Page 81 of The Ruthless and the Strong

“Should we huddle?” Mason asked.

“You really think we need a game plan to beat them?” Logan asked.

I shook my head and smiled a little. “What did they say? First team to score four points first wins? Why don’t we just hurry this along before Gage experiences an aneurysm from watching his pregnant fiancée play football?”

Gage shoved my shoulder. “The point system doesn’t even work like that. I doubt they even know the rules to the game.” I laughed at that. He was taking this way too seriously. “And when you finally decide to make Lizzie yours officially and get her pregnant with your kid, I would really love to see how you are.”

That shut me up. Not because the thought of Lizzie pregnant with my kid scared me, but because I hadn’t realized how badly I’d wanted that until he said it. But did Lizzie even want to get pregnant again? Or hell, marry, for that matter? I didn’t know. A part of me was scared to find out what the answer might be.

Gage continued to talk as if he hadn’t tilted my world off its axis, and pointed at Mason. “And you don’t get to say anything. We all remember what you were like when Olivia was pregnant. It was fucking embarrassing, man. Logan called you Mother Hen behind your back for two weeks.”

Logan laughed at that. “Fuck, I forgot about the nickname. We should bring it back.”

“Let’s not,” Mason said, shooting a glare at the other man.

A loud cheer came from the girls’ circle as they chanted, “Go team!” and moved in line with Kiera behind Hayden, who had the ball, and Lizzie and Olivia on either side of her. They weren’t smiling.

We all got in formation.

“Okay, hut.” Kiera yelled, and Hayden threw the ball back to her, while Lizzie and Olivia raced forward. I covered Lizzie while Mason got Olivia and Logan on Hayden, and Gage on Kiera. No one trusted the other men to cover his own woman so we each covered our own, and I realized quickly enough what a mistake that was when Kiera threw the ball to Olivia, who, surprisingly enough, caught the ball with ease.

Olivia started for the end of the backyard, and Mason chased her.

Then she shot Mason with her signature wide brown eyes, and I could practically see the thoughts changing in his head.

Logan and Gage changed their direction then, aiming for Olivia’s bandanna, and before I could yell at them not to bother, Mason placed one meaty hand on their chest one at a time, and struck them down. I watched in amusement as they both fell flat on their asses and Olivia pranced her way to touchdown.

I took in their stunned expression, before I lost it and let out a booming laugh.

Around me, the girls cheered and jumped around Olivia as she did a little rendition of a victory dance.

“What the fuck? Why the hell did you stop us?” Gage asked, when the three of them made their way over to me.

“Did you see her?” Mason muttered, looking a tad sheepish.

“What?” Logan asked on a frown.

“Did you not see her?”

“Yeah, I saw her. She had the ball and you let her run to victory.”

He shrugged. “Olivia Kade is a dangerous woman.”

Gage scoffed and I chuckled, patting Mason on his chest. “Oh, yeah. Especially since Mason had a weakness for her brown eyes. Isn’t that right, brother?”

He looked at me. “You’re one to talk. Olivia tells me stories, you know. About how much you let her get away with when she was growing up.”

I only grinned at him.

* * *

The game turnedout to be embarrassingly short, only fifteen minutes, with the girls leading 4-0.

Every one of their scores was earned by the self-sabotage of the men.

Even Kiera’s point, when she decided she really wanted to really run in the game instead of pass, took off with the ball. Gage ended up personally escorting her to touchdown safely so there wouldn’t be any harm to the baby.

I doubted there would have been any harm happening in flag football, but Gage was beyond reasoning with. He almost had a heart attack when she tackled him to the ground because he got the ball.

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