Backfield in Motion Read Online Free

professional
light by Veronica.”
    “Good luck with that. She hates everybody
but Bruiser. He’s her poster boy for a football player.” Brett
snorted, as if he found this little fact highly amusing.
    “I know.”
    “So what’s your plan?”
    “I need to go to that damn barbecue for
starters.”
    “Well then, go.” Brett always had a simple,
direct answer for everything.
    Mac felt her face heat up. How did a girl
explain that she didn’t know how to be a girl? In her typical Mac
way, she just spit it out. “I don’t know what to wear and all that
crap.”
    “Lavender can help with that.” Tyler
inserted himself into the conversation. “She lives to shop. At
least that’s what my credit card says.”
    Mac jumped, unaware she’d caught the
attention of the other guys at the table. Just fucking wonderful,
as if this whole thing weren’t humiliating enough. She turned to
Tyler, unable to keep annoyance out of her voice. “We were having a
private conversation.”
    “Yeah, Mac, whatever.” Tyler rolled his
eyes. “It’s not like your voice doesn’t carry.”
    “Great. So I’m not just an inept dresser,
I’m a big mouth.”
    “You could tone it down a little,” Zach
added with an apologetic shrug.
    Mac crossed her arms over her chest and
gazed around the table. “This is as toned down as it gets.”
    “Like I said, I’ll have Lavender call
you.”
    “Rachel is great at shopping on budget,”
Derek offered.
    “Kelsie can help, too. If she cleaned me up,
she can do it for anyone.” Zach ducked his head, as if realizing
what he’d just said. “Not that you need cleaning up. You look great
as you are.”
    Mac stared at her ragged fingernails. Maybe
she did need a little help.
    “Give me your number. We’ll have the women
get in touch with you.” Tyler could be as bossy as Mac’s cranky,
geriatric cat.
    With a heavy sigh, Mac wrote her number on a
napkin and passed it to Tyler. Working to gather her courage for
one final request, she chewed on her lower lip and stared at a
framed painting of dogs playing poker hanging crookedly on the
opposite wall. The bulldog was cheating.
    Mac looked back at the guys and cleared her
throat. “I need one more thing. An escort to this barbecue.”
    For a moment, silence reigned around the
table. She caught the quick glances from one guy to another and
wanted to crawl under the table.
    “I’m taking my wife or I’d be glad to do
it,” Zach said.
    “Me, too.”
    “I might as well have a wife. I’m taking
Lavender.”
    “So when are you going to marry her?” Derek
challenged Tyler, who also happened to be his cousin.
    “I don’t do marriage. We’re a couple. She
knows that.” Tyler tipped his chair back on two legs and chewed on
a straw. His attempt to look nonchalant didn’t fool Mac. Marriage
gave the guy claustrophobia.
    “Oh, man, you’re in deep shit, Harris. You’d
better put a ring on that girl’s finger before she kicks your
dumbshit ass to the curb.” Zach grinned at his friend, obviously
enjoying the quarterback’s discomfort.
    “She knows a good thing when she sees it.”
Tyler’s chair slammed to the ground, and he oozed complacent
arrogance. Mac doubted Lavender was nearly as complacent about
their situation.
    “I bet she knows a hopeless cause when she
sees one, too.” Zach howled with laughter and the rest joined
in.
    “No way in fucking hell am I marrying. You
guys can live with a ball and chain, but not this guy.”
    “Hey, we’re talking about Mac here.” Brett
steered the conversation back to her. “I’d love to take you, but
I’m out of town that weekend.” Regret burrowed lines on his face,
as if he really did want to take her.
    A couple other single guys offered up their
excuses. Mac gripped the edge of the table to stop herself from
sinking under it while dying a slow death from embarrassment. None
of them wanted to be seen with the woman who was plain as a bagel
without cream cheese.
    Mac smelled like fresh