4-Ever Theirs: Four to Score, Book 1 by Jayne Rylon Page A

picked up right around the time her second parent had broken the news to her that he had a terminal illness. “Is someone sick? Hurt? Worse? Tell me straight. You’re scaring me.”
    “Shit. It’s nothing like that.” Simon sighed then invaded her living room as if he belonged there. When he plopped onto her couch, she instantly liked it better.
    “Then what?” She sat beside him and took his hand.
    “I know a guy…” He trailed off then started again. “Okay, no. That’s bullshit. A friend of mine has a friend who plays for the Sabertooths. I called in a favor. He put me in touch with the head of the training staff. It turns out they can use a guy like me. The job is mine if I want it.”
    “They play here, in Cunningham?” Her jaw dropped.
    “Yeah. I mean, I’d have to travel with the team during the season, but most of the time…”
    “Wow. That’s—” Andi shook so hard, still trying to digest his revelation and what that could mean for them, that when another knock came at the door, she literally could not stand to answer it.
    “Hang out a second. Take some deep breaths. I’ll get rid of whoever this is, and we’ll talk more.” He stroked her hair. “You don’t have to decide right now. I thought I should tell you in person. No pressure. But I’m not going to leave until you’re settled down, okay?”
    She nodded as she chewed her nails, a bad habit she’d picked up lately.
    When Simon opened the door, she certainly wasn’t prepared for him to shout, “What the hell?”
    Her gaze whipped up and saw Cooper standing there, equally as confused, on the other side of the door.
    “I could say the same.” He glared at Simon.
    “I didn’t break our pact. I just… Something came up and I wanted to talk to her about it before I said anything to you guys. Look, it was a dumb idea—”
    Andi didn’t like the sound of that.
    “Wait. No, it wasn’t, Simon.” She tried to rise. Her shaking legs pitched her right back onto the couch.
    Both of the guys were beside her in an instant. Cooper knelt, then took her hand. “God, I’ve missed you, Andi. But…are you okay? Do you want me to go? I’ll kick him out too.”
    She shook her head. Now that they were here, she couldn’t stand to think of them leaving. Especially not after the bomb Simon had dropped. How would Cooper take the news?
    She shouldn’t have worried.
    He destroyed more of the carefully crafted vision she’d built for how her life would go from here on out when he cleared his throat. “I have some news too.”
    Her gaze snapped to his.
    “I transferred to the law program at U of C. I was wondering if I could crash with you for a while, until I get my own place. It happened kind of fast. Classes for their summer semester start on Monday.”
    “What?” she and Simon asked simultaneously, with equal amounts of shock coloring their question.
    “I’m not expecting anything. You know…between us. That’s not what I’m asking. I thought—” Before Cooper could finish explaining exactly what he had imagined, the door nearly rattled off its hinges. This time it wasn’t a knock that intruded on their conversation, but a series of bangs that could only belong to one person.
    “Oh shit.” Simon’s eyes went wide and he jogged to answer that nonverbal demand before her pretty white door got smashed to smithereens.
    He was smart enough to duck as it opened, barely dodging Reed’s punch. Holding his hands up, he said, “Hey, you’re here too. Don’t get pissed that we beat you to it.”
    “ I was only planning to drive past and check out the neighborhood when I saw both of your cars sitting out at the curb. What the fuck?” Reed roared as he stomped into the living room.
    Suddenly it seemed a lot smaller than it had before.
    Andi cut through their testosterone-laden crap with the swipe of a hand. “What were you doing spying on me, Reed? How many times have you gone by and not had the balls to say hello?”
    He scrubbed