Out of Play: A Sports Romance (Love in the Arena Book 2) Read online

  Out of Play

  Love in the Arena: Book Two

  Kayla Tirrell

  Contents

  Also by Kayla Tirrell

  Get a Free Short Story

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Grant

  Emmeline

  Emmeline

  Want more sports romance?

  Looking for more sweet adult romance?

  Acknowledgments

  About Kayla

  Also by Kayla Tirrell

  Copyright © 2020 by Kayla Tirrell

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Proofreading: EditElle

  Also by Kayla Tirrell

  Varsity Girlfriends:

  Courtside Crush

  Game Plan

  Wedding Games:

  The Bridesmaid & The Jerk

  The Bridesmaid & The Ex

  The Bridesmaid & Her Surprise Love

  Shelfbrooke Academy:

  Tessa

  Boys of Summer:

  Beauty and the Beach

  Mountain Creek Drive:

  Chasing Love

  River Valley Lost & Found:

  All The Things We Lost

  All The Things We Found

  All The Things We Were

  Collection of Sweet Shorts:

  Home For Christmas

  Carnival Wishes

  The Art of Taking Chances

  Disastrous Dates:

  Disastrous Dates: The Complete Series

  Children’s Chapter Book:

  Help! My Parents Are Zombies!

  Get a Free Short Story

  Sign up for my newsletter and get this short and sweet YA romance for free.

  Emmeline

  Emmeline rushed through the arena, pushing the sleeves of her oversized jersey up her forearms. Thanks to a bitter online bidding war, she’d paid way too much for the top with the name O’Brien on the back, but it had been worth every penny to win the captain’s jersey. Not only was it one-of-a-kind—only worn for one game—but all the proceeds went to a local charity. She was happy she got to wear it for the first game she’d been able to attend that season.

  Oh, the things you did for your big brother.

  Emmeline could hear the crowd going wild as she showed her ticket to the man standing guard at the entrance to the VIP section. She hated being late, and her toe tapped impatiently as she got a wristband that would allow her to go in and out without having to show her ticket every time.

  After three years of coming to the games, she’d have thought her brother would have gotten her some special pass rather than dealing with tickets. But no, those were for actual VIPs, and the captain’s sister didn’t make the cut, apparently.

  She rushed past the guard to get to her seat. As Emmeline passed behind the rows of VIP boxes and got closer to the box, she spotted Miriam. The team’s community outreach coordinator was cheering loudly from her seat on the floor right next to the Storm’s bench.

  Emmeline pushed past a few people who were too busy watching the action in front of them to notice her trying to squeeze by. She got to her place just as Miriam pounded on the board separating their seats from the field.

  “Let’s go, Storm!” Miriam’s fierce expression made Emmeline glad she was rooting for the same team.

  Despite how scary her friend could be, she always enjoyed watching games with Miriam. They fed off each other’s energy and always ended up cheering so loud that they got looks from surrounding fans for being too enthusiastic.

  Emmeline cleared her throat. “Hey.”

  Miriam turned to face Emmeline. Her pale blue eyes widened for the briefest moment before her face broke out into a grin. “Where have you been? I’ve missed you.”

  Emmeline smirked. “No you haven’t.” She tipped her head toward the field, and her red ponytail swayed to the side. She flung it over her shoulder impatiently. “Finn told me you’ve been pretty occupied with pretty boy out there.”

  Miriam’s cheeks turned pink as Silas, one of the team’s forwards, slowed into a jog just long enough to wink at Miriam.

  Emmeline swore she heard a growling noise come from Miriam before she smacked the side of the boards. “Keep your eye on the ball, Jenkins!”

  Emmeline giggled. “Just like old times,” she said before turning her attention to the game in front of them.

  She focused on the guys running back and forth as they battled to get—and keep—possession of the ball. All the while, her brother, Finn, was yelling at them from his place in front of the goal. Bastian, a defender, passed the ball back to Finn. He kicked it down the field. Cardosa, another offensive player, stopped it with a header that went toward the other team’s goal. Silas took the shot.

  “Goal!” The announcer’s voice rang through the arena.

  Emmeline looked over at Miriam, expecting to see pride on her face, but her eyes stared blankly into the distance. Emmeline knew that lovey-dovey look and elbowed her in the ribs. “You were so busy daydreaming that you missed your boy get that shot.”

  Miriam shook her head slightly, and her eyes went to where the players all celebrated in the middle of the field. “It’s okay. I’ll pull it up online and watch it.” She winked at Emmeline. “Just don’t tell Silas.”

  Yeah, right. Like Emmeline had anything to say to Silas. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him. The guys on the team were all nice enough, but she avoided talking to athletes other than her brother. It was just too painful, on so many levels.

