[Love in the End Zone 01.0] Out of Bounds

by Jillian Quinn

  Joe takes a step back from Tori, and I move forward. Tori’s eyes travel from me to her dad and back to me. She seems confused, even though she should have known this was coming. I wasn’t kidding when I told her she was the one, and that she is mine forever.

  With the box in my hand, I take Tori’s in the other, giving her a light squeeze, as I drop to my knee in front of her. This is the moment I had run through my head a thousand times over the past few months. After living without her for so long, I could never go back to that feeling again. I need to make this official. Forever.

  Her eyes widen, and she covers her mouth with her hand when I remove the ring from the box and hold it out for her to see.

  “Is that your mom’s ring?” She chokes out between tears, wiping them away with her finger.

  “Yes, and I want it to be yours.” I suck in a deep breath and prepare myself for the speech I have committed to memory. “Victoria Elizabeth Reynolds, I knew you were the one the day I met you. Losing you was the hardest thing that’d ever happened to me. Everything in my life was handed to me on a silver platter, but nothing with you was ever easy. I had to work to get you, and because of that, I respected you even more. You were worth the wait.”

  “Bash,” she says, stroking my shoulder with her fingers. Overcome by emotion, she doesn’t say anything else and lets me finish.

  “I might be a Prince, but you will always be my queen. Will you marry me?”

  She nods, the tears streaming down her cheeks and a smile plastered on her face that reaches up to her bright blue eyes. “Yes, of course, Bash.”

  I slide the ring onto her finger and gaze up at her beauty. It’s not just our parents clapping behind me. People are cheering us on, the sound growing louder in the courtyard.

  “As usual, you’re causing a scene,” Tori says with a smirk. “Now, get up here and kiss me.”

  I shake my head and laugh, as I rise to my feet. Taking her face in my hands, I do as she says and kiss her. There’s so much passion behind the kiss I have to remind myself we’re in public because my body is responding to Tori in ways that it shouldn’t right now.

  I don’t care that everyone is watching us. Lifting Tori up, I continue to kiss her, ignoring all the cheering and chatter around us. For as long as I can remember, I have been in the spotlight. It’s pretty much an occupational hazard for a Prince, and now Tori will be one of us.

  Forever and always.

  Epilogue

  Two years later

  Tori

  After getting picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the NFL Draft, Bash has been on a roll in the league. The day I met Bash I knew there was something special about him. He won the Rookie of the Year Award, followed by another amazing season that led his team to the playoffs. Now, we’re going to the Super Bowl.

  The entire luxury box at Lincoln Financial Field erupts into chaos as Bash scores the final touchdown to win the game. But I can’t take my eyes off the field and my man. Even at a distance, I can’t help but salivate over how well Bash fills out his uniform and smile at the fact that he’s all mine. Most of all, I admire his talents, and the victory Bash has given to his team. To this city.

  “That’s my boy,” Bash’s father says, slapping hands with the big wigs sitting next to him. As a former baller, Chuck knows everyone in this place. Management practically rolled out the red carpet for us today.

  Of course, my dad is one of the men congratulating Chuck on this win. He looks like a child meeting his idols for the first time. And I love that being with Bash has brought so much happiness back into my father’s life after years of misery. Our little football family has become much more than I had ever imagined. I still don’t care for the sport. Regardless, I still love watching Bash play.

  Carol, my mother-in-law, leans in to kiss me on the cheek, before taking me in her arms, as if I weigh nothing. She says something in my ear that I can’t make out over all the noise. I can hardly hear myself think with the insanity taking place inside this box and on the field.

  Our baby boy is kicking his way out of my stomach. He must like all the excitement. At this point, Bash Jr. should be used to the sound of the announcer’s voices and all the commotion that comes with each game.

  I rub my hand over my belly and whisper to our baby. He’s ready to come any day now. Bash couldn’t wait to get me pregnant. I’m pretty sure we conceived Bash Jr. on our honeymoon at the villa in Hawaii. From the moment our plane had touched down, we barely left the room. Bash has always been insatiable, and the hunger we have for each other hasn’t changed one bit over the years. If anything, I love him more than I did when we were in college.

