Rough Play: A Football Romance

by Kira Ward

  But even before all this happened, I was beginning to wonder if it was all worth it. Maybe this injury is fortuitous.

  “I’m okay.”

  I fly to Dallas the following day. Cricket picks me up at the airport and I wish I can put my arms around her. I content myself with sliding one arm around her. She’s nervous. There’s something going on with her, but when I ask, she changes the subject. It’s not until we pull up in front of her house that I realize what’s happening.

  A man—a man who looks like an older, thinner version of me—is standing on the front porch, watching us.

  “Cricket…”

  “He’s sober,” she says quickly, like she thinks that will change everything. “And he doesn’t want anything. I invited him here. He’s been worried about you.”

  “How did he know to contact you?”

  “I visited him a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Why?”

  She turns to me, her eyes moving slowly over my face as though she’s waiting for me to explode. And, to be honest, I feel like I might.

  “You suffered a lot as a kid. You didn’t have the kind of family you deserved. And now we’re trying to build a family and you’re worried that you won’t be a good enough man, a good enough father.” She touches my hand lightly. “I thought that if you talked to your dad, if you saw that none of the things that happened when you were a kid were your fault, it would help you to see that you are capable of being an excellent father and husband.”

  “You brought my dad here so he could tell me that I’m not a fuck up?”

  “Essentially.” She leans into me and kisses me. “I love you, Magnus. I want you to see the man I see when I look at you. And I think that this will help.”

  I want to be angry with her, but it’s obvious that she’s only trying to help. How can I fault her that? But when I look at the man standing there on the front stoop, I want to turn and run. I’ve hated him for so long, it’s hard to see anything beyond that angry, alcoholic who ruined my childhood.

  “Just talk to him,” she says softly.

  I hesitate. But then I nod. “For you.”

  I walk slowly across the lawn toward him. He watches, tension in his shoulders. “Hello, Dad.”

  His eyes—clear for the first time in years—fill with tears. “I don’t deserve for you to call me that,” he says. “I was a horrible father. I was so angry at your mother for leaving us, that she was all I saw when I looked at you. But you are so different from her. Such a good man. I don’t know how that can be with what I did to you, but you are. And I’m so proud of you.”

  Those are not the words I expect to hear come out of his mouth. They cut through me like a knife, tearing through all the hatred and the anger that’s built all these years. I want to knock him on his ass. I want to pulverize him for the things he said to the child I once was. But something inside of me revels in the words he just spoke.

  “I know you hate me,” he continues while I remain silent, “but I love you and I just wanted you to know that.”

  He steps off the porch and begins to cross the yard.

  “Wait,” I say before I realize I’m going to speak.

  He turns, tears running unchecked down his cheeks even as hope comes alive in his eyes.

  “Stay for dinner. I’m sure Cricket has something delicious planned.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I glance at the old Jeep Wrangler Cricket is leaning against, her hands resting on top of her baby bump. She raises her chin a little as our eyes meet.

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  Epilogue

  Cricket

  Five years later…

  I sit in the stands beside my mom, watching Magnus yell to be heard above the noise of the crowd. My dad stands beside him, his hand on his arm, whispering something urgently in his ear. Magnus waves to his players on the field, yelling to them again. Then he steps back as the ref blows the whistle and calls the game into play.

  “Mommy, can I have some hot chocolate?”

  I focus on my daughter, Mattie Abigail. She has Magnus’ dark hair and my green eyes and pale skin. But she’s going to look more like him, what with his nose and his wide jaw. Only four and she’s already the prettiest girl on the block. Only her sister comes near to matching her beauty, what with her dark eyes and red hair. Carolyn Amelia is two and already she has her daddy wrapped around her little finger.

  I reach for the hot chocolate, but my swollen belly makes it impossible for me to reach it. My mom grabs it and calls to Mattie, helping her pour a small helping into the thermos’ little cup.

  “I have some cookies, if you want them, darling,” Amelia says.

  Mattie immediately perks up, coming over to get a few. Amelia, her belly as swollen as mine, digs in her bag and pulls out a Ziplock filled with homemade chocolate chip cookies.

  “They’re Frank’s favorite,” she says to me.

  “Mine, too,” Malcolm says, stealing one from Amelia as he winks big at Mattie. Mattie laughs.

  I can’t believe how far we’ve all come. Amelia was my maid of honor when Magnus and I married, then, eight months later, I was her maid of honor at her wedding to Frank. In the meantime, Magnus was offered multiple coaching positions when word got out that he’d turned down the Giants offer of a four-year assistant contract. He chose Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. And when he began restructuring the coaching staff, he offered my dad a position as defensive coordinator. And Frank took a job as media director.

  We were all Horned Frogs now.

  When I imagined what my life would be when I finally met the man of my dreams, this wasn’t it. But, again, this was exactly it.

  The baby moves in my belly. I hope for Magnus’ sake that it’s a boy this time. He says it doesn’t matter. He claims that he loves playing dress up and tea party with his girls. And I believe him. But I think a little injection of testosterone in the house would be a blessing.

