The Game by Vi Keeland by Vi Keeland

I nodded. “Like feeling safe. I never in a million years would have added that box to a checklist of things I wanted from a partner. I’ve been on my own since I was fifteen and take pride in being independent. But when Christian wraps his arms around me, that makes me feel safe, and it’s more than just physically. I feel like I can trust him to protect me in ways I didn’t know I needed protecting.”

Talia hugged me. “I’m so happy you found someone.”

Miller came back from the bathroom with a bottle of wine and three glasses. He held them up. “I could get used to this life. The hostess brought these over for us.”

I smiled. “You two enjoy. It’s almost halftime, so I’m going to run down to visit my grandfather before everyone gets out of their seat for beer and bathroom trips.”

“Why isn’t he up here?” Talia asked. “Did he think twenty teenagers would be too much to deal with while trying to watch the game?”

I shook my head. “He loves his seat behind the home team bench. It makes him feel like he’s part of the action.”

“Alright. Well, go do your thing,” Miller said. “But no promises there will be anything left in this bottle when you get back.”

“That’s okay. The hostess noticed you brought Mike’s Hard Lemonade last time you were here, so she stocked the fridge with some.”

I went down and sat with my grandfather until the start of the third quarter. I would have stayed longer, but today a woman from the community he lived in was with him. I felt like maybe I was crashing a date, though he’d never say so.

After the game was over, we had birthday cake for Wyatt, and Talia let him dig into all of the presents the kids had brought. A little while later, Christian walked in and the boys swarmed him. He stood just inside the door, surrounded by teenagers shooting questions at him and congratulating him on the win. It wasn’t until he told the boys he needed to grab some water that I even got to speak to him.

I introduced him to Talia, and Miller said hello while I got him a water bottle.

“I think I have a little something in my eye,” Christian said when I returned. He motioned toward the bathroom. “It’s probably a piece of turf. That happens a lot. Would you mind taking a look to see if you see it? The lighting is better in there.”

“Oh sure.”

Christian and I went into the bathroom. He closed the door behind us, and suddenly he swung me around, pinning my back against it. The gasp of surprise I let out got swallowed in a kiss, an epic one—the kind that made your brain shut down and your legs wrap around a waist. It even made me forget that twenty kids were right on the other side of the wall.

Then Christian groaned. And I felt that groan go from our joined lips to shoot down my body and spark between my legs. By the time we came up for air, I was so needy, I probably would have let him have me up against that wall. But thankfully, one of us hadn’t lost all sense of shame.

Christian leaned his forehead against mine. “Hi.”

I smiled. “I like the way you say hello.”

He used his thumb to wipe under my bottom lip. “You should see the way I’m going to say I missed you the last few days later.”

“Is that so?”

Christian’s eyes glittered. “Come home with me. We can order in and celebrate the win together.”

I’d completely forgotten about the game. “You were amazing today. Congratulations on winning your first game back.”

“Thank you. You and your friends plan on taking all those kids home the same way you got ’em here? On the trains?”

I nodded. “We told their parents we’d get them safely back to Wyatt’s neighborhood. They’ll all walk or take the subway from there.”

“How about if I drive you? I told the PT guys I was going to use the team van to take Coach home again. But Coach said his lady friend drove. By the way, who is she?”

“She lives in his community.”

“Was today a…date?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I was wondering the same thing. When I go visit him this week, I’ll sniff around.”

Christian nodded. “So what do you say about me driving the kids?”

“I think they would love it. But will it hold all of them?”

“There are six rows of bench seats on two sides. Players sit one to a bench, but they can fit two, so it’ll hold twenty-four, plus the driver and front passenger.”

“Oh, that would work. There are twenty boys and Talia. Could we give Miller a ride too?”

“Of course. Will you come home with me after?”

“Is it a condition of driving the kids?”

Christian’s face fell. “No.”

I smiled. “Then yes.”

“Such a pain in my ass…” he grumbled. “Now give me that mouth again before I let you go back out there.”

Christian kissed the crap out of me a second time. When it broke, he gently set me back down on my feet and smoothed my hair. “You better go out first. I need a minute.” He looked down.

My eyes followed. “Oh boy. It looks like you need about an hour.”

He kissed my forehead. “I’ll be out in a few.”

Talia’s eyes lit up when I walked out. She hooked arms with me and whispered, “I know what you were doing in there. It’s all over your face.”