Free Breaking Tackles: A Taking Flight Novel by Erin Brown Page B

T-shirt were perfect, but I still feel like I’m probably underdressed.
     
    “I don’t think so,” Adam says. “At least, Jax didn’t mention it. But I also didn’t ask.”
     
    “Crap. We should have brought something.”
     
    “Do you want to go find a grocery store and grab something from the deli or bakery?”
     
    “No,” I say, sighing. “We’ll just hope for the best.”
     
    We walk hand in hand to the door and ring the bell. A few seconds later, Melissa Montgomery herself answers.
     
    “Hi! You must be Adam and Courtney,” she says, warm and friendly, looking like an ad for the perfect wife in her sundress and sandals, her blond hair in loose, beachy waves. “Please come in.”
     
    We step inside the house and Adam, in his usual manner, wraps Melissa in a hug and says, “It’s so nice to meet you. Thank you for the invite.”
     
    “He’s a friendly one, huh?” Melissa says to me. I’m not quite past the fact that I’m sharing the same space as her and it takes me a second before I realize that she’s speaking to me. I’m completely intimidated by and in awe of her.
     
    “He’s definitely a hugger,” I finally say.
     
    Melissa grins at me in a way that makes me feel like we have a shared secret and she says, “Adam, the guys are in the backyard around the grill.”
     
    “Okay,” he says as he takes my hand. I take a breath and prepare to go meet the New Orleans Saints.
     
    “Courtney,” Melissa says before we head through the French doors to the backyard. “Why don’t you come with me to the sunroom? Let the boys have their bonding time grilling up the meat.”
     
    Adam squeezes my hand and I say, “Sure.”
     
    “Wonderful,” Melissa says, looking at me expectantly.
     
    “I’ll see you in a bit,” Adam says, quickly kissing my cheek.
     
    “How sweet is he?” Melissa says as she moves through the house. There’s a farmhouse kitchen that looks straight out of an interior design magazine and the house is decorated with lots and lots of pictures. Though everything is clean and tidy, this is clearly a house that is lived in. It’s comfortable and inviting.
     
    “Your home is lovely,” I say to Melissa, who has stopped briefly in the kitchen to grab a plate of petite fours out of the refrigerator. “Do you need help with anything?”
     
    “Absolutely not. And thanks! The house is cozy, which we like. Jax keeps trying to talk me into buying something bigger. He swears that in a few years, when the kids are older, I’ll thank him.”
     
    “He’s probably right,” I say. “I grew up in a house about this size with four older brothers. Even when we were all in our own rooms, it felt too small.”
     
    “Four older brothers,” she says, her eyes wide.
     
    “It was basically seven, if you include the Kistlers.”
     
    “You’ve known the Kistlers that long?”
     
    “I grew up with them. Our dads were friends—they met coaching Pop Warner football.”
     
    “That’s fun,” Melissa says. “So were you and Adam childhood sweethearts?”
     
    “Not by a long shot,” I say, and she laughs at that. “I never thought of him as my brother, obviously. But I think my brothers made it abundantly clear when I was growing up that I was off-limits—not just to Adam, but to all other guys. Dating was hard for me.”
     
    “So how did you and Adam end up together?”
     
    “We ran into each other at Mizzou and one thing lead to another.”
     
    “Right,” she says. “I now remember the photo of you two that came out last fall.”
     
    “Yeah, that photo ended up with many more views than we ever thought possible.”
     
    She laughs lightly and says, “I hope you’re used to it by now. Because the attention isn’t going to stop anytime soon.”
     
    Before I can respond with, “I hope it does,” she makes her way through the kitchen and motions for me to follow her. I hear the tinny chatter of women and then see that everyone is in sundresses. I feel