Page 98 of First Down Promise

He opens the door just as Abby is about to knock, and she beams. “Hi!” She rushes past Dane and into my arms, where I hold her close and kiss the top of her head.

“I’ll see you at dinner…don’t be late,” Dane says. I nod at him, despite knowing what he’s implying, but I have strict rules about doing that the night before a game.

“Bye, Dane,” Abby says.

“How was your flight?” I ask.

“It was good. Pretty quick. And yours?”

“About the same,” I reply.

“Any other WAGs here?” Abby asks, referring to what we lovingly call the wives and girlfriends of players. It’s wild that Abby could be called that now.

“Uh, I don’t know. Probably a couple at least,” I answer.

“Cool, I’ll have to see if I recognize anyone,” she says as she puts her suitcase on the desk next to mine and opens it. “I packed two different top options for tonight. Deep V or off-the-shoulder sweater?” She yanks both tops out of her suitcase and holds them up. The off-the-shoulder option is safe, but the V-neckline option would look killer on her. It’s not the responsible choice if I’m trying to abstain tonight, but by the way she’s holding the V-neck top closer to me, I’d say she wants me to pick that one.

“Deep V. Absolutely.”

She blushes and tips her head to look at that option. “Not too revealing?”

“Everyone saw you in your cheer uniform for a good part of the season. If you feel good in it, then I say go for it,” I answer.

“Then I will,” she replies.

Another knock raps on the door, making me nearly jump out of my skin from the sudden noise. I peek through the peephole and spot Coop.

“Dane said you have the goods,” he says.

“Jesus Christ. Since when am I the dad of the team?” I ask, handing him the Tylenol.

Coop shrugs and teases me, “’Cause you’re the vet and need all the pain meds you can get. Oh, hey, Abby.” His whole expression brightens when he notices her.

“Hey, Coop!”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it.” He raises his eyebrows at me and chuckles under his breath before turning away.

“What was that about?” Abby asks after I close the door.

“Coop and Dane must be convinced we’re going to have sex while we’re here,” I answer.

She smirks and bites her lip. “Aren’t we?”

“We did that last night,” I lightheartedly say.

She starts buttoning my shirt, one slow button at a time, starting at the bottom. “So?” Her eyes flash up to mine.

“I have a superstition. No sex or jerking off for the twenty-four hours before a game.” She furrows her brows and continues buttoning up my shirt. “It builds up testosterone.”

“That is a wild conspiracy theory,” she says, flattening out my collar.

“I don’t know, but I’ll make it up to you after dinner,” I say, tucking my index finger under her chin. She presses her lips together and darts her eyes away, but her reddened cheeks give her away.

“How so?”

“You’ll just have to find out,” I tease.

She gives my chest a playful shove. “Fine.”