Fourth Down (30 page)

We sat together for a while longer in
silence until the Ortho doc came down for the consult. Owen was
awake as they examined him and told him he would likely be out for
the rest of the season. Ford had called his parents who were on
their way from Pennsylvania.

He pulled up a chair next to Owen’s
hospital bed. “I’ll be here until your parents arrive,
buddy.”

“Coach?”

“Yeah?”

“I know they said I won’t play again
this season, but...do you think it’s over? Is this it for me? Will
I ever play again?”

Ford leaned forward in his chair,
resting his elbows on his knees. “I really think you will. There’s
a lot the doctors can do now. There’s been huge progress made even
in the years since I was injured. But, if you don’t...that’s okay
too. Life has a way of working out so you end up right where you’re
supposed to be.”

Those blue eyes I loved so much looked
at me as he said those last few words. For a guy who used to
communicate through grunts and scowls, that was the perfectly right
way to put it. Through all the ups and downs, we had ended up right
where we were supposed to be. Together.

The End

Fourth Down Playlist

Viva La Vida
- Coldplay

Behind Blue Eyes -
Limp Bizkit

If Today Was Your Last Day
-
Nickelback

Talk -
Jason Aldean

Can’t Fight This Feeling
-
REO Speedwagon

Fall For You -
Secondhand Serenade

God Gave Me You -
Blake Shelton

Addicted -
Saving Abel

When I’m Gone -
3 Doors Down

She Is Love -
Parachute

Listen To Your Heart
-
Roxette

It’s Your Love -
Tim McGraw

I Never Told You -
Colbie Caillat

It’s Been A While -
Staind

Life After You -
Daughtry

Better -
Maggie Rose

Home -
Blake Shelton

Anywhere With You -
Jake Owen

Something I Need -
OneRepublic

About the Author

Hello! I am an author of new adult and
contemporary romance novels. My husband and I live in Columbus,
Ohio with our two young daughters and happy golden retriever. When
I’m not spending time with my family, I can be found doing one of
my other favorite activities - writing, reading and
napping.

Thank you for reading, and
I hope you enjoyed
Fourth Down.
If you haven’t read Taryn’s story,
Safe With You,
or
Lindsay’s story,
Just One Reason,
be sure to check them out. I will return to this
series in 2014 with books for Brooke (Poppy’s friend) and Lincoln
(Taryn’s brother). However, my next project will be the first book
in a new series. Follow me on Facebook and check my blog for
teasers and details about my next book.

My Books

Safe With You

Just One Reason

Fourth Down

Contact Me

E-Mail:
[email protected]

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/authorkirstendemuzio

Blog:
http://authorkirstendemuzio.com

GoodReads:
www.goodreads.com/author/show/7067558.kirsten_demuzio

I would love to hear from you!

Just
One Reason

Prologue

Lindsay

August 2006

The doorbell rang and I
stuck my head out the door and yelled downstairs, “Lana? Can you
let him in? I’ll be down in five minutes.” I was never on time, and
tonight was no exception. It was a testament to how special tonight
was that I was running only five minutes late.

I skipped over to the
closet and pulled a pale blue sundress off its hanger. There was a
quiet knock on my door, and I pulled the dress on and smoothed it
down over my slim hips to hide my carefully chosen pink lace bra
and panties before calling, “Come in.”

My aunt, Lana, came in and
stood just inside the doorway, watching as I fluffed my long light
blonde hair and applied a second coat of shimmery lip gloss. Lana
was younger than my mom and only twenty years older than me. We
could have easily passed for mother and daughter, or maybe even
sisters, with how much we looked alike.

“I know this is your last
night with Grady before you leave tomorrow,” Lana began.

I glanced up at the
ceiling for a moment, willing myself not to cry. I would never get
through the next twelve hours if I let myself think about leaving
him. Even though I was young, I knew without a doubt that leaving
him would be one of the hardest things I would ever have to
do.

What had started out as
merely a way to escape spending the summer trapped in the city with
just my parents had quickly become the best three months of my
life. My cousin and best friend, Taryn, was travelling through
Europe with her parents for the summer. I couldn’t bear the thought
of summer in the city without her, so I had asked to visit
Lana.

My mom and Lana are
sisters and grew up here in Penn Yann, New York. We never come back
to visit and Lana has only come to the city once or twice. Needless
to say, they are not close. When I first asked my parents, my mom
sort of freaked out, but my dad thought it was a good idea to get
to know the other side of my family.

Lana was more than
welcoming, and we’d grown close over the summer. I learned it was
my mom who put the distance between them. Apparently small town
living was beneath her now. Just one more reason I was dreading
returning home to the city tomorrow.

Lana patted my arm,
knowing a hug would have sent me over the edge. “Just be home
before breakfast.” She winked at me before leaving my room. For
about the millionth time since the summer began, I thanked God that
I had decided to spend my summer break here. Not only had I gotten
to know my aunt better, but I had met the love of my
life.

Remembering the
mischievous twinkle in his eye the first time we met, it was hard
to believe how far we had come. My first impression was that he was
a player, and a skilled one at that. In fact, he probably had been.
But that all changed when we fell in love.

