Read Love at the 20-Yard Line Online
Authors: Shanna Hatfield
The best way to show her he cared was to spend time with her and get to know her better. When the time came to tell her he loved her, she’d know he was sincere.
For now, though, he needed to quit acting like a dork or she’d know something was up.
He got off his swing, stepped behind Haven, and gave her a big push, making her laugh as she soared upward.
“Do it again, please,” she called over her shoulder before she came back toward him.
He grinned and pushed her for several minutes before she challenged him to an obstacle course of sorts.
Since no one else was in the park, Haven tried to utilize as many pieces of the playground equipment as possible as she made the rules. They had to cross the monkey bars, race across a balance beam, work their way over a chain climbing wall, jump over the teeter-totter then whoosh down the slide. The first one to reach the bottom of the slide would receive the title of winner.
“So, what’s my prize when I win?” Brody stretched then shook his arms to loosen his muscles.
“Who said you’re gonna win, football man?” Haven removed her sweater then set it with her keys and phone near the bottom of the slide. “You’re going down, big guy.”
“Is that right? You and whose army is taking me down?” Brody’s threatening look only made her laugh.
“Me, so you better stop talking and start running.” Haven raced toward the monkey bars. She was halfway across when Brody caught her, his long arms able to cross much faster than her shorter ones. When he tried to pass her, she jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. Surprise made him lose his grip and fall.
“You have to get across without touching the ground or it doesn’t count,” she said, swinging across the far end, then running for the balance beam.
She’d barely taken two steps when Brody grabbed her around the waist and slung her over his shoulder, carrying her across. He set her down then leaped toward the climbing wall, his long arms and legs giving him a definite advantage as he scurried upward. Near the top, he almost fell off when his feet didn’t want to work.
Somehow, Haven managed to tie his shoelaces together.
“You’re such a cheater!” Unable to move forward with his shoes laces in a knot, he hung by one hand, reached down and worked until his laces were free. He hurried to finish his climb and drop down the other side. By then, Haven ran toward the teeter-totter. He would have passed her, but she stuck out a foot and tripped him.
He rolled in the grass before coming to his feet with a growl.
“You are in such trouble, doll.” He ran at top speed toward the slide. He tried to grab her foot as she climbed in front of him, but she kicked at him while pulling herself upward and swooshed down the slide.
She raised her arms in the air and performed a victory dance. He slid down and sat at the bottom of the slide watching her antics.
“Remind me not to race against you again. You cheat and you’re mean. You do know I need this body in working order to be able to play football.” Brody held a hand against his chest and did his best to look wounded.
“Did I really hurt you?” Abruptly, Haven stopped her dance and knelt in front of him, looking at him with concerned eyes. “I’m sorry, Brody. I’m used to playing with my brothers and I didn’t mean to…”
Brody silenced her with a kiss. When he pulled back, they both smiled.
“I think you need to kiss all the wounds you inflicted and make them better.” He held out a scraped elbow.
She placed a soft kiss there and offered him a saucy grin. “Any other boo-boos?”
“Right here.” Brody pointed to the back of his hand. She kissed the spot. “And here.” He indicated a place on his forehead.
“Anywhere else?” Her heat-filled gaze caused a spike in his internal thermometer.
“Yep. You missed this spot.” He pointed to his lips.
She gave him a skeptical look, but pressed her lips to his. When she did, Brody picked her up in his arms and settled her across his lap. Lost in each other, they stayed on the bottom of the slide, kissing, until dark settled in and Brody knew he needed to walk Haven home.
“Come on, cheater-girl, let’s get you home.” He set her on her feet and picked up her sweater. Holding it for her, she slid her arms into the sleeves then grabbed her keys and phone. She took his hand and they strolled back to her apartment.
When she unlocked the door, Brody knew if he stepped inside to kiss her, he wouldn’t want to leave. Instead, he kissed her fingers and gave her a look that conveyed what he felt for her in his heart.
“Good night, Brody,” she whispered, closing the door behind her.
“I seriously doubt it,” Brody muttered darkly, walking back to his apartment. Sleep wouldn’t come easy.
Chapter Thirteen
Bright sunlight peeking around the edges of his blinds flickered in Brody’s face, drawing him from his dreams.
Not quite ready to leave behind his visions of Haven, he stretched then rolled over. Her scent lingered in his nose, her voice echoed in his ears, and he could feel her soft skin beneath his fingers.
