Playing To Win: An Elite Athlete Sport Romance Anthology

by Mignon Mykel

  We both laughed as tears of joy came to my eyes.

  “I didn’t realize it at the time, until later, when my dad told me they had filed papers to officially adopt me. He promised me I’d always have a home with them.”

  That day changed me forever. When my dad started coaching for the Miami Blaze, I fell in love with going with him to practices. So, when the opportunity came up to work for the Blaze organization, I couldn’t pass up the chance to come back home.

  “They saved my life. I truly believe it. If it hadn’t been for them, I probably would’ve been in and out of different foster homes until I turned eighteen, and Lord only knows where I would’ve ended up after. Probably end up where my father did, honestly.”

  Colson exhales heavily when the last sentence passes my lips.

  “I get where you’re coming from, I understand, but everything happens for a reason. You were meant to end up in their home, just like I believe we were both meant to end up on the sidewalk that day.”

  I nod. “You’re absolutely right.”

  “I know I am.” He grins. I playfully push his chest, but he doesn’t budge. His arms tighten around me, never letting me go.

  “Now you’re right where you’re meant to be,” he whispers, his eyes locking on mine, making it clear he means every word.

  Gripping his face in both my hands, I kiss him. Slow at first, but like every kiss, it grows with intensity as the weight of his words envelop me.

  Pulling back slightly, enough to be able to look him in the eyes, too, I whisper, “I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

  14

  Rush

  Six Months Later

  “Hell yeah, baby,” Jaxsen cheers, bouncing on his feet, clapping as we walk into the locker room following the game.

  “We were putting on a show tonight,” Kinnick boasts, pretending to drain another three-pointer.

  He’s right; we killed it tonight. We have a few games left in the regular season, and we’re coming off a sixteen-game winning streak. As it stands, we’re heading into the playoffs sitting pretty to take this one to the finals, and we can’t be more pumped.

  The guys are all filing into the locker room one by one, high-fiving and congratulating each other. We’ve had our highs and lows throughout the season, but we’ve always put our differences aside and come together to play the game.

  Coach comes in and gives us a quick speech. We won tonight, so while he lets us celebrate the win, he also gets down to business on what we’ll be focusing on come practice on Sunday.

  A few of us opt to hit the showers. Jaxsen will be talking with the media for a bit before heading out for the night. I know Sydney is going to be waiting for me, so I don’t want to wait until I get home to clean up.

  “You headin’ over to Blazin’ Shooters tonight? I feel like it’s only fitting we have a couple celebratory drinks and wings.” Jaxsen wiggles his eyebrows a little while later, running his towel over his head.

  Blazin’ Shooters is a sports bar not far from the arena. They are known for going all out when it comes to Miami Blaze game nights, attracting the locals from all over Miami to watch the game if they don’t have tickets.

  “Ya know, you could always bring Sydney with you, too,” Kinnick jokes.

  “We’ll be there,” I say, pulling my t-shirt over my head, adjusting the chain necklace. I quickly pull on my jeans and tennis shoes, stuffing the rest of my things into my bag.

  I tell the guys I’ll meet them over at Shooters, slapping a few of them on the back on my way out. I haven’t seen Sydney since I left early this morning. Things have been well since she opened up to me. While there are still times when I sense she’s hesitant to open up, it has helped to have a better understanding of where she’s coming from. We’ve been able to work through everything, and I know we’ll continue to do so going forward.

  I take the hallway leading from the locker rooms toward the front of the arena, where Sydney told me she’d meet me after the game.

  I spot Coach before I even see her, but her red hair helps her stand out amongst the crowd. As soon as she spots me, she sticks her hand in the air, waving to get my attention as her dad turns spotting me.

  Immediately, a smile stretches over his face as he waves me over. Sydney knew I had gone in to talk to her dad, so it was no surprise when I broke it to her that her dad knew we had been seeing each other.

  I don’t think anyone was really surprised, not her parents, the guys, hell, even the rest of the staff who figured it out eventually. Thankfully, no one seemed to have a problem with it.

  No one except Sydney, but eventually, she came around, too.

  “Good game, Rush,” Coach says, giving me another high-five, clapping me on the back.

  “I know you both want to get out of here. You guys go on and have a good night, alright?”

  Coach smiles, reaching his hand over to wrap around Sydney, pulling her in for a hug. Her face softens, slipping her arm around him to return the gesture.

  “Take care of our girl, will ya?” He winks at me.

  “Always.” I smile, gliding her fingers between mine, pulling her close to me. I know he knows, especially after how we first met, I would do anything to keep her safe.

  Once his back is to us, I greet her with a smirk, raising my eyebrow, letting her know I’m waiting for my kiss.

  She peers around us, looking for who may be paying attention. We’re in the packed lobby, people still milling around. It would probably be wise for us to go somewhere else where we wouldn’t attract attention, but I don’t care.

  She must know this, too, as her lips purse together, shaking her head, warning me not to.

