"Knee-deep doesn't make any sense, Sable," Colton says loudly. "Are the boys destroying the house?"
"Nah," she says. "Jonathan put them on the trampoline in the backyard and let them bounce for, like, an hour straight. They just finished eating mac n' cheese and they're watching a movie. Then they're going to bed."
"Dude, why are you on the phone with us?" Tank's voice booms in the background.
"I'm checking on the kids," Colton shoots back. "Don't give me grief. They're not going to go to bed without us saying goodnight. Or we can come get them now, too."
Sable laughs. "You guys are the boringest old married couple ever. It's eight o'clock."
"Um, Tank?" I hear Adam in the background.
"Hey, little dude," Colton says. "Are you having fun?"
"Yeah, dad," Adam yells. "But my stomach kind of hurts."
That's followed by the unmistakable sound of Adam retching.
"Yeah, that's puke," Sable groans.
"We'll be there in ten minutes."
Five hours later, I'm lying on the bed in my sweats and one of Colton's old jerseys. The kids have some kind of stomach bug, but they're not puking anymore. I reach over and push James' hair off his forehead, since he always gets itchy when it falls on his face. Then I touch my hand to Adam's forehead. No fever.
On the other side of the bed, Colton snores so loudly that he jerks awake. Rubbing his hand across his face, his eyes lock on mine and he wrinkles his forehead. "Go to sleep, Cassie," he whispers. "Get some rest."
"I will," I promise him. I don't get the words out before he's fallen back against his pillow, snoring loudly.
This is our happily ever after. It's not wild and exciting like the lifestyle of the professional football players that you see on TV, but it's ours. And that's all I need.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to all of the readers and bloggers who support my work! This job continues to be a blast and I have you to thank for it.
Thanks a lot, Jordan Marie and Sara Bartlett, for the one million hours spent chatting on Facebook. You’re the reason I write so slowly.
Thanks to Yoly Cortez of Cormar Covers for her always amazing designs. And for not firing me as a client for all my last-minute frantic emails. You have the patience of a saint. And to Michael Stokes and Colin Wayne for the fantastic cover photo that inspired this entire book.
Special thanks to my editor Daryl Banner, who removed approximately four hundred thousand instances of “he/she says” from this book and gave me such great feedback. And to Sue Banner — thank you for the proofing and everything else you’ve done to support me and so many other indies.
Last but not least, thank you to my husband who continues to be such a smart-ass that I can quote him verbatim in my books. You’ll always be my dumb jock ;)
Author’s Note
I was supposed to be working on the fourth book in my West Bend Saints series, Killian (don't worry, that one's coming soon). But then Colton King barged his way into my head. I thought I'd write out the couple of scenes that were rattling around in my brain and then set the book aside, but he refused to shut up.
I hope you enjoyed these characters as much as I do.
Please forgive any grievous sports errors (there’s a reason the heroine is a nerdy girl who doesn’t know anything about football), and if you can't forgive them, blame my book consultant (my husband), who's a former college football player. Address all complaints to him.