Wide-awake, he finally opened his eyes and got out of bed. He shuffled to the kitchen and dug through the fridge for something to eat, but ended up pouring a bowl of cereal. Slowly eating soggy corn flakes, he looked around and decided to clean his apartment. He tried to keep things somewhat orderly, but the furniture needed to be dusted, the floor hadn’t seen a vacuum for weeks, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d cleaned the bathroom.
After starting a load of laundry, he picked up anything that could be considered garbage and filled a large bag. He set it by the door then went to work on the bathroom, did a second load of laundry, and vacuumed every surface of the floor that was visible. He used one of his dirty Tshirts to dust the furniture. The kitchen sink received a good scrubbing and he wiped down the counters, at the extent of his cleaning abilities.
He took a shower, shaved and slapped on some aftershave, then tousled his hair. After pulling on a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt, he folded his clean laundry and put it away then gave his apartment a critical appraisal. It didn’t look too bad for a single guy who didn’t really care if it was clean most of the time.
Brody picked up his keys and phone, shoved them in his pocket, and grabbed the garbage bag on his way out the door.
He walked toward Haven’s thinking about how much he’d enjoyed seeing her the previous evening. Since it was the week they didn’t have any football games, they hung out with Marcus and his date.
The four of them went out to eat at a popular Mexican restaurant, then went back to Haven’s apartment after dinner and played Pictionary. Haven and Brody trounced the other couple so thoroughly, Marcus said he wouldn’t play with them ever again, so Haven played a movie and they watched it before everyone called it a night.
Marcus sent him a text after he got home saying his little “doll” was sure sweet. It made him happy to know his best friend liked his best girl.
He crossed Haven’s parking lot and tapped on her door. She wasn’t expecting him until later that afternoon, but he had something he wanted to do with her before they met Hale and Abby for dinner and a concert.
It didn’t take long after meeting Haven for him to realize she loved to read. She had a bookcase against one wall by the kitchen filled with books and he’d seen her using an electronic reader on more than one occasion.
He shouldn’t have been surprised when she opened the door with a paperback in her hand, unaware of who stood in front of her until Brody reached out and grabbed the book away.
“Oh, hi.” She smiled at him with warmth in her eyes, pleased to see him.
“What are you doing answering the door like that?” Brody stepped inside and closing the door behind him. He set her book on an end table and stared at her. “What if I’d been a vampire or a serial killer or who knows what? You need to pay attention.”
“I was, I just… it was…” Haven released a sigh. “What am I supposed to do, beat somebody over the head with my umbrella?”
“No. You can’t just open the door like that. If it were someone intent on doing you harm, you’d have already let him into your home. You can’t go around oblivious to what’s going on. You’re going to learn to defend yourself. Go change into some workout clothes,” he ordered, not leaving any room for argument, although it didn’t stop her from trying.
“Maybe I don’t want to.” Stubbornly, she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Maybe I’ll throw you over my shoulder and take you wearing those jeans and that blouse. I guarantee you’d much rather wear comfortable clothes.”
Haven stood her ground, giving him the glare that made her coworkers jump into action without question. On Brody, however, it didn’t seem to faze him at all.
“Go change,” he growled, taking a step toward her.
She ran into her bedroom and slammed the door but soon emerged wearing a T-shirt, yoga pants, and running shoes.
“You know you’re a bully, don’t you?”
“Fully aware of the fact. Now, move it.” He opened the door and took her hand, looking to make sure she had her phone and keys, then shut the door behind them.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he led her out to the street and started walking in the direction of his apartment.
“My place.” He tugged her along behind him.
“Why?” She wondered what Brody had planned. A thundercloud had settled on his face and he hadn’t even tried to kiss her since she opened her door.
Although she’d been looking forward to spending the evening with him, she wasn’t in the mood to put up with his surly looks and bossy attitude.
However, curiosity to see Brody’s apartment spurred her onward. Hale’s apartment was generally clean but sometimes messy while Tom’s was always a smelly disaster. She hoped Brody’s would be more like Hale’s.
Brody hurried up the steps to his apartment, unlocked the door, and motioned for her to precede him inside.
Haven glanced around, surprised by the clean and orderly state of his apartment. She breathed deeply, inhaling Brody’s scent.
“Very nice. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks,” he said, shoving his living room furniture around until he had a large open space on the floor.
“Take off your glasses and set them with your phone and keys over there.” He motioned to the coffee table he’d just pushed against the counter dividing the kitchen from the living room.
“Fine, but I still think I deserve to know why you made me change and marched me over here like some drill sergeant.”
Although she couldn’t see distances or do computer work without her glasses, standing just a few feet away from Brody, she could see him perfectly fine. From his tousled hair and square jaw to his long legs and the muscles that bulged beneath his shirt, the sight of his masculine form made her cheeks heat.
