Romance: Sports Romance: ON SIDE (Secret Baby Pregnancy Football Romance) (Contemporary New Adult Fiction) by Raven Monet

kiss it, but she shook my hand instead. Strong, stubborn woman. I liked that. I smiled at her and she smiled back at me, but her smile appeared to be more of a challenge than a friendly expression.
    “Nice meeting you too, Elias. And congratulations on your new role,” she said. “I know you have big shoes to fill.”
    “That I do,” I said, nodding at Deacon. I admired the hell out of this man. The fact that he felt I was ready for this role meant the world to me, but there was something he wasn't saying. I could see it in his eyes. “Talk to you later, D-man.”
    It was a playful jab at him because I knew he didn't like it. He hated being called anything but Deacon and it was something of an inside joke between the two of us.
    “Soon, Elias. Very soon.” Deacon looked more serious than usual. “Meet with me before you head out to look for this man, we need to talk.”
    He would try to talk me out of it, no doubt. He wouldn't do it here, not in front of Ava. But he would be talking to me, I had no doubts about that. There was no way I was going to let him get hurt by the same man who killed my parents. Deacon was like a second father to me and there was no way I was going to lose him too. And to think they were looking for him – nah, I wouldn't let them get him. And I wouldn't let them get his niece.
    Unlike the other two, I truly had nothing to lose. After coming so close to death years ago, I no longer feared it. I'd seen the light right before Deacon jumped in and saved me. He knew if I transformed into my lion form in time, I'd heal from the wounds and survive. It was something nobody had ever really discussed with me before that. My father wasn't fond of what he was, so he kept it from me and didn't tell me much about it. But in that moment, after Deacon had told me to shift, my body healed itself from the inside out while I shifted. And for the first time in m whole life to that point, I felt alive.
    Maybe part of me felt like I could never die. But another part of me knew that was a lie. My father was a lion. He died. My mother was – well, my mother was something else entirely – and she'd still died too.
    I was their son, and yes, I too could die. But that didn't mean I would.
    “Will do, Deacon,” I said calmly. Not that he had to know my true plans.
    Whether or not I had time to catch up with him wasn't on the top of my priority list. But his niece, on the other hand – I'd definitely be talking to her.
    “Call me,” I mouthed to her when Deacon looked away.
    Ava nodded, her face serious.
    Never before had getting a girl to call me been so easy. Not that it was ever hard, but Ava seemed like the type who might be hard to get. Not that I'd be pursuing her in that regard. She was, after all, Deacon's niece. And Deacon was like a father to me. I couldn't ruin Deacon's trust by hurting his niece. I wasn't going to let anything in this world break the bond I shared with him.
    Not even his gorgeous, feisty niece.
     
    ***
     
    The next morning, my phone rang, startling me awake. My adrenaline running, I looked at the clock and saw that it was five after seven. In the morning. I'd only been asleep for a few hours. I looked at my phone and saw that the number was blocked, which wasn't a good sign. I had half a mind to let it go to voicemail if only to get more sleep, but my mind shifted back to the night before.
    It could be Ava.
    I answered the phone and smiled when I heard her voice.
    “Elias?” she asked before I even had a chance to introduce myself.
    “Yes, it's me,” I said, sitting up in bed and scratching my chin.
    Stubble was starting to grow in, I'd need to shave that. Yet another cliché about us biker types that I didn't feel the need to live up to.
    “This is Ava. From last night?”
    As if I could forget her.
    “I figured,” I said. “When would be a good time to meet up and talk?”
    “Now?” she said, and I could sense the urgency in her voice. “I can meet you for breakfast