Free Secret Catch by Cassie Mae, Jessica Salyer

close we can hear him.
    “I’m here for Evan,” Charly says, pulling the gold shirt into her chest. “I want that Skyhawk’s head on a freaking platter.”
    The girls’ chatter fills the stadium as they argue with their boyfriends over whether or not they’ll get involved. Daniels wraps an arm around Charly and squeezes her shoulder.
    “Hey,” he says to the group, but no one will shut the hell up. “Hey!”
    The chatter fades, and Daniels drops his arm. “Skyhawks have an away game this Friday, and we have a bye. I think it’s a good opportunity to let them know we’re not gonna let this go.”
    I take a look at the team—and their girls—and most of them are nodding. Charly’s eyes well up, and she gives a curt nod as well. I’m thinking shit because I told Sam about the bye so we could spend time together. But if I’m not doing whatever it is that we’re going to be doing Daniels will kick my ass. Ah hell.
    Daniels lets out a visible breath into the morning air. “You all in?”
    “Hell yeah”s and “No shit”s are thrown out, along with several other things. I simply say, “Yep” when Daniels looks at me.
    “Okay, then.” His eyes shift to Charly. “Anyone got any ideas?”
    ***
    Most everyone leaves the field after our “meeting,” but I stick around, kicking at the turf around the end-zone. Damn, I miss this place. It’s been one game since the suspension, but it feels like it’s been twenty.
    “You heading out?” Woods asks as he heads toward the parking lot.
    “I’m gonna stay for a bit. I’ll catch ya later.”
    He nods and it’s cool ’cause he gets it. I think they all do. The field is our place, and sometimes we just need to spend some time here.
    I crouch down and run my hand over the white goal line. I’ve had eight touchdowns this year alone. Right here’s where I feel at home. The smell of grass is up there with the top scents on the planet. It’d be number one, but ever since I caught a whiff of Sam’s boner-inducing perfume, it’s been knocked down a spot.
    My stomach turns as I think of her. It’s half good, half panic. I’m not sure if I should tell her what the team decided to do about Nolan and the rest of the Skyhawks. I don’t even want to think about it.
    I straighten and take another deep breath of the field and close my eyes. The game would help loosen the tension. Too bad it’ll be another three weeks on the bench.
    “See ya Friday,” I tell the end-zone, and then I start walking across the field, past the track, through the fence, and next to the bleachers.
    Before I step foot into the parking lot, a hand snaps my wrist and yanks me under the bleachers.
    “What the…?”
    “Shh,” Sam says, putting a finger against my lips. She gives me that wicked grin of hers I’m really starting to love, then tugs me farther into the shadows.
    Her mouth is on mine, feisty and hungry. I let out a small laugh and match her intensity, nipping at her bottom lip and running my hands over her hips.
    “What are you doing here?” I ask between nibbles to her neck.
    “I wanted to see you again,” she pants. Her fingers tug at my hair. “I remember your teammate shouting about this meeting thing, so here I am.”
    I travel back to her mouth for a quick kiss and let her lips move around my jaw and down my throat. I hold back a groan.
    “No one saw, right?”
    She shakes her head, still planting kisses along my now overheated skin. “You didn’t see me.”
    “Good point.”
    Her heavy breathing matches mine when I kiss her again. I can’t get enough of her mouth, her tongue, her body under my hands. And even though I’m scared as hell about getting caught, I forget it for right now. It feels like the field. The tension in my gut and my chest disappears with every touch of her lips.
    “I have a question,” she says, traveling to my ear and biting the lobe.
    “O-okay,” I croak.
    She pulls back, and I’m thinking we’ll keep kiss-talking, but she