“You got something now.” The guys noticed us approaching and Derek met us with a wide grin. Even Evan didn’t meet us with a scowl like I was expecting; that was a good sign. “Guys, this is Bristol Thomas,” Jaxon announced.
Derek held out his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Bristol. It’s nice to finally meet you. I know my wife will be ecstatic. I’m Derek.”
I shook his hand. “Good to meet you. I look forward to meeting her tonight too.” Aaron shook my hand and introduced himself, but I hesitated when I turned to Evan.
“I’m Evan Townsend,” he greeted nicely. “You’re Ryan’s sister, right?”
I nodded. “Yes, or at least I think he’ll still consider me that. He hasn’t really talked to me in a few days.”
Jaxon held me tighter and I felt stupid for telling Evan that. “Don’t worry,” Evan assured me, “he talks about you all the time. We’ve all had our issues with Reed, but he’ll come around. Jax isn’t as bad as everyone thinks.”
Jaxon held out his hand. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
“No problem. Now let’s go kick some Arizona ass.”
The three of them started toward the door and I finally let out the breath I’d been holding. Jaxon laughed. “Were you nervous about meeting him?”
“A little. After everything you told me last night I didn’t know what to expect.”
“Evan’s a good guy. He’s been talking to your brother a lot over the past few weeks. Ryan started off on the wrong foot and none of us liked him—that’s why I wanted to fuck with you to get back at him.”
All the things Jax told me last night reminded me so much of my brother. Ryan never played games with people to screw them over, but he did put on a front to make people believe he was a hard-ass. They were more alike than either one cared to admit.
“It’s crazy how things turn out, isn’t it?”
He burst out laughing. “Got that right.” Before we could get to the door, a car door slammed behind us and I glanced over my shoulder; it was Ryan.
“Jaxon, wait.” He looked at my brother and then down at me.
“I’ll stand by the door to give you some privacy.”
I kissed his cheek. “Thank you.” Ryan had his back to me but then turned around with his gym bag in hand. “Hey,” I said.
Huffing, he slung the bag over his shoulder. “Hey, yourself.”
By the look in his emerald gaze, I knew he wasn’t mad at me anymore; he was worried. I could tell by the way his eyes crinkled on the sides. “I missed you. You’ve ignored my calls all week.”
“That’s because I didn’t know what to say. When I saw how happy Reed was this past week, I knew you two had to have gotten back together. You obviously aren’t going to listen to me about anything.”
“When did I ever?” That brought a smile to his face and we both laughed.
He shrugged. “Never, I guess.”
“Exactly. Now stop being mad at me and be happy. Jaxon’s a good guy if you’d just take the chance to get to know him.”
“Not yet, Bris. Until he can prove himself worthy of you, I’m happy hating him. It’s just the way it’s going to be.”
“Does that mean you’ll stop ignoring me? It’s Thanksgiving and I love you. Can you please call a truce?”
Sighing, he pulled me into his arms. “All right, truce. And I love you too. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
I squeezed him hard and kissed his cheek. “I won’t. Now win us the game. I’m ready to eat some turkey.”
—
It was different being on the field, further back from the sidelines with all the players compared to being in the stands. The game was much more enjoyable that way. Plus, Jaxon was able to stand with me when he wasn’t needed. I got to watch him practice kicking in the net a few times. I’d never seen him so concentrated. I imagined he was like that when he painted as well.
Ryan threw passes left and right, all into the hands of the receivers. “He’s doing great today,” I said to Jaxon.
“Probably because you’re here. This is the best he’s done since being with our team.”
I nudged him in the side. “Makes it a lot less stressful for you, doesn’t it?”
He chuckled. “That it does, although I am determined to score a sixty-five-foot field goal one of these days. It’ll be the longest one on record.”
“I’m sure you will.”
Evan had scored a touchdown, so it was time for Jaxon to take the field. He winked at me and took off while I watched my brother run off the field, smiling from ear to ear. “What’d you think about that last pass?” he asked.
I gave him a thumbs-up. “Perfect. I forgot how fun it was to come to a game.”
“I knew you’d like it. Once Reed makes this kick the game’s practically over.”
He stood beside me as we watched Jaxon line up for the kick. His foot connected to the ball and it went sailing in the air, straight through the goalposts. The crowd went wild and he raced off the field back toward me. There were only twenty seconds left on the clock, and our team had Arizona beat by twenty-three points. As soon as the clock expired, Jaxon lifted me in his arms, crushing his lips against mine. I didn’t care who saw, not even when the cameras started flashing all around us.
“Uh-oh, does this mean we’re going to be in the news?” I giggled.
He kissed me again. “Yep. How does it feel?”
“Good. Now all the women out there will know you’re taken.”
He grabbed my hand and we walked together off the field. “As long as everyone knows you’re mine, I don’t care. Now let’s go eat some turkey.”
Since we had to run by my place to heat up the sweet potato casserole, we left pretty quickly, but I did manage to say goodbye to Ryan before he left for the airport. By the time we got to Derek’s house, the driveway was full of cars. When we got inside, I recognized the players, but there were other guests I didn’t know.
“Hey, you made it.” A beautiful woman around my age walked up and flung her arms around Jaxon’s shoulders. When she let him go, she beamed at me. “And you must be Bristol. Jaxon’s told me so much about you. I’m Hayden, Derek’s wife.” Then her eyes widened when she glanced down at my casserole. “Is that a sweet potato casserole?”