Wild Card: Boys of Fall (17 page)

Home. He had a home.

Then he realized it wasn’t the place that made him feel that way. Without her, he wouldn’t want it.

“Don’t care what we call it,” Glen said, Lorelie still tucked in his arm. “As long as Lori’s there with me.”

Lorelie gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Keep talking like that and my right hook is going to get rusty from a lack of use.”

“Better that than your kisses,” he said, stealing a kiss to punctuate his point. “I love you, Butterfly.”

“Ditto, Music Man.”

Coach chuckled. “You’re gonna do just fine here, Glen. You’ve got the same spirit as my boys of fall. Welcome to the family.”

S
adie
: Hey, where did you and Glen go?

Silence

Sadie: Lorelie? Did you guys go home? You’re missing a great game

Silence

Wade: Glen? The gang is looking for you and Lorelie

Silence:

Wade: You picked the wrong game to ditch. The Titans are killing it tonight

“
T
urn off your cell
. That constant buzzing is distracting me.” Glen started to reach for her phone, but she got to it first. She pushed the off button and then pulled him back toward her, the two of them resuming some pretty hot-and-heavy kissing.

“So this is how you evaded your protectors back in high school?” Glen murmured when her lips moved from his mouth to his neck.

“Mmmhmm. They were too busy playing to worry about me.”

“Trumpet player, you say?”

She giggled. “It would appear I’ve always had a thing for musicians.”

Lorelie began kissing his neck again and for a second, Glen let her distract him from why he’d really dragged her here.

“Lori, hang on a second, darlin’.”

She pulled back reluctantly. Very reluctantly. He grinned. He was one lucky man. The past six months had been the best of his life.

The songs he and Wade had recorded were getting some serious airplay and they were starting to talk about a potential tour. Lorelie was excited about the prospect of joining them on the road for a few of the concert dates. It was all she and Charlene could talk about lately.

Coach had become more of a father to him than his own dad had ever been. And the man was starting to hand over more and more of the ranch duties as well. Coach would occasionally talk about the day he retired, and how the land would belong to Lorelie and her kids one day. Up until yesterday, Coach had always said it that way. Lorelie and her kids.

Yesterday, he said it would belong to them—to Glen and Lorelie and their kids.

It wasn’t exactly a subtle hint for Glen to get off his ass and propose, but Glen had taken it to heart.

Glen had actually purchased the ring two weeks ago after securing Coach’s permission to ask for her hand. And since then, he’d been looking for the perfect time.

Earlier, sitting with her dad in the bleachers at the high school football game, surrounded by all their friends, and with plans to hit Pitchers afterwards, he’d decided there was no better time.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the box. Lorelie’s eyes widened with surprise.

“Glen,” she whispered.

“I’ve been racking my brain for a romantic way to do this, Lori, but the truth is, every single day I spend with you is the best day of my life. This proposal is greediness on my part, pure and simple. Because I want a lifetime of you. You’re everything to me. Every song I’ve ever played, every word I’ve ever spoken, every step I’ve ever taken. Everything has led me to you. I love you. I want to marry you, make babies with you, and get old and gray and grumpy with you.”

He used his free hand to wipe away the tears streaming down her face. “Crying?”

The tears she shed at moments like this always embarrassed her. When she was overwhelmed by happiness. He could never convince her this was when she was the most beautiful to him.

“Yes,” she said begrudgingly.

“Yes, you’re crying, or yes, you’ll marry me?”

She laughed. “Both. And damn you, what the hell can I say to top that? You always steal the most perfect words and then I’m left with the same three.”

“Say them anyway. They’re my favorites.”

“You’re not bored with them?”

He shook his head. “Never.”

“I love you.” She kissed him, hard. “I love you. I love you. God. I love you so much…”

He returned her kiss and slid the ring on her finger.

Lorelie admired it for a few seconds, and then she grabbed his hand, tugging him out from under the bleachers. “Come on! I want to tell everybody.”

He let her drag him willingly toward the rest of the gang, as anxious as she was to share their good news.

It took a moment for that to soak in. He wanted to share his life with all these people. All of them.

The rambler had found his home.

At last.