  As if he knew Miriam was talking about him, Silas ran over toward the girls.

  “Speak of the devil.” Emmeline rolled her eyes.

  She turned her head away, but not before she caught him kiss Miriam’s cheek. It was a gesture Emmeline had seen time and time again. One she hadn’t expected to see again after he broke Miriam’s heart two years ago, but maybe some people were just meant to be together. And some, like Emmeline, were meant to be alone.

  Emmeline turned her attention back to the field as Silas ran back out. The guys were done celebrating their goal, and the ball was back in play. A blond guy she didn’t recognize stole the ball from a player on the opposing team and drove it down the field. His footwork was impressive as he managed to dodge two different players trying to steal possession.

  She leaned in toward Miriam. “Who’s that?”

  “You mean Grant?”

  Grant. The name didn’t ring a bell. “Is Grant the guy with the giant number seven on his jersey passing the ball to Bastian?”

  Miriam bumped her shoulder against Emmeline. “You’d know the answer to that if you’d been to any of the games or events this year.”

  It was true that she hadn’t been to any
games this season—or watched any online—but it wasn’t her fault. She’d been so busy rewriting lesson plans and getting extra certifications that she didn’t have a free moment. Besides, she hadn’t been completely out of the loop. She’d known about Silas and Miriam, hadn’t she? Though that was only because Finn was such a gossipy grandmother when the two of them got together.

  Emmeline turned toward Miriam. “Does that mean yes?”

  Miriam laughed. “Yes. That’s Grant Vaughn. He’s a rookie. Graduated from Mercer last year and signed on with the Storm just before the season started.”

  If he just graduated college in the spring, that meant he was about a year younger than Emmeline. Her gaze wandered to where he stood waiting for gameplay to start again. He pushed his too-long blond hair off his forehead before planting his hands on his hips. His body was lean and toned. He was cute...very cute.

  She closed her eyes.

  Nope. She was not going to let her thoughts go down that road. Grant might be a legit hottie, but so were most of the guys out there. They spent hours training to become finely tuned athletic machines, and somehow lost all common decency in the process. Professional athletes were jerks.

  Everyone but her brother, of course.

  Emmeline opened her eyes just in time to watch the ref put the ball in front of Grant and blow his whistle. The rookie scanned the field looking for someone to pass the ball to. He found his target and kicked toward Cardosa. Cardosa took the shot...and missed.

  The other team kicked it back toward Finn.

  Emmeline held her breath as the ball got dangerously close to their goal, and Finn’s entire body tensed. He crouched over slightly, ready to dive in either direction to block any shots on him.

  Thankfully, another player kicked the ball upfield.

  Emmeline released her breath and kept her eyes trained on the game while she tried to catch up with Miriam. “So, how has this season been going?”

  “Finn tells you about the drama, not their record?”

  Emmeline snorted. “Well, I know their wins and losses. And I know that Finn has had a hard time with Vinny.”

  Miriam laughed. “Everyone has a hard time with Vinny. They don’t call him ‘The Box’ because he’s a peacemaker.”

  No, they called him that because he spent so much time in the penalty box, the place players went when they were too aggressive on the field. Em still remembered how hard it was to get used to the vastly different rules when Finn started playing arena soccer. Now, she knew them like the back of her hand and had no problem yelling at the refs when they made the wrong call.

  “I guess not, but I know it’s hard on Finn when his team doesn’t gel right. Thankfully, he and Silas kissed and made up.”

  Miriam turned her head toward Emmeline and lifted her brows. “Oh, I didn’t realize there was kissing involved. Should I be jealous?”

  Emmeline shook her head. “Shut up. You know what I mean.”

  “What if Finn’s a better kisser than me?”

  Emmeline opened her mouth to make a sarcastic reply, when the ball hit the boards right next to her seat. She yelped and looked up just in time to see Grant and another player sprinting in their direction in a race to get to the ball first. Emmeline barely lifted her arms up before they both slammed against the board.

  Grant recovered quickly and managed to kick the ball to Cardosa, who then passed it to Silas.

  The rookie should have run off down the field ready for the ball to come back at any moment, but he hesitated and looked at Emmeline with an adorably crinkled brow. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  Her eyes narrowed. What was he doing talking to her? In the years she’d been coming to these games to watch her brother play, Emmeline had never known a player to stop and ask a fan if they were okay unless a stray ball hit a small child in the stands. Even then, they didn’t always stop.

  Since she was most definitely not a small child and the ball hadn’t gone out of play, there was no reason for him to lose precious game minutes talking to her. And yet, she couldn’t find her voice to tell him to get back on the field before Finn or Coach noticed. The minute his blue eyes met hers, she’d lost her voice.

