False Start

FALSE START PLAYING FOR KEEPS, BOOK 2 RILEY HART NEVE WILDER Copyright © 2023 by Riley Hart and Neve Wilder All rights reserved. Beta Reading: Janine Cloud Editing By: One Love Editing Proofing: Lyrical Lines Proofing Cover Design: Cate Ashwood Cover photo: Rafa G Catala This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. References to real people, events, organizations, establishments, or locations are intended to provide a sense of authenticity and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All song titles, songs, and lyrics mentioned in the novel are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. SYNOPSIS If only my feelings were as fake as this "relationship" with my former teammate. CULLEN: I’ve been the NFL’s “problem child” since my rookie year. If there’s trouble, I’ll find it. But my biggest weakness has always been Houston McRae. We were secretly together in college before it blew up in our faces. So, when I see him again years later, you’d think I’d know better than to end up in an airport bathroom stall tearing his clothes off. To make matters worse, because of mistakes I’ve made, I find out afterward I’m being traded… to Denver. Where Houston lives. Because of course. I’m not taking responsibility for the two of us ending up in a fake relationship. That’s all on him, but I can’t pretend I won’t enjoy it. As long as I don’t let myself fall for him again, I’ll be fine, right? HOUSTON: I lived, breathed, and slept football until an injury sidelined me for life. Now I’m solely focused on finding my place again… until Cullen Atwood walks back into my life and tempts me into an airport bathroom stall, where every ounce of passion for him I thought I’d buried returns with a vengeance. Now he’s playing for the Rush… And staying in my apartment. And did I mention he’s also my fake boyfriend who makes it clear he still wants me every chance he gets? I’ve got my future to think about, though, and we’re one wrong move from becoming a tabloid headline. I can’t afford to think of Cullen as anything more than a casual hook-up. So why do I keep wishing this relationship was real? False Start is a low angst, high-heat sports romance in the Playing for Keeps series. CONTENTS Foreword Prologue 1. Cullen 2. Houston 3. Cullen 4. Houston 5. Cullen 6. Houston 7. Cullen 8. Houston 9. Cullen 10. Houston 11. Cullen 12. Houston 13. Cullen 14. Houston 15. Cullen 16. Houston 17. Cullen 18. Houston 19. Cullen 20. Houston 21. Cullen 22. Houston 23. Cullen 24. Houston 25. Cullen 26. Houston Epilogue More by Riley Hart More by Neve Wilder About Riley Hart About Neve Wilder FOREWORD Dear Reader, While we did our due diligence in regard to football research, we also ask that you keep in mind this is a romance novel, and the relationship comes first. We took some creative liberties for plot and flow of the book. For example, two teams playing their Wild Card game simultaneously when it wouldn’t work like that in real life or when certain teams might meet up with others. We hope that doesn’t take away from your enjoyment of Houston and Cullen’s love story! PROLOGUE HOUSTON They say time heals all wounds, blunts the edges of life’s blades. That it dulls the memory of someone’s smile, leeches warmth from the memory of their touch. Always sounded like a load of bullshit to me. Yet, I kinda believed it—at least in an optimistic sense—until five minutes ago when, amid the hum of chatter and clinking glass, I glanced up from scrolling my phone to find Cullen Atwood sitting on one of SkyAir Lounge’s fancy barstools. Even at a distance, my heart shuddered with recognition at the way his finger lazily traced the rim of the glass the bartender placed in front of him. The curve of his back was still etched in my memory, sharp as a blade. I couldn’t look away, mesmerized by the jolt of electricity that surged through me, just as powerful as it’d been when I’d first met him at Southern University a decade ago. My phone chimed with a text, breaking my trance, and I dropped my gaze with a sigh of relief. Garrett: You there yet? Me: Still at O’Hare. Flight’s been delayed. Garrett: Ugh. Sorry, bro. Me: No big deal. SkyAir’s members’ club is pretty sweet. Maybe I can just stay here for the next couple of days. Screw the interview. Ramsey: Your enthusiasm about this job opportunity is overwhelming. Please tone it down. Garrett: That’s just Houston. Excitable as a puppy. Ramsey: If the puppy is a Rottweiler. Garrett: I was thinking more along the lines of a wiener dog. Speaking of, I think we should get a dog. Ramsey: I don’t know about that. We can circle back to wieners, though. Me: Please don’t. I groaned, even as a smile tickled the corner of my lips. Being in a group chat with my best friend and his boyfriend, who happened to also be my younger brother, was a mixed bag that usually devolved into them smack-talking each other, or me, until I threatened to leave the chat. Me: As much as I’d love to watch a text debate about pet ownership play out, I feel I should be the voice of reason and remind you both that you play pro football for a living. You don’t have time for a dog right now. Garrett: Which is why you’ll dog sit for us. That