“Do you remember the night we were at the movies and those two guys were heckling you?”
Haven nodded.
“What would you have done if they followed you outside? How would you have handled it if they grabbed you?” Anger bubbled in him as he thought about anyone touching Haven.
“I’d have screamed.”
Before she knew what was happening, Brody stepped behind her and wrapped one strong arm around her waist and clamped his hand over her mouth, holding her tightly against him.
“What would you do if they grabbed you like this?”
Haven yanked at the hand across her mouth, but Brody didn’t budge. She tried kicking at him but he somehow locked her legs between his. To prove his point, he tightened his hold around her waist.
She clawed at his hand over her mouth until he grabbed both her hands with his other hand and pinned her arms down, while still holding her tight against him. Unable to move, she started to cry in frustration.
Brody let go, turning her around and giving her a gentle hug. Soothingly, he rubbed his hands across her back, kissed her forehead, and whispered to her.
When she calmed down, he stepped back and used his finger to tilt up her chin. He retrieved a paper towel from the kitchen and handed it to her to dry her tears.
“Haven, I didn’t mean to scare you and I wouldn’t hurt you, but I want you to be aware of how fast someone could take advantage of you. You can’t just open your door like that and you can’t go around not knowing some way to defend yourself. Didn’t your brothers ever teach you?” Brody was surprised Hale hadn’t at least given Haven some basics.
“Kind of, a little, I guess. Hale always said to kick a guy where it would really hurt, but Mom told me not to practice on the boys because she wanted grandkids someday.” Haven mopped at her tear-stained cheeks and blew her nose. She went to the kitchen and threw away the paper towel then rinsed her hands before returning to face Brody. “I’m good with a gun. I could always get a concealed weapon permit.”
“No, you can’t.” Brody couldn’t fathom what she was thinking. “Could you really pull out your gun and shoot someone? Really, Haven?”
“No. I couldn’t do that.”
“All right, then. Show me what you think you know.” He stood with his hands relaxed at his sides, waiting to see what Haven could do to defend herself.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
Brody gave her a cocky grin. “Bring it on, doll. Let’s see what kind of damage you can do.” Haven couldn’t hurt a flea if she tried. She was too sweet.
She came at him and used the flat of her hand to push his chin up then jammed her thumbs into his eyes, just not with enough force to hurt him.
“Okay, that’s a good start. I assume if you were really being attacked you’d put a little muscle into it.” Brody smiled at her.
“You’d have two exploded eyeballs if you were a bad guy,” she said smugly.
“Do you have any other moves, besides kicking me where it will definitely hurt?”
“Not really. My go-to move is pretty much screaming and running.”
“Those are both good things if you think you can outrun your attacker or at least run far enough away to get help.” Brody stepped in front of her and held out his hand so it looked like the letter “L.”
“Hold your hand like this,” he instructed, moving her fingers so they were close together, with her thumb extended at a ninety-degree angle. He moved her hand down so it was level with her arm. “Now make your hand stiff, and tense up your muscles. Take that hand and ram it at my throat. You want to hit me right in the ol’ Adam’s apple. If you can land it, your assailant will probably drop to his knees, unable to breathe.”
Haven tensed her hand and shoved it at Brody, again without the force to inflict any harm.
He made her practice the move a few times then picked up his cell phone and searched on it for a minute before handing it to Haven.
“You ever watch the movie
Miss Congeniality
?”
“Sure, hasn’t everybody?”
Brody pulled up a scene from the movie online. “You watch that and tell me what you learn from it.”
Haven’s eyes widened. She replayed the clip a few times then handed the phone back to Brody.
“Want to give it a try?” Brody moved so he stood behind Haven.
“Okay, but I’m still not going to hurt you.”
“Fine. Just remember the acronym. Let’s hear you say it while you do it.” He stepped close behind her and wrapped an arm across her throat then placed the other around her waist.
Before he could pin her arm down, she jabbed him in the stomach and said, “Solar plexus.”
Stepping on his foot, she said, “instep,” then turned with a fist and brushed it against his face. “Nose.”
Fiery heat filled her cheeks, but she said, “groin,” and lifted her knee although she purposely failed to make a connection.
“Good.” Brody kissed her cheek. “Try it again. And you can put some strength in it. You aren’t gonna hurt me.”
They went through the routine again with Haven doing it just like she had the first time.
“Again,” Brody said, grabbing her from behind.
He made her practice several more times until he could tell she was getting tired and irritated.