  “What?” I joke.

  “Don’t even think about it…” She narrows her eyes, waving her finger at me, pretending to scold me.

  I scoff, pulling her into my arms. She’s prepared for it, though. She expects it as I wrap my fingers in her hair, pressing a kiss against her soft lips.

  She tilts her head back slightly, letting out a heavy exhale low enough for only me to hear, as I grip her head kissing her again. The heat brewing between us fuels me. The crowd around us grows louder, the flashing lights from the cameras go off, but nothing else exists outside of this moment with her.

  When our lips finally break away from each other, she uses my tall frame to hide her face from the watchful eyes around us.

  “You couldn’t wait until later?” She giggles, rubbing her lips together. She plays it off like she’s embarrassed, but even I know her rosy cheeks aren’t only from the crowd around us. She feels it between us just as much as I do, even if she wants to pretend otherwise.

  “I mean, I’m fine with us taking this to your car. It’s not parked far from here. I’m still waiting for you to make it up to me, ya know, after things got cut so short that one time.”

  She smacks me against my chest, pushing away from me, but not before I grab her hand once again, lacing our fingers together.

  “Let’s go,” I whisper against the side of her head.

  She glances up at me, nodding her head, pulling me along behind her. I don’t pay attention to anyone else as we make our escape out the door.

  By the time we make it to the parking lot, I’m able to clear my mind enough to focus on other things.

  “How was work today?”

  “Good, I’ve been focusing on the upcoming Community Cares event. It’s been keeping me extra busy.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I say as she dives into gushing over all the details of the program she’s putting on for spring break for the local kids.

  “You know.” She pauses when we reach her car. She turns so her back is facing the driver’s side door of her car. She bites her lip, and I’m waiting for what devious thought she has on her mind now.

  “All day, when I was working on it, I kept thinking about you at the Girls and Boys Clinic. How good you were with them…” Her voice drifts on at the end.

  Raising my eyebrow, I wai
t for her to continue. “Yeah?”

  “You were really good with them. The kids loved you. I feel like if you ever decide this basketball gig gets too boring or something,” she jokes, giggling to herself, “you’d make a mighty sexy stay-at-home dad. Or even a little league coach.”

  My eyes widen, not expecting her to say that, as I push her against the side of the car.

  “You think so?” I murmur, leaning in to kiss her soft lips. She nods, snaking her arms around my neck, holding me close.

  “Is that what you’ve been thinking about? Us, me and you, having kids?”

  “I mean, the thought has crossed my mind.”

  “Mm,” I moan, trailing kisses down her neck, back up to nip at her earlobe. She tilts her head to the side, giving me better access, and the sound of her soft moans have me grinding against her.

  How does she always make me forget where I am?

  “We can practice making a baby right now,” I whisper, reaching behind her lower back to grab for the door handle.

  Her chest heaves at the thought of us crawling into her small sports car. I haven’t been able to keep my hands off her from the moment we first met, and I don’t care where we are, I’m always going to want her.

  “Colson,” she says my name on an exhale.

  “C’mon,” I command.

  “Aren’t we supposed to go meet up with the guys at Shooters?” She laughs.

  It wouldn’t be the first time I blew them off to get Sydney alone. “They’ll understand.” I shrug, pulling the door open to help her inside.

  “I mean, I’m not opposed to us practicing right here.” Her voice cracking at the thought. I notice the not-so-subtle way she rubs her legs together, along with the desire glossing her eyes.

  “I just thought maybe, I don’t know, maybe we could consider fostering first instead?”

  I pause what I’m doing, pulling back away from her. As much as I want to shed her clothes and explore every inch of her body, I know this is much more serious than she’s let on.

  “Is that what you want?” I ask, my tone changing.

  She nods.

  “Someday, I want us to have a baby. A little boy or girl who’s half me and half you.” She pauses, smiling. Her eyes break my stare, looking down at the ground. She almost looks disappointed, but I continue, knowing what she needs to hear. “But if fostering would make you happy, I’m 100% on board. There are kids out there who need all the love we can give them.”

  Her eyes light up, and her smile stretches across her face.

  “I promise you, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

  Epilogue

  Rush

  One Month Later

  “SURPRISE!” the crowd sings, pressing my hand against Sydney’s lower back as we walk into Blazin’ Shooters.

  Tonight was a big night for more than one reason. We played our last game at home against the Houston Skyrockets. It was a packed crowd, cheering us on as we finished the season with our best record of 66-16. We sealed our fate going into the playoffs as the number one seed in the East.

  It’s also my girl’s birthday, which means we’re celebrating for the both of us, so I rented out Shooters for the night and invited all our closest friends and family to join us.

  “Oh my gosh, you didn’t.” She laughs, folding her hand over her mouth. Her eyes are wide as she stares at the crowd of people filling up the bar, clapping as they begin singing “Happy Birthday.”