  Bash is the man I knew he could be. He’s a good husband, soon-to-be perfect father, and an incredibly talented football player. I hit the trifecta with Bash.

  An hour after the game ends, we meet Bash downstairs. He’s dressed in a suit instead of his uniform. I don’t know which one he wears better.

  “There’s my queen,” Bash says, walking toward me. He bends down to kiss me on the lips. “And my little prince.” Bash runs his hand over my stomach and bends down to kiss our baby over the thin fabric of my dress.

  I run my hand through his hair that’s still wet from the shower. “Congratulations, Daddy.”

  He smiles in acknowledgment and grips my hips, looking up at me with those green eyes that have always sliced right through me. “Are you ready for the next step in our lives?”

  I smile so wide my face hurts. “Do you mean the baby or the Super Bowl?”

  “Both,” he says, still holding onto me, as he comes to a standing. “But you and our baby are more important than winning a championship.”

  “Maybe one day we’ll be here together watching Sebastian win a championship of his own.”

  The corners of his mouth turn up into a smile. “I hope so.”

  “He has big shoes to fill with a Dad like you.”

  “Look at me.” He strokes my jaw with his thumb and leans closer. “I lived up to the Prince name. Our son will, too.”

  “It’s the Prince cockiness that keeps all of you going,” I joke.

  “Confident, babe, and maybe a little cocky.” His sexy smirk ignites a fire beneath my skin.

  “I love you,” I whisper against his lips.

  “I love you, too, Queenie.”

  “I still hate that nickname,” I confess.

  “I still don’t care,” he says, laughing, and presses his lips to mine.

  When I look back at all the good and bad times that brought us to this point, I have no regrets. Keeping a distance from Bash after our misunderstanding only made him want me more. I think it even made him love me more. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. With a love like ours, that was exactly the case.

  Are you ready for Shawn Finch’s love story?

  Learn More About In the Zone

  Chapter One

  Ella

  He has no idea I exist, and yet I can’t stop fantasizing about him. I bite my pen cap and sigh as Shawn Finch passes my table in the cafeteria, his eyes focused on his teammates on the other side of the room. He’s the starting tight end for the Strickland Senators and part of the sport's elite at Strickland University. Everyone on campus treats athletes like royalty. And he’s one of the most loved.

  Tall, with broad shoulders and muscular biceps I’ve imaged gripping on many occasions, Shawn is the only man who makes my heart pound. But he’s never noticed me. Not once has he looked in my direction, though I always see him. He’s hard to miss with his size and larger than life personality.

  He stands at the end of his table, his arms outstretched, his voice loud enough for me to hear. A natural magnetism surrounds him, making it hard not to like Finch. That’s what his friends call him. He’s telling a joke, one that also makes me laugh along with his teammates. I can’t stop staring at him as I hang onto every word he says.

  I come here every day after my last class to buy a soda fo
r the ride home. Shawn meets his friends at the same table three times a week. Knowing that makes me a stalker, I think. But I don’t care. He’s my guilty pleasure, my one obsession that gets me through the week.

  Today, he was late, so I waited for one glimpse before I have to make my trek to the bus stop in the cold. It’s snowing outside, so I’m procrastinating more than usual, using Shawn as my excuse.

  I push myself up from the table and stuff my textbook and notepad into my bag. As I sling it over my shoulder, a familiar voice calls out from behind me.

  “Ella, where are you going?”

  I turn around to see Victoria Reynolds, who everyone calls Tori. We have a few classes together and have become acquaintances, maybe even friends.

  “I have to catch the bus. The last one before dinnertime leaves in twenty minutes. I can’t be late getting home.”

  Clarissa, my stepmother, would have a stroke if I missed my curfew. She’s insane about punctuality. I also have to make dinner for the house, one of my many chores.

  Tori frowns, twisting a lock of blonde hair around her finger. “Sit with us.” Motioning in the direction of Shawn’s table, she says, “Let me introduce you to everyone. You can meet them before the party this weekend.”

  During class, Tori had invited me to the annual masquerade party they throw at the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity house. Shawn is a member, which made it easier for me to say yes on the spot. But I have no idea how I’m going to talk my stepmother into allowing me to attend without a fight. No one knows how tough my life is at home, and no one ever will—not even Tori.

