She knew it wasn’t just her imagination.

She felt cocooned within his big body and the sofa, and once again wrapped her legs around him to pull him within her. He thrust, hard, using his body to grind against her until she splintered with her orgasm, crying out his name as she came.

He had a death grip on her hip as he shuddered with his own orgasm, which only served to deepen the intensity of her climax that rolled on and on, a timeless fall into blissful oblivion.

And throughout it all they remained locked on each other’s gaze, a naked reveal of their emotions as they came. Nathan kissed her lips, her neck, and ran his hands over her body. She felt as if she were suspended on a cloud, so euphoric she never wanted to come down. And maybe he did feel the same way because he didn’t move for a very long time, just shifted slightly so they nestled against each other.

She might have fallen asleep. She wasn’t sure because she was in a groggy state when Nathan finally got up and left the sofa. He came back a few minutes later.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go upstairs.”

He took her hands and pulled her up to stand. They got into bed together and, just as they had been on the sofa, he wrapped his arms around her, his chest against her back.

“Better now?” he asked.

She smiled. “Much better.”

As she lay there with him, she wasn’t shocked at all to realize that she was in love with him. This emotional connection she’d felt earlier, the passion she felt for him, the way he was always there for her to listen to her—that was all love.

But she didn’t know how he felt and she didn’t want to upset the balance in their relationship. She knew she had to talk to him about how she felt, to figure out where they stood.

But not tonight. Tonight had been perfect and they could talk another time.

You’re a coward, Mia Cassidy.

She mentally shushed her inner voice and closed her eyes.

THIRTY-TWO

IT WAS GOING TO BE A GOOD GAME TODAY. NATHAN could feel it. He had the home field advantage, his parents had flown in for the game, and he felt more prepared than he ever had before.

He actually just felt really fucking awesome about life in general. He was stoked for the season to start, the team was healthy and he knew this was going to be a good year for the Sabers, and all that nervousness he felt before the preseason started was gone.

He was confident and he knew he could lead this team.

As he got dressed for the game, he thought about Mia. Something monumental changed between them the other night when they were together. At first he couldn’t put his finger on what it was, if he had fed into Mia’s mood or what. But it had been intense and emotional and he sure as hell never got emotional about sex.

Until then.

He finally had to come to the realization that he might be in love with Mia.

He considered that further as he finished getting dressed in the locker room, his thoughts drowning out all the chatter going on around him.

Or maybe there was no “might” about it. Because you either were or you weren’t in love with a woman.

She frustrated him more times than not. She challenged him, for sure. The sex was amazing. He trusted her like he’d never trusted another woman before. She was his friend. She’d been his friend from the moment they’d met in college. She knew more about him than anyone ever had.

He couldn’t imagine not having Mia in his life. In his bed. In his future.

Yeah, he was in love with her. No maybe about it.

He grinned.

“Thinking about the game today?” Jamal asked.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned to face his teammate and friend.

His feelings were new, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to talk about them with anyone else until he talked to Mia first. “Yeah. Ready to win this one.”

Jamal bumped fists with him. “Hell, yeah.”

By the time the team took the field, he’d tucked away thoughts of Mia, but he was happy to know she was at the stadium. As soon as the game was over, he intended to talk to her, so he could tell her how he felt. But for now, he was going to use that knowledge and this sudden feeling of euphoria to fuel the team to victory today.

Kansas City won the coin toss and they deferred, so Nathan and the Sabers had the ball first. After the kickoff, he went out there with his offense. Kansas City had a solid defense this season, so this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk for them.

Nathan took the snap from center, rolled back, looked to his left to find no open receivers, so scrambled to his right and hit Randy La Salle, the wide receiver, on a post play for a twelve yard gain.

Great start. The next play was a run, and they gained six yards, giving them a short second down. They used a running play on second down and gained five yards for a first down.

So far, so good. They went for a pass on the next first down, but Kansas City blitzed around their offensive line and Nathan was in trouble. He scrambled and ended up having to throw the ball away.

That was a close call. In the huddle, he talked to his offensive linemen about keeping their heads up and watching for the blitz.

On second down, they ran the ball for three yards, which meant they had a long third down and Nathan would have to pass. Defense would know they were passing and would no doubt blitz again. He’d have to be fast on his feet and get the ball out of his hands in a hurry.

They got in formation, the ball was snapped and Nathan had his eye on his receivers, who were trying to get open. He finally found his tight end up the middle for nine yards and a first down.

He blew out a sigh of relief. Things were going their way, but this wasn’t going to be easy.

After several plays, they finally made their way into the red zone on the nine yard line. Nathan dropped back and threw a pass to Jamal, who was wide open in the end zone.

Yes! Touchdown.

Nathan smiled and nodded. That had felt damn good. The entire offense worked hard for that one.

They moved over to the sidelines and Nathan congratulated Jamal for the touchdown, and his offensive line, who had toughed it out against a stellar defense.

He got a drink and talked with his quarterback coach about the series, then focused on watching the Sabers’ defense play.

Kansas City’s offense was just as good as their defense.

The Sabers’ defense was better. They gave Kansas City a good push back on all their plays. They gained no ground and had to punt after two first down series.

After that it was the offense’s turn again.

Time to turn the heat up and get in the end zone again.

MIA SAT IN THE CLUBHOUSE WITH AMELIA AND WENDY, along with Mick and Tara Riley and several other players’ wives, girlfriends and families.

She was stoked to be here, and excited because this game was kicking serious ass. They were deep into the third quarter and the Sabers were up twenty-four to ten. Both offense and defense looked solid today.

Nathan and Flynn were still playing and Mia was on the edge of her seat. Amelia sat on one side of her and Tara on the other. Defense had finished a solid series and Kansas City had just punted the ball, so there was a break in the action. She sat back and took a sip of her drink.

“Are you going to take Sundays off to come to the home games?” she asked Amelia.

Amelia nodded. “Yes. I’ll probably go ahead and work when Flynn is on the road and give my assistant chef a chance to take those days off. That way we can swap.”

“That’s a great idea.”

“I do like to be around when Flynn isn’t on the road, so we’ve made the schedule flexible. And my cooks are awesome in that they don’t mind working when I need to be off.”

“It makes a world of difference to have good people working for you, doesn’t it?”

“It does. How’s work going for you, by the way?”

“Good days and some not so good days, which is pretty much what I expected when I decided to start up this business. But we’ve stayed pretty busy, so I’m happy about that.”

“Great. I’m so glad to hear it’s going well for you. I knew you’d make a success of it, Mia.”

“Thanks, Amelia.”

“What about you, Tara?” Amelia asked. “I know running an event planning business can’t be easy. When Mick was still playing, you had to have events on the weekends.”