The Crush (The Wolves: A Football Dynasty, #3)

by Karla Sorensen

That’s why I turned to face him. “I was thinking about your sister, actually.” Parker laughed at first. Then he looked at my face, and the smile died. “Oh shit, Emmett. Adaline?”

“Leave it to you to have some life-changing epiphany five years after you had your chance with someone. You are, without a doubt, the smartest dumbass I’ve ever met in my life.”

Emmett Ward might have any woman in his immediate vicinity falling at his feet, but I would not be one of them.

It was impossible to force someone to make you a priority. It was impossible to make someone feel the same way you did. And it was impossible to force the stars to align when the timing wasn’t right.

He spoke against my ear, a delicious rumble that had my eyes fluttering shut. “Go inside, Adaline, unless you want them to see this.”

Adaline wasn’t fireworks and lightning. She was something softer, sneaking up on me until I couldn’t look away. A sunrise, maybe. A beginning point that changed so gradually you hardly noticed until the brightest, most vivid colors you’ve ever seen dominated the entire horizon.

If I thought my family was bad about NFL games, I was wrong. There was a whole new level of Ward family competitiveness that emerged from a very unlikely source—my niece’s soccer game. Molly’s daughter Luna (currently at striker) and Isabel’s daughter Willa (playing defense) were on the same rec soccer team—seven- and eight-year-old girls—and I almost moved to the other team’s sidelines so that I wasn’t associated with the people I was related to.

“But if I never stepped foot on a field again, it wouldn’t touch my legacy.” His hand tightened on my shoulder. “You, the girls, their kids, your mom”—his voice got rough—“that is my legacy. I might be good at football, but the only reason I am on this earth is to take care of the family that I love more than anything.”

“I hope I live for another forty years, so I can see your kids—your sisters’ kids—grow up. But if I died tomorrow, Emmett, I hope no one talks about a fucking game when they bury me. I hope they talk about the kind of husband and father and grandfather I am.” His voice cracked on the last word. “That is the only legacy I care about leaving behind.”

“I am in love with you, Adaline Wilder. And if it is within my power to give you what you want, I’ll do it.”