Undisputed (16 page)

S
omething inside me shifted when I read the kid’s bucket list. There was no way I was going to be able to walk away from him without doing everything I could to help him check the items off that list.

Every. Last. One.

I’ve always enjoyed the perks of being famous, but being able to call in favors to help Connor out was a new kind of high.

When Mark insisted that I meet with him, I was pissed. I didn’t have time to be a circus monkey for some kid I didn’t even know.

After that first meeting, I was interested in him and his pretty aunt.

After the second visit, I was hooked. I couldn’t spend enough time with the kid who was enjoying his life even though he was dying and the beautiful, somewhat nerdy woman who was inexplicably showing up in my dreams.

Connor is a huge Atlanta Falcons fan, and the next item to check off his bucket list is to go to a game. I had a couple of buddies who play for the team, so all it took was a phone call. Connor is about to be treated to a day he will never forget.

Picking him and Sidney up early that morning, I can hardly contain my own excitement. While Sidney is in on the surprise, Connor is clueless and not happy at having to get out of bed so early.

“Uh, what are we doing? It’s, like, seven thirty in the morning. Who gets up this early on a Sunday?” he grumbles from my back seat.

I look over at Sidney and see that she is wearing the same grin I am. “You’ll see, man. Just sit back and enjoy Velma,” I tell him before taking Sidney’s hand in my own.

Her eyebrows pop in surprise and her body stiffens at the contact, but within seconds, her lips turn up as she relaxes. Quickly, I turn my head away from her so she won’t see just how relieved I am that she didn’t snatch her hand out of mine.

“Velma?” she questions, forcing me to glance back at her.

With my free hand, I lovingly rub the steering wheel. “Yeah. That’s her name. Velma.” I shoot her a grin while keeping my eyes on the road. “You know, from
Scooby Doo
? Please tell me you’ve seen
Scooby Doo
,” I plead. I may have to kick her out if she tells me that she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

Calming my fears, she laughs. “Of course I’ve seen
Scooby Doo
. But why Velma? You look more like the Daphne type,” she teases.

When we roll to a stop at the stoplight, I look her directly in the eye. “Yeah. Daphne’s all right. But Velma’s where it’s at. Nerdy girls are hot.” I wink.

Her cheeks pink as she dips her head. Giving her hand another squeeze, I draw her attention back to me and then smile just as the light turns green again.

I pull into the stadium parking lot and hear Connor perk up from the back seat. Then I roll my window down to speak to the guard at the gate. “I’ve got Connor O’Neil here.” In the rearview mirror, I see Connor’s face light up.

“Oh yeah. Mr. O’Neil,” he replies, looking down at a clipboard. “We’ve been expecting him. Come on in and park over there by the doors marked
employees only
. I’ll radio ahead and let them know to send someone out to meet you.” He leans toward the window to wink at Connor. “Y’all have a good time today, okay?”

My window is only halfway back up when Connor starts peppering us with questions. “Expecting me? Holy crap, am I going to see a game? But why are we here so early? The game doesn’t start until one.” He pauses long enough to take a breath before continuing. “Do you think I might be able to get an autograph? Aunt Sid, I need one of those foam fingers! Wait till I tell the guys about this. I’m going to see a Falcons game with Breccan Carlisle. They are gonna shit! Oh, sorry!” He cheeks are red, and he’s panting a little.

Reluctantly, I let Sidney’s hand go and turn towards him. “Matthew Sheldon and Sandy Smith are two of my buddies. I gave them a call and asked them if I could bring you down to take a look around and catch a game. They said sure, and here we are.” I point toward the entrance. “Look. Here comes Sandy now.”

Connor’s mouth opens, but nothing comes out. Sidney giggles, and I can’t stop a chuckle from escaping my mouth. I may not have known him long, but in that short period, he was never speechless before. Now, he is like a deer in headlights.

“Kid? You okay?” I ask.

He mumbles something in response, so I get out of the car and make my way around to say hello to Sandy.

“Hey, man. Thanks for doing this,” I say, sticking a hand in his direction.

He grasps it and gives me a quick shake. “Yeah, dude. Any time. So, what’s the deal with this kid? How do you know him again?” He stops his questions when Sidney’s movements catch his attention to say, “Yo. Is that his mom?”

Jealousy washes over me. At least, I assume that’s what it is. I painfully clench my teeth together and fight the sudden desire to punch him in the mouth. I take a deep breath to calm myself before attempting to answer him.

“No, that’s his aunt.” My gaze cuts to where she’s standing, and I see that she’s still talking to Connor. “And don’t even think about it. She’s off-limits to you.”

He barks a laugh and eyes me in utter disbelief. “You’re shitting me, right?”

I take a challenging step toward him. “Not in the least.”

His eyes narrow as he glances back at Sidney, but he wisely changes the subject. “So, the kid?”

“Connor. He’s the kid I met through Make-A-Wish about a month or so ago. He has kidney failure and they haven’t been able to find a donor for him. After that meeting, though, we’ve kept in touch. He’s a cool kid, doesn’t act sick, and doesn’t complain about it.” I’m still staring at Sidney, trying to figure out my reaction to Sandy’s question. Not taking my gaze off her, I continue. “Seeing you guys play was on his bucket list, and I thought, why not make it one step better and let him meet some of the guys and take a tour before the game?” I finally turn back to him and see that he’s staring at Sidney too. I can understand why he can’t take his eyes off her.

She must have taken extra time to get ready this morning, because her normally messy hair hangs perfectly straight down her back and her eyes are shining under smoky eye makeup. Dressed in form-fitting jeans and a cute top that is just low enough to tease me with her cleavage, she finished off the outfit with simple but sexy pumps. I’m still admiring her when she glances up and smiles at me, nervously licking her lips.