  “She’s fine, Grant.” Miriam pushed his shoulder over the boards. “Get moving.”

  Emmeline watched as he ran down the field toward the rest of the players, his mouth still turned down in confusion by her silence.

  “What was that?” Miriam asked once he started playing again.

  Emmeline blinked slowly. “What was what?”

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about, so you can stop playing all innocent. You’ve got a crush on Grant.” Miriam’s lips curled into a sly grin.

  “It’s hard to have a crush on someone when you only found out they existed ten minutes ago.”

  Besides, Emmeline didn’t get crushes at all. She was constantly working at her school, where most of her coworkers were women. Even when she wasn’t, she didn’t have a desire to date anyone—not anymore. While she didn’t have an explanation for why she got all tongue-tied in front of Grant, she could absolutely, one-hundred percent say it was not because of a crush.

  “No love at first sight?”

  “Ew.” She scrunched up her nose. “What is this? A cheesy rom-com? No, I don’t love Grant Vaughn just because he almost bumped into me during a game. If that was the case, I would be madly in love with the entire team...minus Finn.”

  “That’s too bad. I thought we could cheer on our boys together. It would be fun.”

  “We can still cheer on the boys together. My shouting just so happens to be from a strictly platonic standpoint.”

  The other team’s coach called a time-out and both sides huddled together in their respective circles. Emmeline made a pointed effort not to look at Grant as he huddled with the other players just a few feet from where she stood.

  Miriam turned her back to the field and leaned against the board. “So, are you going to the after-party tonight?”

  After-parties were community outreach events meant to connect players and fans. Since Emmeline already knew most of the team thanks to her brother, she didn’t see the need to go. She shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

  “Come on.” Miriam sighed. “I haven’t seen you all season. I miss you.”

  Emmeline bit her bottom lip. “I miss you too, but I don’t know about tonight. I’ve got a lot of papers to grade.” Even though it was true, it was a lame excuse.

  “What about Finn?”

  “What about him?”

  “Don’t you think he’d like to see his sister at City Bar?”

  She laughed. “You act like I don’t see Finn outside of sanctioned Storm events.”

  Miriam gave her sad puppy dog eyes. “But I don’t get to see you outside of Storm events.”

  “Ugh.” Emmeline was such a sucker. She threw her hands up. “Fine, I’ll come to the after-party.”

  “Yay!”

  “But only if you promise not to say another word about my crush on Grant.”

  The sly smile was back. “So, you’re admitting that you do have a crush.”

  Emmeline gave her a hard look.

  “Fine. No crush.” She mimed zipping her lips, but Emmeline could see the corners of Miriam’s mouth tugging up as she fought to keep from smiling. She was tempted to argue over it, but the ref blew his whistle and the game resumed.

  The two girls turned their attention back to the arena. As the fast-paced match continued, Emmeline decided the after-party might not be such a bad idea. In fact, she was almost looking forward to it. Even though she wouldn’t be some superfan looking to meet her heroes, it would be great to take a break from school for the night. She’d get to have more time with Miriam and Finn.

  Maybe she’d see Grant there, maybe she wouldn’t.

  Though when he glanced at her halfway through the second quarter, she was definitely hoping she would.

  Grant

  Man, it felt good to get a
nother Storm win under his belt.

  Grant was still getting used to playing in the arena. The field was smaller, the game faster, and there were fewer players on the field. No matter how much he practiced in the arena, Grant still found himself adjusting to the new set of rules.

  He must have been doing something right though, because Coach let him spend a lot of time playing instead of sitting and watching from the bench. Not too bad for a rookie.

  Grant stripped off his sweaty top as he sat on the bench and tried to focus on the post-game speech from Coach. He was going over the highs and lows of the game while it was still fresh in everyone’s minds, but all Grant could think about was getting back out there for the customary autograph session after the game. He wanted to see the fans—or more specifically, one fan.

  He only hoped that the fact that she was sitting next to Miriam meant that he would get that chance. A seat in the VIP box meant that person loved the Storm, so she’d have to be there, right? Grant wasn’t exactly sure what he planned to say, or do, if he saw the mystery girl at the autograph session, but he always worked best under pressure.

  Coach continued to drone on and on. Grant thought he’d never stop. After yet another reminder of how the team needed to listen to Finn when he barked out orders during games, they were finally dismissed.

  Grant immediately went to the sinks near the bathroom stalls. There wasn’t enough time for a full fledged shower, but that didn’t mean he needed to be completely disgusting when he went out there. He splashed water over his face and checked his reflection in the mirror. His hair was wet with sweat, so he stuck it under the faucet to rinse it out the best he could. He combed it back with his fingers. It would have to do.