False Start: A Football Romance

FALSE START

A Football Romance

TENLEY BENNET

and

SAYLOR BLISS

COPYRIGHT 2016
Prism Heart Press

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher or author. If you are reading this book and you have not purchased it or received an advanced copy directly from the author, this book has been pirated.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or, if an actual place, are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

DEDICATION

To my loving Frenchman, Benoit – All my love, Saylor

To my wonderful and supportive father, Leroy. Always pushing me towards the stars. – I love you, Tenley

DESCRIPTION

Callum

As the best wide receiver in the NFL, I can catch anything thrown my way.

But the one thing I want the most, I can't hold on to.

When Amelia Hart walked out of my life, I didn't run after her.

I let her go.

I had to. 

But when she split, she took my heart with her.

Running into her again took my breath away.

One look and I knew the girl from my past was my future too.

This time, I'm not fumbling the ball.

I'm going to hold on for dear life.

Our life.

Together.

Because one thing I know, a false start always gets a second chance
.
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-THREE

THIRTY-FOUR

THIRTY-FIVE

BONUS BOOK BALLER’S BABY

BONUS BOOK PITCHER’S BABY

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Chapter One

Amelia

Lying beneath the thick blanket of stars, I force myself to relax and breathe in the warm summer air, while enjoying the flickering of lightning bugs across the darkening sky and Cal’s arms wrapped tightly around me.

For days and days, my stomach has been in knots, worrying to no end like something tragic was about to happen and I was just a lonely bystander waiting for the last shoe to drop, but no more. I refuse to let my wild imagination and years of silly Jamaican superstitions ruin any more of my days with false ideas of doom.

“I love you,” Cal whispers into my thick mess of hair. I tried to straighten it again today, but the humidity in the hot June air refused to let it stay that way. My natural dark curls were now flaming around my head like Medusa’s wig of live venomous snakes. I turn my face up toward his, kissing along the scrappy stubble of hair he leaves along his chin just for me, knowing how much I love him with a five o’clock shadow.

“I love you more,” I tease back.

“Not possible,” he says, turning to me and extending his arm beneath my head so that it doesn’t hit the hard bed of his fire red pick-up truck. “I love you more than anything else in this world.”

“Hmm… more than cheese fries?” I pick at him, naming his favorite snack.

“Definitely” He says, tucking a stray curl behind my ear and kissing me on the tip of my nose.

“More than Reese’s Pieces?”

“Oh, now I don’t know about that.” I stab him in the ribs with my finger, tickling him until he caves in. “Okay, Okay… more than Reese’s Pieces too.”

“More than football?” I ask, repeating the same question I have asked him a thousand times before. We’ve always teased back and forth like this, picking with each other over who loves whom the most and why. Only this time, he doesn’t reply with the same carefree laugh that usually follows my question. My body tenses, expecting the worst but never imagining what follows.

He sighs, and everything I have felt over the last few days floods my veins, causing my blood to run cold. That isn’t a normal sigh. That is an
I need to tell you something
sigh, and right now, I’m pretty sure I want to hear anything other than what he needs to tell me.

“You know there were scouts out all this year watching the team,” he says, leaning up on his elbows and pulling me up beside him.

Of course I know the scouts were here. I was in the stands cheering him on during every game, both home and away. I saw them watching, talking between themselves at times, and jotting down notes in their little yellow pads to study later. I especially saw how their eyes followed Callum everywhere he went.

I nod my head and wait for him to go on. Already, I can feel the bile bubbling in my stomach, racing for a chance to explode up my throat and out of my mouth. I should have paid more attention to what I was feeling these past weeks. I should have listened to those age old wives’ tales my G passed down instead of just nodding along and pretending to have something else to do, but when your family is as crazy as mine, you tend to take ninety percent of what you’re told with a grain of salt.

Shoulda.

Coulda.

But . . . didn’t.

“One of those team scouts contacted me. They offered me a sweet deal, but I would have to leave immediately. I told them no.”

“What?” I scream, jumping from my spot in his arms and landing on the ground in front of the tailgate, my naked breasts bouncing around wildly.