Seeing her tongue dart out of her mouth causes my balls to tighten.

Sandy nudges me with his elbow. “Dude, the aunt is seriously smoking-ass hot. Are you hitting that?” he asks, probably just to poke the beast again.

A snarl escapes my lips, and before I even realize it, I’m barking. “No, I’m not hitting it. And neither the fuck are you, all right?”

Throwing his arms up in surrender, he says, “Hey, hey, hey, man. Dude, lighten up.” Still shaking his head, “Let’s get this tour started.”

While Sandy ambles over to Connor to introduce himself, I stand back, trying to get my shit together. Did I really just snarl at someone over a woman? A woman I haven’t even slept with yet? Am I actually jealous that Sandy was checking her out?

What has been going on with me lately?

And why can’t I get her out of my head?

After Sandy introduces himself to Connor and Sidney, he takes us into the locker room, where most of the guys on the team are busy getting ready. Sidney opts to wait outside, and while Sandy tries to convince her that she is welcome to come in with us, I am secretly relieved she politely declined. I am having a hard enough time dealing with Sandy’s comments from earlier, afraid of what I might do if I catch any of the other guys ogling her. I am a beast, but taking on an entire professional football team might have been a stretch even for me. Besides, this is Connor’s day, and I don’t want to ruin it by going caveman on a room full of meatheads.

I was expecting Sandy and Matt to do right by the kid, but they have gone beyond anything I could have dreamed up. Connor is given his own honorary locker, which is packed with a helmet, a jersey, shoes, and everything else a guy would need to play in the NFL. The way his face lights up when he sees his name printed on the back of the jersey is more gratifying than I’ve felt in a long time—maybe ever.

After Connor has suited up, he is taken out onto the field with the guys to catch a few passes with the starting quarterback. Once he has gotten over being star struck, he proves to be a pretty decent little player. It isn’t fair that he won’t have the chance to catch passes as a professional one day.

Sidney is beaming with pride, thinking the same thing I am. The sadness in her eyes squeezes at my heart. I pull her close to my side, hoping she wouldn’t pull away. Instead, she surprises me by looping her arm around my waist and nestling her head against my chest.

Afraid of ruining the moment, I clamp my lips together and continue watching Connor smile and laugh with the guys.

Four hours later, we have finished with the tour, the meet-and-greet, the shopping spree in the gift shop, and lunch, and we’re now settling into our seats to finally watch the game. Connor hasn’t stopped smiling since we arrived, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Sidney has laughed more in the last few hours than I’ve ever seen, and I can’t help but smile and laugh right along with them.

“Brec! This day has been epic!
Epic
,” he exaggerates. “Aunt Sid, did you take pictures? I’m going to need video evidence that I not only spent the day with Breccan again, but I did it while meeting the entire team. Did you get pictures of me playing catch with Dusty Wellington? Can you believe I played catch with the quarterback for the Falcons!”

Even though we have been going nonstop, Connor’s enthusiasm couldn’t be matched.

“Yeah, honey. I got pictures of everything. Your mom sent me a text requesting pictures of the day. She also asked me to find her a boyfriend, but I’m not too sure I was successful on that end.” Sidney rolls her eyes.

“If Abby wants me to set her up, I know plenty of guys who would take her out,” I tell Sidney.

Connor perks up at the suggestion. “Yeah! You should do it! I can interview the guys first and decide who would be the best.”

Sidney’s face freezes in mock horror, and damn if I don’t think it’s cute when she responds with, “Uh, I don’t think that is such a good idea. I’m pretty sure your mom doesn’t want to date a guy who plays Xbox and watches sports all the time.”

Slapping my hand over my heart, I feign hurt. “Hey! What’s wrong with a guy who plays Xbox all day?”

She smirks. “I mean, nothing, but I prefer a guy who actually has a life. Maybe someone with some real hobbies. You know, like javelin throwing?”

I laugh loudly. “I don’t even know what the hell a javelin is.”

She looks away from me and mutters, “Of course you don’t.”

I have no idea what her response means. It was probably an insult, but after the day we’ve had, I couldn’t give two shits. She likes me. If she needs to hide it, I’ll give her that play. But that’s all I’m giving her, because I have plans to moving things forward full throttle.

Still laughing, I lean forward and touch my lips to hers. She stills then surprises me once again, this time by parting her lips in invitation.

I quickly accept.

Bringing my hands up to either side of her head, I deepen the kiss by slanting my head to the side. She slides her petite hand up my chest before settling it at the base of my throat. Taking it as all the encouragement I need, I open my mouth and glide my tongue between her lips. Her lips are soft. The hand at my throat tightens, and her other hand grips the hem of my shirt. She pulls my body close, and my nose fills with the slightly floral scent of her hair. Her tongue rolls with mine, challenging me stroke for stroke, trying to assert its dominance over me. It’s the very first fight I am okay with losing.

Connor whispers, “Holy shit,” which causes Sidney to suddenly jerk away.

Leaning back, I search Sidney’s face to get a read on what she’s feeling. I’m desperate for more, and that revelation catches me off guard. I’ve kissed a lot of women, but not once like that. And never have I longed to do it again without my goal being to wind up between her legs at the end of the night.

Sidney’s cheeks flush, which causes me to chuckle. She clears her throat and turns her attention to the pregame show that started while we were preoccupied. Narrowing my eyes at her, I decide to give her some space until I can get her alone. The way she took control of this kiss told me that she more than liked it, so I’m feeling pretty confident that she’d like it again. God knows I would. I’m still imagining kissing her again when she laces her fingers between mine, a small smile playing on her lips.

Forget about a small smile. A huge-ass grin threatens to break my face.

Settling back in the stadium seat, I turn my attention to the field. This may have been one of Connor’s wishes, but I’m the real MVP of the game.