Caspian (Carolina Reapers 8)

Speaking of the ex, the dumbass was too busy fighting with his flag football belt to even look at what he’d foolishly let slip through his fingers.

“You okay?” Maxim asked, hooking on his belt.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve got a little drool.” He thumbed his lower lip.

“Shut up.” I shoved him. Mature.

He laughed, following my line of sight straight to Ryleigh. “The girl next door giving you a hard time?”

I avoided that topic like the plague. Maxim was my best friend and had been since rookie year, so it wasn’t like he didn’t know the deal with Ryleigh and me, but that didn’t mean I wanted to talk about it. I spotted his little sister sitting on the sidelines. “Mila playing?”

“Fuck no. She’s not really an outdoor kinda girl.”

“I’m glad she brought Evie,” Sterling added as we stretched out our quads. Coach would fucking kill us if we got hurt because we were stupid. “It’s good for her to have a friend here.”

“They’re pretty inseparable,” Maxim noted, glancing over where Mila’s best friend sat next to her, her chair scooted into the shade while she read. “I noticed Sergei isn’t here,” he added under his breath, so only the few of us could hear.

“He wasn’t invited,” Sterling bit out. “I would never do that to my mom.”

“I don’t blame you,” Maxim reached for the hem of his shirt and yanked it off, tossing it at Mila.

The only thing the brothers shared besides their father was a hatred for him. Guy might have been an NHL legend on the ice, but he was shit in the parenting department.

“Hey, are you guys interested in playing today? Or just chatting?” Malone called out, standing a head over everyone else on the team.

“Just letting you soak in a few moments of peace before we kick your asses all over the field,” Sawyer responded.

“All talk, McCoy!” Malone made the come-hither motion with his fingers, and we all lined up.

“You’re just bitter that we won the toss!”

As fate would have it, Ryleigh stood straight across from me. “How are you not on the bride’s side?” she asked, her ponytail flicking over her shoulder. “You’re her brother.”

“Nice to see you, too, Ry.” I flashed her a grin that didn’t change her expression. Of course the one woman in the world who had caught my actual attention would be immune to whatever charms I had. “I’m a groomsman.” I shrugged.

“I call not fair.” She narrowed those green eyes at me, the sun making them as bright as emeralds.

“We’ll take it easy on you,” I promised with a smirk. “Besides, we’re hockey players, not football players. You’ve got Bobby Lensford on your team. He was all-state football.”

“Ten years and forty pounds ago,” she muttered, but there was a grin teasing her full lips.

Noble called out a play, and we all took our positions for the snap, the field going quiet as he shouted out some numbers that meant I was supposed to run. I turned my ball cap backward and looked Ryleigh in the eyes—mostly to keep them off her neckline.

“You’re mine, Foster.” Her eyes narrowed teasingly.

Chuck scoffed a few people down the line, but hey, she had his attention. Mission accomplished.

“In your dreams, Dunham.” I winked, then charged across the line as the play began, my hands skimming over Ryleigh’s waist as I moved her to the side and started to sprint across the manicured lawn of the park.

I looked over my shoulder as I cleared the defense to see two things quite clearly. The first was that Nathan’s aim was at least twenty feet off to the left, and the second, Ryleigh hadn’t wasted any time sprinting after me. She was hot on my heels as I ran horizontally across the field, catching the ball about two seconds before I felt the tug of my belt signaling that she’d caught me.

I spun on my feet, gripped her around the waist, and fell back as if she’d actually tackled me, taking us to the ground. The impact on my spine as I cushioned our blow was worth it to feel her in my arms.

“Looks like you got me.” My hand splayed over the warm skin of her back as I kept the ball securely tucked under my other arm.

“Ha!” She half-heartedly pushed at my chest as she laughed. “I told you I would. Did you really think you could just slip right by me? Like I’d be dazzled by NHL star Caspian Foster?” She rolled her eyes.

“Maybe I hoped something like that would happen.” Damn, she felt good on top of me, all curves and silken skin. It was nice to see her having a good time, too, inching out from that heavy thundercloud of heartbreak she dragged around with her.

“Maybe in the next lifetime.” She grinned and squirmed, so I let her up. “You’ll find I’m not that easily distracted.”