brought his upper body into submission, and hit the receiver with such force I winced. That couldn’t have felt pretty.
Colt got up as if nothing had happened, but it took the other guy a few seconds to get to his feet. Our football coach was losing his absolute mind on the sideline. I could hear him yelling furiously, and his face was about ten different shades of red. Guess that hadn’t been the play he’d called.
Colt shot another look in my direction, glowing with heat, unconcerned about his coach’s reprimands. Heat spread through me like wildfire. Did him taking out a guy so easily just because he’d almost run me over turn me on? Or maybe it was the smoldering looks he had sent my way during the play? Hard to tell.
The opposing receiver didn’t play the rest of the game, but Colt recorded another sack and two more tackles. As the clock wound down, he turned instantly to scan the sideline,his expression one of grim determination.
When he spotted me, he strode toward me, but I was already on my way to him. He ripped his helmet off, got one glove off, then I threw myself at him. Effortlessly, he caught me with one arm. If he kept this up, I would fuck him right here on the field. My panties were already a sticky mess.
“I’m so proud of you! What an amazing game,” I whispered into his ear, burying my face in his neck while squeezing him tight. Not caring that his hot, sweaty skin stuck to mine or that his pads dug into my flesh in places.
