Reverse Pass

REVERSE PASS MAGGIE RAWDON Copyright © 2023 by Maggie Rawdon Editing by Kat Wyeth – Editor (Kat’s Literary Services) Photographer: Michelle Lancaster - www.michellelancaster.com 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. This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places or events are purely a work of imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, actual events, or places is purely coincidental. REVERSE PASS Violet He’s the star wide receiver and the most wanted player on campus. He has it all—the body, the voice, the charm and the dimples. Plus he flirts constantly and cooks dinner shirtless in my kitchen. There’s just one problem—he’s my best friend’s younger brother. She sent him to live with me so I can help him get his life back in order. Which makes him off limits in every way possible. But now we share a wall and secrets. Like the confession he makes after he accidentally walks in on me one night. Ben I’m usually so good with women that my teammates come to me for advice. But they don’t know my secret. They don’t know about her. The one woman I want—the one I can’t stop thinking about—barely knows I exist. Until everything goes wrong, and I land on her doorstep. The worst day of my life might just turn out to be my luckiest. Because she’s fresh off a broken engagement—single for the first time in forever. And she can’t keep her eyes off of me. I just need to convince her I’m worth breaking the rules. NOTES For content information: visit my website CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Epilogue Also by Maggie Rawdon About the Author Acknowledgments ONE Ben Somehow, the right place wrong time has become my own birthday party in my home. I know this for sure when I see one of the younger guys on the football team launch himself off the top step of a Jell-O slip and slide set up on the main stairs of the house. It’s a problem in and of itself, but the fact the man who owns the home I live in is currently at the bottom of said stairs, and he and one of our biggest linebackers are about to experience a very important lesson in physics, all set to the background track of cop sirens? Yeah. Right place, wrong time: population me. I grimace as I watch it happen from the overlook upstairs, white knuckling the banister as I see the explosion of Jell-O, flailing limbs, parts of the drywall, and what I am fairly certain is an expensive Italian leather loafer go flying. I immediately yell for one of the slightly more sober guys downstairs to help, and then take off down the hallway banging on the doors as I go. One of them has their window open, letting the smoke vent out, and I can hear the sirens getting closer in the distance. “That us?” His pupils are wide, and I nod. “Fuck!” He immediately starts gathering his shit up and nudges the half-naked girl on his bed. “Time to go, baby doll.” I vault down the back stairwell. One of the benefits of the old house is even when the main stairwell is a mess of Jell-O and linemen, the old servants’ stairwell is still neat and tidy. When I get to the bottom of the steps I see Colton—our quarterback since Liam graduated and he transferred in— standing immobile, eyes wide with horror. “Get Jake and any of the rest of the guys and get out. The cops are on their way, and Old Man Griffin just ate shit on the steps thanks to one of the junior guys. We’re royally fucked.” “What about you?” He looks me up and down. “No hope for me. It’s my house and my birthday. Just get the guys out.” Colton frowns, but he takes off through the kitchen toward the main part of the house. “Eric!” I yell across the room to one of the frat brothers who’s currently still swigging keg beer like nothing interesting’s happening. He jerks his chin up to me like we’re just saying hi, and I shake my head. “Cops,” I mouth the word, using my hands to imitate the lights on a squad car, and he puzzles for a minute until he understands and nods. “Everybody get the fuck out!” He screams at the top of his lungs. “Exit drills now! Jones! Thomas! Brown! Get it cleared!” The frat has their own little method of madness in preparation for raids and since it’s never been a problem for us before, I’m gonna let them handle it. Especially since right now I am deeply regretting the fact we didn’t just have this little get together at his place. This party has been way over capacity for hours and has been out of control for almost as long. “Benny Boy?” A very drunk Chelsea stumbles into me. “Sweetheart, you gotta go.” I nod to the door. “What? Why?” She looks at me like I’m making zero sense. “Cops.” “What?” Apparently, everyone is going to act wide-eyed and confused when I say this tonight. “Hurry up.” I give her a little helpful shove out the door. “And trash the beer first or you’re gonna get cited for public intoxication.” Jake slams into me as I turn the corner. “Come on Ben, let’s go.” “It’ll look worse if