Kicked Read Online Free Page B

looked at me, a full-on view of her radiant face. My heart stuttered and kicked as my chest warmed. Her amber eyes were like pools of gold, and her lips… Damn, her full lips were made for kissing. I’d only ever gotten a taste of them in that one stolen moment two years ago, but I wanted more. If I told her how far I’d gone to ensure I’d get the chance to be near her again, she might knee me and run.
    “You don’t need to be able to kick a fifty-yarder or even a forty-yarder to be first-string. Plenty of teams have a first-stringer that kicks within a set number of yardage. Your range could be forty yards and under, or whatever you’re comfortable with.” I found myself leaning closer to her, drawn in by her wide eyes and the pensive look crinkling her small nose. “You need accuracy. You have the leg. I could see it when you kicked yesterday. But it’ll take practice, and we have to keep an eye on the walk-ons to find a guy who kicks it long like a champ, but doesn’t have your accuracy up close.”
    Her eyes flickered as if she wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. Her pink lips parted the slightest bit, and I forced myself to keep a reasonable distance, despite my burning need to kiss the breath out of her. Being near her was proving more of a challenge than I’d expected.
    Landon stood, his chair scraping across the floor. “Hey, asshole, do you have a point or are you just going to keep eye fucking her in front of me?”
    “Landon!” Heat seeped into her luminous cheeks. God, she was beautiful.
    I cleared my throat and continued, trying to make my plan sound as nonchalant and off-the-cuff as possible. “They’re going to have walk-on tryouts on Wednesday. You need to practice for the next three days. You have to be accurate—not miss a single kick—during tryouts. That’s the only way.”
    “Let me guess.” Landon glared down at me. “You want to help her practice?”
    “I’m the holder. It only makes sense for me to be the one—”
    “No, not a chance.” He balled his fists at his sides. “You need to move along.”
    “I’m not going anywhere.” I measured my words. Landon was Cordy’s friend, and I hoped he’d eventually be mine, but backing down now wasn’t an option. I was too close.
    “I don’t give a damn that you’re the holder or star quarterback. I’m going to kick your ass.” Landon flexed his fists until his knuckles gleamed white.
    This was not going how I’d hoped. No surprise there. Landon was just as territorial as I’d guessed.
    “Landon?” A blonde sauntered up, her athletic shorts barely bigger than a pair of panties. She smiled up at him and ran a hand down his tattooed forearm.
    “I’m busy.” He didn’t break eye contact with me.
    “You weren’t too busy for me last weekend.” The blonde pouted, her duck lips larger than life. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered something into his ear before dropping back down.
    Landon’s jaw went slack and his eyes seized on her ample chest that was covered with only a sports bra. He swallowed hard. “Cordy, I ah—”
    “Just go. I’m fine.” She turned so her back was against the wall, then pulled her sweater tighter around her like it was some sort of armor.
    She felt like she needed to defend herself. Against me. For the millionth time, I cursed myself for ruining things with her two years ago. But I could fix it. I would do anything in my power to make her see me again the way she had then—with bright eyes and a trusting heart.
    The blonde molded herself to Landon’s side, but he turned back to Cordy. “No, I can stay. I don’t want to leave you alone with—”
    “We aren’t alone.” Cordy waved her arm at the busy cafeteria. “It’s not like he’s in the back of a windowless van offering me candy.”
    I arched an eyebrow at her comparison between me and a kidnapper. I should have been offended. Instead, I laughed. She wasn’t that far from the truth. If I could have tossed her over my