  Tears fill her eyes as she glances over at me, shaking her head. Pulling her into my arms, I lean forward, pressing my mouth against her ear as I murmur for only her to hear, “They’re all here because they love you and want to celebrate with you.”

  Her chest heaves at the mention of them loving her as she wraps her arms around my neck, hugging me.

  Her close friend, Kaylee, is standing near the front clapping loud, making catcalls before she pulls back and joins her friends, hugging them, too. I catch the back of her cropped jean jacket, with the name “Rush” shining across the back in sparkling rhinestones. She wore her hair just how I love it, curled in waves, pulled over her shoulder so everyone can see my name on her back.

  I spot her dad in the crowd behind her. He checks to make sure she’s not looking before he looks back at me, flashing me a thumbs-up signaling everything is set to go.

  Sydney makes her rounds, saying hello to our friends and family. My mom and brother flew in from Colorado, wanting to be here with us for the weekend. We have a couple of days off before the playoffs start, but even then, there won’t be much downtime.

  We go through and greet everyone. Sydney introduces me to a couple of friends from her college days back in North Carolina, and I introduce her to my brother. They’ve met and talked over FaceTime, but never in person.

  We’ve finally started to make it through the crowd of people when the music starts playing, echoing through the speakers throughout the bar.

  “I hear we got a fuckin’ birthday in the house.” A loud man’s voice reverberates through the speakers. I grin, glancing over at Sydney when she pauses, her face turning to me.

  She’s trying to gauge if she heard the voice correctly.

  “Are you going to come outside and say hello?” the voice asks.

  Her mouth drops as I answer her question with a broad smile before nodding my head to confirm she heard him correctly.

  It took a lot of work and pulling strings since they were already on the road, but I was able to convince Sydney’s favorite band, A Rebels Havoc, to swing down here to help me wish her a happy birthday.

  Her head whips around the bar, searching for any sign of them. I watch and wait as she looks out at the large windows and the French doors overlooking the patio facing the water, to the makeshift stage the bar let us set up, spotting them.

  All our friends and family clue into who it is before Sydney pauses, holding her arms out to her sides as she shouts to me, “You didn’t? Please tell me you’re not messing with me right now!”

  “Why would I mess with you?”

  “Did you seriously have A Rebels Havoc come here for my birthday?”

  “Maybe…?”

  She folds her hand over her mouth, her eyes growing wide again for the second time tonight. “I’m serious. You have to be kidding me. You know how much I love them.”

  “Did you hear him? They are waiting for you.”

  She takes off like her ass is on fire, and I can’t help but laugh as she heads toward the door, yanks the handle, and runs out onto the deck.

  The sun has started to set, leaving only the soft lighting draped overhead as Brix, the lead singer of A Rebels Havoc, stands on the stage waiting with the rest of the guys.

  “There she is!” he growls into the microphone. “Hey, Sydney, I hear it’s your birthday today.” He winks at her.

  She spins on her heels, her jaw gaping as she looks at me before turning to face them again. Tysin starts off on the bass guitar, as Madden follows on the drums, and their newest guitarist, Trey, cues in on the electric. Sydney closes the space, moving to get closer as she sways her body to the beat of the music. My hands brush across the denim of her shorts, wrapping around her waist as she sings along to the lyrics of her favorite song, “Make Me Feel.”

  Brix smiles, pressing his foot against the speaker lining the front of the stage, leaning forward to sing directly to her.

  I’ll never forget this day, our win today on top of how happy she looks as she spins in my arms to face me.

  “I love you,” I mouth to her.

  She scrunches up her nose, reaching to grip my face in her hands, kissing me with all our friends and family around us.

  “I love you, too.”

  I’ll never forget the look on her face, the happiness in her eyes, knowing she means it when she says those words to me.

  “Good, I’m happy to hear that because I have something else for you.”

  She pauses, looking around her like she’s expecting somet
hing else to jump out at her and surprise her.

  Reaching for my pocket, I grab the box and move to bend down on one knee. For the second time tonight, I’ve managed to shock her.

  “Colson!” she yells, looking around her like she can’t believe this is happening, before looking back down at me. Her mom, Susie, bursts into tears as her dad hugs her to help keep her emotions together.

  “Sydney, I love you…” I say, holding the box up between us when she stops me.

  “YES!”

  “Baby, you didn’t even give me a chance to ask.”

  “My answer is still yes.” She giggles, bending down to grab my face.

  “Will you ever stop being so stubborn and let me ask?”

  “I mean, sure, if you want to, but I thought I was helping by giving you your answer.”

  I grin, shaking my head at this woman. I don’t think she’ll ever stop pushing my buttons and challenging me at my every word.

  “Sydney Nicole Carr, will you marry me?”

  “YES!”

  She doesn’t even give me a chance to put the ring on her finger; she takes me by surprise herself, wrapping her arms around me, hugging me with so much force she nearly knocks me over.

  “What am I going to do with you?” I murmur in between kisses.

  “You better figure it out because you’re stuck with me now.”

  “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

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