Line of Scrimmage by Marie Force Page A

got up and went into the kitchen. When the food was ready, she carried it into the living room on a tray.
    Ryan had tilted his head back against the sofa and his eyes were closed. He overdid it again, she thought, kneeling down next to him. She combed his wet hair with her fingers.
    “Ry,” she whispered, tracing his jaw with her index finger. He didn’t stir, so she leaned in and kissed him.
    He awoke with a start and stared at her. “Do it again.”
    She kept her eyes open and fixed on his when she did as he asked. But before the kiss could spiral out of control, she pulled
     back. “You need to eat.”
    “What did you make?”
    “Tomato soup and grilled cheese.”
    “Yum, cabin food.” He accepted the bowl of soup from her. “I used to crave that combo when I was here alone.”
    “Why didn’t you just make it?”
    “Without you?” he asked, horrified.
    She smiled. “Eat up. I made you the usual three sandwiches.”
    “My girl knows me.” He drained the bowl of soup and polished off three sandwiches in the time it took Susannah to eat one.
    “How you manage to eat the way you do and not gain a pound I’ll never understand.”
    With a big grin, he said, “Metabolism, baby.” He reached for a book on the coffee table. “ The Grapes of Wrath? Are you reading this?”
    “Yep.”
    “Why?”
    She laughed. “It is a classic, you know.”
    “I read it in college.”
    “So am I.”
    He looked at her with surprise. “You’re finishing school?”
    “Uh-huh. I took this semester off because of the wedding, but I should be done by the end of the year.
    The Grapes of Wrath is on the reading list for next semester, so I figured I’d get a jump on it.”
    “That’s great, Susie. I always felt so bad about you leaving school to marry me.”
    “We said I’d go back, but it didn’t quite work out the way we planned, did it?”
    He smiled. “Nothing did.”
    “The minute you signed on the dotted line with the Mavs, everything got so insane.”
    “It was exciting, though, wasn’t it?”
    “When I wasn’t terrified, I guess it was exciting.”
    “Why were you terrified? I don’t remember that.”
    She shrugged. “We had just gotten married. I wanted to settle in and nest, but we had nonstop obligations,events, fund-raisers,
     fans, security, money. So much money. It was mind-boggling. I was so afraid you’d forget you had a wife or you’d forget to
     come home.”
    “I never did, though, did I?”
    “You never forgot to come home.”
    “I never forgot I had a wife, either,” he said emphatically.
    “Never?”
    “Not once. Ever.”
    Susannah studied him. “All those women, Ryan, throwing themselves at you everywhere you went. You’re going to tell me you
     didn’t ever, you know . . . ”
    “I was never unfaithful to you. Never. Not once. I never thought about it. I never considered it. I never did it. I still
     haven’t.”
    “You’re not serious,” she said, snorting with disbelief.
    “We broke up more than a year ago. In all that time—”
    “There’s been no one else.”
    She shook her head. “I know you. I know what you . . .
    need. I find that very hard to believe.”
    “I’m telling you the truth.”
    “There were rumors when we were still together,” she said quietly.
    His face turned as stormy as the weather. “Whatever you heard, none of it was true.” He took her hand and looked into her
     eyes. “You can believe the gossip mongers or you can believe your own husband.”
    Susannah was torn. She wanted so badly to believe him, but there was a nagging doubt deep inside that left her chilled. She
     must have shivered because he reached for her. The moment she was close to him she was warm again.
    He kissed the top of her head. “I have something for you.”
    “You do?” She tipped her head back so she could see him.
    “Stay put. I’ll be right back.” He eased himself up, went down the hall to the bedroom, and returned with a small box wrapped
     in red foil