D
on’t miss
the other Boys of Fall!

F
ree Agent

T
ucker had only
one aspiration in high school - to get the hell out of town the second that diploma was in his hands. The only way out was his talent as quarterback on the gridiron. And his plan worked. He turned pro his sophomore year of college and never looked back. Never had any regrets.

Except her. Lela and Tucker's romance had been like a force of nature - steamy, unstoppable and tempestuous. He had always turned to her to forget about how bad things were at home, but when things took a turn for the worse, he broke it off and ran. For twelve years he's stayed far away, unwilling to deal with his drunken father, his mother’s death, and unable to face the girl he never stopped thinking about.

When Tucker gets a call that his high school coach has suffered a heart attack and needs help, he has to make a decision. Does he return with his teammates to help his beloved coach? Does he take the risk of running into his father? What does he say to Lela about the way he disappeared so completely?

And what if the spark that flared so hot between them still exists?

R
ed Zone by Mari Carr

U
nlike so many
of his teammates, Joel never left small-town Quinn after high school. Coach Carr offered him a full-time job on his ranch, and Joel was more than happy to stay near family. In his downtime, Joel good-naturedly competes with his best bud Oakley for the sexy local bartender's attention, but Sadie repeatedly turns down their frequent requests for dates. She doesn't want to come between the two friends...until a little too much champagne at a wedding reception leads to a sizzling encounter. In that moment, Joel and Oakley know they'll never make Sadie choose -- she can have them both. 

A no-strings affair between the trio turns complicated when it becomes clear there's nothing casual about their feelings. Add in a sensual, accidental touch between Joel and Oakley, and those feelings become intense times a thousand. It's an emotional game of chance, one they may ultimately lose...but if they can reach the Red Zone, Joel, Oakley and Sadie have a chance at the biggest score of their lives. 

This is a full-contact story with scenes of m/m/f sex.

O
ut of Bounds
by Erin Nicholas

A
s star running back
for his high school team, Jackson Brady led a charmed life—until the wild child pushed a little too far. And thanks to snitching goody two-shoes Annabelle Hartington, Jackson endured scandal, shame, and suspension from the team before the championship game. His ensuing downward spiral would have been far worse if not for Nicholas Carr, his high school coach and mentor.

Now, twelve years later, Jackson doesn’t think twice about returning to Quinn, Texas, to help out when Coach suffers a heart attack. It’s an opportunity to atone for past sins and prove he’s ready to give back to the close-knit community. And he knows just the person to help him—the same woman who brought him down all those years ago. A respected and beloved teacher, if Annabelle is willing to take a chance on him, everyone

will know Jackson’s a new man.

But he’s not the only one who’s changed. Though she’s just as smart as he remembers, Annabelle is also sweet, kind, loyal—and hiding a surprisingly passionate woman behind her staid schoolteacher clothes. Suddenly proving himself to the town might be more difficult than he’d thought. Because while Jackson may have shed most of his wild ways, turns out nothing stirs his inner bad boy quite like Annabelle.

I
llegal Motion
by Erin Nicholas

C
arter Shaw isn’t
a man anyone would mistake for a good guy. He’s has always been intense, up for anything and fearless —on the football field, when wearing his badge and in the bedroom.

But pleasure is never mixed up with love. His unstable upbringing was more than enough to scare him off commitments for good.

Until he meets Lacey Andrews.

A true do-gooder, heart and soul, Lacey is the only woman to ever make Carter wish he was a better man.

It’s probably a good thing his best friend fell in love with her first.

Even when Garrett is shot and dies in the line of duty, Carter knows he can’t give her everything she wants and needs. Until she shows up on his doorstep in nothing but a trench coat and pink lingerie. Now there may be a few things he can offer…

Losing her fiancé has only proven how short life is and Lacey doesn’t want to miss another moment of happiness. Carter might have turned down the chance at the long term threesome she and Garrett wanted, but she knows he hasn’t forgotten the deep friendship or the one hot night the three of them shared. Carter is the only one who can make her feel alive again. And while her heart will always hold Garrett’s memory, Lacey is ready to prove Carter will never have to share her…even with the ghost of another.

