Free Nobody’s Hero by j. leigh bailey Page B

him.
    “Of course we do,” he said, racking his brain for a good choice. “We’re the Autobots.”
    “Yes! I get to be Optimus Prime!”
    “Not a chance, short stuff. I’m Optimus Prime. You can be Bumblebee.”
    “Nuh-uh! Let Ruby be Bumblebee.”
    “Okay, you can be Ratchet.”
    “Cool!”
    “Okay, guys, let’s do this.” Danny looked over his team. “Ruby, you and Jacob guard the goal. Nathan, your job is to steal the ball from the other team whenever you can. Remember, no hands. Got it?”
    “Got it,” they agreed.
    Danny reached down and snagged the ball to take it to the center point of their mini field.
    “Uncle Danny,” Ruby said with an appalled expression on her face, “you’re using your hands.”
    “The game hasn’t started yet.” At her accusing stare, he sighed and dropped the ball. Seriously? He had to
dribble
the ball to the center? Why was he doing this again?
Oh
,
yeah
,
because Brad wants to play.
Dude
,
you’ve got it bad.
    He dribbled the ball to the correct location and lined up facing Brad. The guy’s smile was the most open, relaxed one he’d seen on Brad so far. “Ready?” Brad asked.
    Danny stretched his arms over his head. The move lifted the hem of his shirt a few inches above the waistband of his shorts. As he’d hoped, Brad’s eyes locked on the patch of bare skin before trailing slowly up his torso.
Not pressure
,
a
reminder
. “All right, guys! Let’s play.”
    Momentary chaos ensued as ten kids took their places.
    “Guess who I am,” Juan Carlos demanded from his position at the paper plate goal box. He lowered his voice and growled out, “
You won’t like me when I’m angry
.”
    Danny grinned. “I’m going with the Hulk.”
    Juan Carlos whooped and charged in circles beating his chest like a gorilla.
    In a stage whisper, Danny asked Brad, “He does know the Hulk is the beefy green guy and not King Kong, right?”
    Brad shrugged. “Hey, whatever works for him.”
    “Let me guess,” Danny said with a nod to Veronica, who had her arms wrapped around Brad’s leg, “you’re Captain America.”
    “I didn’t get much of a choice. She’s stubborn.”
    “C’mon,” Alex whined. “Aren’t we going to play?”
    “All right, all right, we’re playing.” Danny picked up the ball and held it above the heads of the kids. “Ready. Set. Go!” He dropped the ball and jumped back as six wannabe-Beckhams charged forward. They all glommed around the ball so tightly it looked like a giant mass of child-sized arms and legs. The mob swerved toward him. He’d been trying to stay out of the thick of things, to hang back and keep the ball from going out-of-bounds if it came down to it. He’d noticed the kids’ change of direction too late. He tripped trying to avoid them and fell back, landing hard on the ground.
    “Time out!” He held his hands up, halting the game. He stood and brushed grass and dirt from his shorts.
    “You okay?” Brad, who’d run over with the rest of them, asked.
    “Fine.”
Yes
,
Danny
,
let’s play soccer to impress Brad and then fall on your ass like a dumbass.
    “Ew! Uncle Danny, you have dog poop on your back.” Juan Carlos squealed in delighted disgust.
    Of course he did. Fall down. Land in dog shit. Perfect way to attract a guy. He pulled his shirt off and looked at the back. Sure enough. Dog crap.
    He glanced at Brad to gauge his reaction. It wasn’t what he’d expected. Instead of revulsion or amusement, his face showed interest. Those stormy gray eyes explored Danny’s chest and abs. No one had ever looked at his body like it was a piece of art.
    He’d fall into any amount of dog shit if he could see that look of appreciation in Brad’s eyes.
    “Let’s go.”
    He didn’t look away from Brad to figure out which kid said it. The words were enough to break Brad’s trancelike stare, though.
    “Back to the middle.” Brad pointed to the center of their playing area.
    Danny tossed his shirt to the sideline. At this