  “I wish I could.” I hate saying no to her generous offer. “But I can’t miss this bus.”

  This is my one chance to meet Shawn, instead of slobbering over him from afar. Her offer is tempting, but I have to leave. And I hate that I do. If my father were still alive, he wouldn’t have cared less if I stayed behind to meet Shawn and his teammates. He would have encouraged me to put myself out there and find new friends. Things have changed so much for me in the last two years.

  I glance over at Shawn and lick my lips as he runs his hand through his shaggy brown hair. His big muscles flex beneath the Strickland Senators T-shirt stretched tight across his thick chest and arms. He’s so gorgeous, in a rugged caveman sort of way, that I can’t catch my breath when I look directly at him. No one has ever had this effect on me, and yet he has no idea I’m alive.

  Tori follows my line of sight and laughs. “Do you have a crush on Finch?”

  I angle my body toward Tori, staring at her in horror. “No, of course not.”

  He’s my secret crush for a reason.

  “Yeah, right.” Tori smacks me in the arm, playfully, and with a goofy smile on her face. “I used to look at Bash from a distance the way you do Finch. I know the look well.”

  “Did you ever think you would end up with a guy like him?”

  Tori’s a scholarship student, which is rare at Strickland University. So is Shawn. Most of the kids on campus are rich and can afford their premium tuition. Tori’s boyfriend, Sebastian Prince, is the star running back for the Senators and one of the hottest guys on campus. His dad is a retired NFL player and super loaded. Everyone said he was out of Tori’s league, but that didn’t stop them from getting together. Maybe I have a shot with Shawn.

  Tori shrugs. “No, not really. But I never sought him out either. We stumbled into each other at a party, and the rest is history. I hope you’re coming this weekend. Finch will be there.”

  “I’ll try. I have to ask my stepmother. She has a lot of rules.”

  “They don’t seem to apply to Natasha and Anastasia.”

  She’s referring to my stepsisters.

  I roll my eyes at the thought of them. “They get away with murder. Me, not so much.”

  Tori forces a smile. “Well, I hope you’re allowed to come. It’s one of the best parties of the entire school year. I can introduce you to Finch then. Little liquid courage might help.”

  Staring over at Shawn, I bite the inside of my cheek, nervous, and Tori adds, “Hey, don’t worry about it. They seem intimidating at first, but Bash and Finch are the best guys I know. If you can get over their looks and all the girls following them around, they’re just normal guys. Trust me. You’ll be fine this weekend. Everyone will love you.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.” I pull her into a quick hug. “I have to get going if I want to catch the first bus. I’ll text you if Clarissa says okay.”

  Before I leave the cafeteria, I take one last look at Shawn, realizing the masquerade party is my only shot at hanging out with him outside of school. The party has rules I can use to my benefit. We have to wear a mask and are not allowed to exchange names. It’s perfect.

  No matter what Clarissa says, I have to find a way out of the house this weekend. I’m getting the kiss I’ve been dreaming of from Shawn.

  Click here to continue reading In the Zone

  Also by Jillian Quinn

  LOVE IN THE END ZONE SERIES

  In the Zone

  Out of Bounds

  FACE-OFF SERIES

  Parker

  Kane

  Donovan

  Jameson

  MORE THAN SERIES

  More Than Friends

  More Than Roommates

  SEXY STANDALONE NOVELS

  Teach

  One More Night

  SINS OF THE PAST SERIES

  The First Sin

  The Ultimate Sin

  For more information, visit JillianQuinnBooks.com.

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  About the Author

  Jillian Quinn is an international bestselling romance author who likes her females just as alpha as their swoon-worthy counterparts. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Jillian sets all of her books in the City of Brotherly Love, cheers for her local sports teams, and enjoys a good cheesesteak. When she’s not writing, reading, or blogging, she’s fangirling over hockey and can be found wherever she can watch the next game.

  For more information about Jillian’s books, visit her website at JillianQuinnBooks.com. Sign up for Jillian's Newsletter for free books, book deals, giveaways, and exclusive excerpts from her books.

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