  Magnus looks up at us from the sidelines and smiles. It’s almost as if he can hear my thoughts. I wonder if he knows where they’re going now…

  Will I ever stop having these dirty thoughts every time I look at him?

  Hormones, Amelia says.

  No. Not with a man like mine.

  And to think it all started with a football slamming into the side of my head.

  The End

  To receive my unreleased books, join my mailing list at:

  http://www.kiraward.com

  If you enjoyed Rough Play, check out my other titles:

  Fury: A Secret Baby Romance

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H9AAY6S/

  "I came here so that Travis could meet his father. Mason… he’s your son."

  I was still in High School when I met Mason. Everything about him seemed dangerous to me, from the fact that he was an illegal street racer to the fact that he was older than me. He was the sexiest guy I'd ever met, and I was way too young... Maybe that's why I fell so quickly into his arms.

  I'm caught between my strict dad, a boring High School life, and an underground world filled with fast cars and deadly consequences.

  When things get out of control, I have no choice but to run away. Now, I'm hiding a huge secret that could tear both our lives apart.

  I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant with Mason's baby.

  Secret Baby Romance meets Fast and the Furious! Hold on to your seat belts for a happy ending and no cheating!

  Marry Me

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2MMFN1/

  One billionaire bachelor. Six beautiful women... and a quirky misfit.

  After hitting rock bottom, Mia Price gets an unexpected opportunity to star on the new, hit reality show, Marry Me. Thrown into a mansion together and cut off from the outside world, Mia competes with six other singles for the affection of the rich, strikingly handsome heartthrob, Gunnar Lowe.

  The catch?

  Gunnar and the winner have to get hitched at the end of the show.

 
; She's in it for the prize money. He's in it for the fun. Neither expect that they can really fall for someone and get married on a crazy show filled with with drama, jealousy, and almost zero privacy.

  But sometimes people find love in the most unexpected of places...

  Arrogant Neighbor: A Navy Seal Romance

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EEM02P2

  The first night in my new apartment, I wanted to kill him. The laughter in the halls, the banging against the walls, the sound of that girl screaming in ecstasy. It was so loud that I had to call our building manager about him twice.

  My new neighbor was a rude, arrogant asshole.

  I can't blame the girl though. His dazzling blue eyes, that body, those tattoos. I had never met a guy quite like him.

  But then he keyed my car, and I needed to get the police involved. That was the beginning of our heated feud.

  Little did I know, things were about to get a lot more heated. The cocky bastard was holding onto a lot of big secrets, one of them being that he was an ex-Navy Seal. And when the Navy Seal came to the rescue, I ended up rescuing him from himself in the process.

  Defender: A Stepbrother Romance

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017V91XAS

  I'm a beast in the courtroom and an animal in bed.

  I spend all day telling my clients to keep their mouth shut so I can get them off whatever ******* charge they've managed themselves caught up into. I'm one of the meanest attorneys in NYC, and women can smell money and confidence from a mile away. I win cases, and I can get any girl. Except for one... and she's making my life a living hell.

  My stepbrother hates me.

  I've screwed up again, and here he comes to bail me out. Crawford. Sexy, powerful Crawford. He's barely acknowledged my existence since what happened between us years ago. Hell, the only reason he's coming to help me now is because Mom begged him to. I know I shouldn't have drank that night. I shouldn't have got into that car. My life is in Crawford's hands, but I'd love nothing more than my body to be in those hands as well.

  A Baby For My Doctor

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011SN9P6C/

  We had been trying to conceive for months, but the tests always came back negative. It was my fault of course- at least that's what he told me.

  And then it happened. He left me... alone with a vacant belly. Maybe it was for the best, as the cut under my eye and the bruises on my wrist were a stark reminder of how things could have been.

  Only Dr. Ryker could heal my pain. The gorgeous alpha physician who was there supporting me at every step of the way. Could I share the ultimate gift with him? Could I have my doctor's baby?

  He Wants It, He Gets It

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0111CSUL6

  Emma Allred is usually polite and well-mannered, but when the rudest customer she's ever met walks into her diner, she can't help but lose her temper. A heated encounter turns into her worst nightmare when she finds out the jerk who she's thrown coffee on is none other than billionaire CEO, Dante Caito.

  Hot, sexy, and demanding, Dante gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and he's not about to let little Emma get away without a lesson. Even if it means purchasing the diner so that she loses her job or buying out her apartment complex to demolish her home. He'll stop at nothing to get her revenge–simply because he can.

  But Emma isn't about to back down without a fight. Just because Dante is worth billions, doesn't mean that he can ruin her life. Dante just might have met his match. There's something about Emma's fiery nature that draws him in... He finds himself determined to have his way with Emma, inside and outside of the bedroom.

  And he will. Because when he wants something, he gets it.

  contact Kira at:

  kiraward@kiraward.com