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Chapter 1
“Omaha, Omaha, 180!”
“Tara,” Cornell yelled. “You don’t need to call a cadence. And that one doesn’t even make sense.”
“I don’t know what that even means. But doesn’t Tom Brady say that?” She lowered the ball back down.
Ali jumped, snatching Cornell’s baseball cap and sticking it on her head. “You’ve got the wrong hat on,” she told him. “You’re not coaching here.”
Cornell twisted the hat so it sat playfully backward on Ali’s head, her light brown hair sticking out. “You’re right.” He put his hands on his hips and turned back to Tara. “Just say—”
“Hut!” Tara screamed, and before Cornell could even look back, Ali had already taken off with a five-yard lead.
Cornell raced after her, trying to intercept Tara’s pass. The ball sailed over his outstretched arm and right into Ali’s hands. “Cheater,” he seethed at Ali as she ran further down the beach, kicking sand up in her trail.
Ali turned, holding her fingers up in the shape of an L. “Loser.”
“Where’s the flag on that?” Cornell exclaimed to Benton, Tara’s boyfriend, who was sitting in a beach chair drinking a beer. “You’re supposed to be the referee.”
“I’m a lawyer, Cornell. But do they throw flags for not paying attention?” Benton asked.
“False start,” Cornell said, pointing to Ali.
Benton returned the bottle to his lips and shrugged. “Looked like you were just too slow to me.”
Cornell tsked. “Whatever.”
Ali spun the ball in her hands and tossed it to Cornell. She passed him and turned around, walking backward, holding her arms up. “You can’t win them all, QB1.” She smirked. “Stop pouting. Cry baby doesn’t suit you.”
“Cry baby?” he asked, throwing the ball back to Tara, who didn’t bother trying to catch it. He narrowed his eyes at Ali and began to stalk toward her. Squealing, she tried to run, but not before Cornell swung her over his shoulder, his hat slipping off her head into the sand. “I’ll show you cry baby,” he said, smacking her ass as she flailed when he made a quick beeline to the water.
Ali kicked her legs. “Oh, you better not!” she threatened.
Cornell paused as his ankles submerged in the Gulf of Mexico’s warm water. “I hate to break it to you, but you don’t really scare me from this angle.” He trudged forward into deeper water as Ali shimmied against him, locking her arms around his waist. “What are you? A spider monkey?”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Ali huffed against his bare lower back, tightening her hold. “I’m not wearing a swimsuit.”
Cornell paused when the water hit his thighs. “Alright, fine. But that was a dirty play.” Ali loosened her grasp, and he slid her down the front of his body. Her legs replaced her arms that had been wrapped around his waist.
Locking her arms around his neck as his hands slid down to support her weight, Ali squinted from the bright sunlight. “Keep your head in the game,” she said coyly, tapping his temple.
“I knew you were fast, but I didn’t think Tara had that kind of arm.”
Ali cocked an eyebrow. “Never underestimate your opponent.”
“We’re going back to the house!” Tara called, her blonde hair blowing from the sea breeze as she waved from the shore before walking off hand-in-hand with Benton.
“I like them together,” Ali announced. “He’s not Tara’s type, but he’s perfect for her.”
Cornell watched Tara and Benton walk off. “You mean he’s not Tara’s type because he’s polite?” Ali pinched his side before he turned back to her. “Am I your type?” He thought back to the two times he met Ali’s ex—white, light-haired, light-eyed, and nearly a foot shorter than him.
“You are now.”
Cornell hummed against her lips. “Not convinced.” He joked, giving her ass a squeeze. “Prove it.”
Ali pulled her head back, honey brown eyes widening. “Now? What about last night? I remember you giving me a very hard no then.”
“We’re staying with your parents,” he reminded her, his face growing serious.