“What do you mean you said no? This is your dream. This is what you have worked your whole life for, and you're just going to throw it away? For what?” I yell into the still night sky until I’m blue in the face from lack of oxygen. My hands are flailing in every direction, my feet stomping in the dusty field, causing a smoky cloud to billow up around us.

“Us. You. I told them no for you. I made a promise, Amie, and I won't be breaking it… not now, not ever.”

“What the hell, Cal. Screw the promise. I release you from the promise. I’ll be fine. Just go. Follow your dream.”

“No.”

“No?” What the ever loving hell does he mean no?

“No. I’m not taking the offer. I’m not leaving you when you need me the most. I’m not walking away from my whole world, my whole life, to follow a simple dream. Dreams can wait. I
will
be here for you, dammit.” Sliding to the edge of the tailgate, he lowers himself until his legs are dangling freely, and then he pulls on my limp, motionless arm, dragging me toward him. I can’t fight him now. I don’t have any fight left in me.

I don’t know what to say. It’s clear he’s made up his mind, and like so many other people before me have found out, when Callum Johnson makes up his mind about something, he’s about as immovable as a mountain.

I don’t know what to do . . . what to say. I let him pull me back into his lap, and I kiss him with all the love and frustration of the moment. I kiss him with everything I have inside me, pushing every ounce of love I feel into him.

He can’t stay in Fair Grove and be a professional football player. I can’t leave Fair Grove to be with him. It could be weeks or months until the judge approves my guardianship request for my younger brother, whom my mother has abandoned. I’m not naive enough to believe that either of us would be able to make a long distance relationship work. I know in this moment that in order for him to follow his dreams, he’s going to have to give up on me. There is only one way to make him do that. I have no choice.

I have to let him go.

Chapter Two

Callum

I hate the way we left things last night. I never intended to upset Amelia and I know hearing my decision did just that. Tonight I plan to make it up to her. Earlier today, I called Miss Nancy, her neighbor and the only person Amelia trusts with Carson, Amelia’s little brother, to ask if she would mind watching him for us this evening.

Much to my surprise, Amelia had already asked her, which was great. At least that meant that she planned on going out and I wouldn’t have to convince her again. She hated leaving Carson on most nights, and I didn’t blame her. After the scare of almost losing him, I’d want to stay as close to him as possible too.

I can’t wait to see her tonight. I want to make this night everything that I failed to make last night. In my mind, she was supposed to be happy that I wanted to stay here and help her raise Carson. At least, I thought she would have been.

I know it wasn’t easy for her to take on the responsibility of a two-year-old toddler when her mother decided to bail, especially when Amelia was still trying to go to school, but she dropped her classes and stepped up to the plate like a real mother. She’s the type of mother I wish Carson had, but unfortunately, he was gifted with a mom who was as selfish as they come.

When Carson was diagnosed with leukemia, his real mother lasted about a week, and then she conveniently got offered a job out of town. A job that refused to let her have any kids around. We both knew the truth. A new man had caught her interest, and instead of sticking around for her family when they needed her the most, she bailed, running into the arms of this month’s true love.

I hated it.

I hate her.

Carson is one of those
one in a million
kids. He lights up a room when he walks in, and no matter what mood you’re in, he is sure to brighten you up. He always has a carefree laugh ready to burst from deep inside his tiny little body. He deserves so much more. Thankfully, Amelia was old enough to apply for guardianship and hopefully will win custody of him. Otherwise, he would have ended up in the foster care system, and for a child with a serious illness, that is no place to be.

Three years of chemo and lengthy hospital stays later, and they were both still going strong. For a while, it looked like he might not pull through, but he did, and now two years later, he is a healthy seven-year-old boy. Of course, we still have to go to the chemo clinic every few months for testing to make sure everything is still in remission, but it’s a hell of an improvement over two years ago.

Sliding my feet into a pair of worn out cowboy boots, I grab a baseball hat from the table by the door and yell a goodbye to my mom before heading out to find Amelia.

God, I hope she isn’t still mad at me for telling the scout no. I can’t stand her being angry with me. She is my life. My entire universe revolves around her and Carson. I just need her to realize that. She thinks I need football to be happy, and maybe I did for a while, but not now. Now, the only thing I need in life is to see her smile and know that I put it on her beautiful face. No amount of touchdowns or interceptions could ever compare to that.