F
ull Coverage
by Erin Nicholas

Y
ou can take
the boy out of Quinn, Texas, but you can’t take the love for sexy cowgirls out of the boy. Evidently.

Nolan Winters left his hometown after high school, wanting bigger things than Quinn could offer. Years later, he’s a popular journalist, reporting stories that stir him, and also a bestselling author to boot, working on his second book—a biography about one of Texas’ most beloved football coaches, Quinn’s very own Nicholas Carr. Now Nolan’s finding himself home a lot more often. For research. Yeah. That’s the story he’s sticking to. He’s not coming home for sexy, sweet local mechanic, Miranda Doyle. Nope. Not at all.

Randi’s a born-and-bred Quinn girl, more than content to stay there forever. Football, steady work, football, family and friends, football…the small ranching town has everything she needs. And lately, something she wants—Nolan Winters. Never much of an athlete, he’s asked football fanatic Randi for help on the sports details of his new book about Coach. The ins and outs of the game. It isn’t long before Randi would rather help the hot scholar in and out of other things…like her bedroom, and definitely his clothes.

She’s a small-town, C-average ex-cheerleader. He’s a big-city, A-plus bookworm. Their differences could keep their engines running hot…or steer them straight toward a crash and burn.

T
o read more
about Out of Bounds, Illegal Motion and Erin Nicholas’s other work, visit her website at
www.erinnicholas.com
.

G
oing Long
by Cari Quinn

T
his time
, he’ll need to hit all the right notes to win the woman he’s always loved…

Wade Bennett is used to coming in second to his seemingly perfect older brother. In high school, Colt was a star linebacker while Wade was the punter, an important job without all of the glory. When Charlene Martinez—the only girl Wade ever truly wanted—fell for Colt, Wade decided to take his chances with music and went on the road. Leaving behind his family, his best friend, Rafe, and Charlene, who had feelings for Wade she never allowed herself to feel.

Years in Nashville quickly hardened the dreamy guy who just wanted to sing and hang out with his dog. His success has given him more than enough money, even if he knows he’ll never be able to compete with his hometown hero big brother. But after Coach Carr’s heart attack, Wade comes home to help the man who helped him make the decision to chase his dreams all those years ago.

Now Wade wants to chase a new dream in his old hometown, especially since Charlene is single again after divorcing Colt. And Wade is no longer a boy unwilling to fight for what—and who—he needs.

G
oing
Deep by Cari Quinn

T
wo is hot
…three is explosive.

T
he last wedding
former high school linebacker Colt Bennett attended was his own—to the woman his brother is now marrying. But tequila, romance and regrets make a bad combination, and the next thing he knows, he’s half passed out in his ex’s best friend’s truck.

That Paige Wilcox hates the sight of him is incidental, right?

At least until Colt calls his best friend and business partner, Drake, to give him a ride home, and somehow the three of them end up in Paige's bedroom. There’s absolutely no reason why he should consider having a threesome…

Other than he’s been denying wanting both of them for months.

With Coach Carr on the mend and the rest of his high school football team back home, Colt’s starting to find his true place in his hometown. Except now he’s got even bigger problems than recriminations about the ex he’s long over. He’s falling for her best friend, and maybe even for his own…

Oh, and boys—and a girl—touch in this book. A lot.

G
oing
Hard by Cari Quinn

L
ibrarian Hollie Bennett
is used to being overshadowed by her older brothers. One’s a country star, one’s a former football star…and she’s just a sedate librarian with a secret thing for high-end lingerie and fast sports cars. One person she doesn’t have a thing for? Obstinate, rule-abiding, stupidly hot Rafe Martinez—her older brother’s best friend.

Until the night he saves her from herself, after she decides to go a little wild at a party. And the guy she ends up going wild with is the one she hates during the day—Rafe. Accountant. Suit. Man with an amazing skill with his tongue that can’t be un-known no matter how hard she tries.

And he’s not ready to give up his wild-woman-in-librarian’s-clothing…even if he has to dig out every trick in his arsenal to prove she’s not the only one with a hidden naughty side.

T
o read more
about Going Long and Cari Quinn’s other work, visit her website at
www.cariquinn.com
.