Page 66 of The Lockdown Mann

If it bothers Des, though, he doesn’t show it, and I’m sure it doesn’t.

“She’s number eight?” Des asks, looking out on the field.

“Yeah. She’s a little badass. Wait until you see her play.”

We watch for a moment, Serena and the family sitting down on the bleachers, leaving Des and me alone. His arm brushes against mine, making goose bumps chase one another across my skin, but I don’t pull away.

“Thanks for inviting me,” he says softly.

“Thanks for coming…even if you try to get my family to like the Inferno.”

“They will if they have good taste,” he says, then, even lower, “You like me.”

The deep softness of his voice makes my dick twitch and my face flush. I’m going to lose my shit over just light, playful flirting. I really need to get some better control when it comes to him. “You’re all right,” I toss back.

I force my attention away from him and to the field. When I do, Tiana sees us, waving wildly at us from the field. Des manages to lift his arm and wave first, then points to the bag, letting us both know he has something in there for her too. Tiana gives him a thumbs-up before huddling with her team for the end of warmups before the game starts.

I clear my throat. “Come on. Let’s go sit down.” I need to focus on what’s important today—my daughter and her game. Sanaa and her treatment. Not my dick or Desmond.

Des, whom I’m scared I’m going to start liking a whole lot more than I should.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Desmond

As wild as it sounds, watching Tiana play is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. “Jesus, the footwork on her is insane,” I say. Somehow, I ended up sitting between Serena and Oakley. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming here today, but everyone in Serena’s family has been great. She’s great, and I understand why Oak cares about her so much.

“Right? She’s a natural, and she’s quick as shit. No one can guard her moves,” Oakley says. It’s not one of those situations where someone is just saying something because it’s their kid, or where people overexaggerate their kid’s skills. I haven’t watched many eleven-year-olds play, but I don’t think many of them can move like she does.

“I want to say she takes after her dad, but it’s physically painful,” I tease.

Serena laughs.

“You just said it.” Oakley shakes his head, but it’s clear he’s trying to bite back a smile.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I continue to play this back-and-forth game that Oakley and I are so good at.

When Tiana makes a touchdown, I shove to my feet, arms in the air, cheering loudly, with Oakley and his family around me doing the same thing. He catches my eye when he realizes I’m standing too, still cheering for his daughter but watching me like he’s surprised I would be so into it, that I’m sharing this excitement with them, and I really am. I’ve seen kids play, of course—charity events, and I’ve done coaching for different events and shit like that, but this doesn’t feel the same. I don’t really know Tiana, but it feels like I do, and her accomplishment feels like one of my own.

He presses his thigh against mine when we sit back down, and I glance his way, shooting him a flirty grin.

I like this—like being here with them and watching Tiana play. I have no idea what that means, and it’s probably not good. Hell, I knew it wasn’t smart for me to agree to come when Oak asked me, but he did ask, so there wasn’t a chance I would say no.

Tiana’s team easily beats their opponents. Stomps them would be a better phrase to use. “They always win like this?” I ask.

“She just started playing last year, but yeah. It’s fucking badass.”

We dap each other up, and when I look up and see Serena watching us, she rolls her eyes. “Great, now there’s two of you,” she teases.

After the teams finish showing their sportsmanship and high-fiving each other, we get up from the bottom row of the bleachers where we’re sitting, and Tiana runs over. She instantly goes to her dad and jumps into his arms, Oakley bending to hug her. “Daddy, did you see the touchdown? And that one spin move in the second, when, like, three of them tried to pull my flag, but I got away?”

“Damn right I did. It was good that we worked on that one. You killed it today.” He leans closer. “Best player out there by far.”

“I know!” She grins, and Serena playfully swats his shoulder.

“Oakley.”

“What? I’m just making sure my baby girl knows how good she is.” Oakley stands before a sweaty, dirty Tiana hugs her mom, grandma, and grandpa, everyone telling her how proud they are of her before she gives her attention to me.