I took one last look at my
appearance in the mirror and followed Lana downstairs. Grady Hawke
stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up at me as I came down.
Just the sight of him always made my heart beat faster. Like me he
had blonde hair, though his was darker than mine, and blue eyes,
though his were lighter than mine - almost an icy bluish gray. I
often thought we would make beautiful babies someday.

The full skirt of my dress
swirled around my legs as I ran down the stairs and jumped from the
second step into his arms. Grady caught me around the waist and
swung me around with his nose buried in my hair.

“Mmmm, you smell so good,”
he murmured, holding me tightly. I knew he was feeling the same
bone deep sadness that I was at our impending separation. In the
weeks leading up to my return to the city, he had grown more
serious, making sure I knew how much he cared about me.

He took my hand and led me
out the front door as I called, “Bye, Lana!” His motorcycle was
parked out front, and he secured a hot pink helmet on my head
before I climbed on behind him. The helmet had been a gift to get
me to ride with him. It worked. I wrapped my arms tightly around
his waist, enjoying the feel of his defined abs under my
fingertips.

“Hold on, Bambi!” He
yelled over the sound of the engine. Grady had nicknamed me Bambi
because of my big blue eyes. He said I reminded him of a baby deer
caught in headlights when he first saw me. I always thought they
were too big for my face and made me look like I was constantly
surprised.

We raced through the
streets of Penn Yan, New York and down the winding road that lined
Keuka Lake. I knew we were headed to our spot, the place we had
spent almost every evening for the last three months.

Grady’s grandfather owned
a lakefront plot of land that had never been built on, and we had
spent countless hours lying in the grass under the stars just
talking and listening to the waves.

Tonight was our last night
together before I went back to New York City for the start of my
junior year of high school. Lana didn’t expect me home and I had no
intention of sleeping tonight. I didn’t want to miss one second of
my last night with Grady.

The sun was just setting
over the hill across the lake when Grady parked his bike in the
trees lining the property. He helped me off and set our helmets on
the back.

“I’ve got a surprise for
you,” he said, smiling at me and taking my hand.

We walked through the
trees to the large clearing that looked out over the calm blue
water. Normally there was only grass and a few patches of
wildflowers, but tonight there were stakes in the ground with twine
wrapped around them forming a large outline on the grass. My
eyebrows pulled together in confusion, and Grady laughed at my
expression.

“Come on,” he said tugging
on my hand. “I want to show you around our house.” My eyes widened
at his words, and I started to see that the twine formed an outline
of what could be a house covering a large area of the
clearing.

“What do you mean ‘our’
house?” I asked.

He grinned at me,
“Lindsay, my grandfather is giving me this land. My dad doesn’t
care about building a house here, but I do. I want to build a big
beautiful house here. On the lake. And I want you here with me
forever. I love you, Lindsay.” I threw myself at him, wrapping my
arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.

“I love you too! This is
perfect.” He laughed at my enthusiasm and twirled me around twice
before setting me back on my feet. We walked all around the
“house”, and Grady showed me where all the rooms would be. As he
talked I could imagine us living there together, married, with kids
running through the grass and swimming in the lake.

After the tour was over,
we settled on a large blanket in the space that would be the master
bedroom and looked up at the stars. We both knew we only had a few
hours left together, but neither of us wanted to talk about it just
yet. There really wasn’t much left to talk about anyway. We had
worked out the details of our long distance relationship over the
last few weeks.

I still had two years of
high school left, so I planned to spend next summer here again and
then move here permanently after graduation. There was a college on
the other side of the lake that I could attend if I decided that’s
what I wanted to do. Lana had given me an open door invitation to
visit or stay with her whenever and for as long as I
wanted.

My parents would not
approve. I knew this without a doubt, but I didn’t care. I loved
Grady and he loved me. That was all that mattered. Once I was
eighteen they had no say in my choices.

Grady leaned up on his
elbow to gaze into my eyes for a moment before kissing me. This was
what we did every evening - we kissed and held each other, but he
had never once pressured me to go any further. Tonight was our last
night together until next summer, and I wanted it to be special. So
when we got to the point where he always pulled back, I pulled him
closer.

“Lindsay,” he whispered
against my mouth. I pushed up to kneel beside him and pulled my
dress off over my head, tossing it into the grass beside us. His
eyes swept over my body, lingering on my lacy bra and underwear
that left little to the imagination.

He sat up and took my
hands, “Lindsay, we don’t have to do this. I will love you forever
no matter what happens tonight.” I believed he meant that, but I
also saw the way his eyes darkened with desire as they raked over
my body.

I pressed a finger to his
lips to silence him. “I know, Grady. But I want this. I want you. I
need this memory to get me through until we are together
again.”

I didn’t need to say
anymore, because he threaded his fingers in my hair and pressed his
lips hungrily to mine. As we lowered ourselves back down to the
blanket, our tongues tangled in a passionate dance. His fingers
trailed fire over my body, over places no one had ever touched
before. If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have
waited three months.