Full Coverage: A Shifter Football Romance (The Growlers Book 1) by Terra Wolf (19)

The field was electric, the whole game flying by in a flash. Even though it was the pinnacle of my life up to this point, the thing I’d dreamed about more than anything, I couldn’t stop myself from sending glances Keely’s way every couple of plays, hoping to pick her out of the crowd, hoping to spot her smile.

Knowing she was out there watching fueled me to perform at my highest level. I was pulling off plays that we hadn’t even really practiced.

But that didn’t mean the Titans weren’t putting up a good fight. They’d beat us earlier in the season for good reason — they were one hell of a team. Late into the fourth quarter, we were down by eight. It was the worst possible scenario for us to be in because we needed to score twice, but it was likely we were only going to get one shot at it.

As we huddled up, I could tell the team was worn down. I could tell we were losing that fire that had gotten us through the first three quarters. But the battle wasn’t over yet and I had a beautiful woman counting on me in the stands. With my bear’s constant roaring over Keely giving me a push for victory, I was ready to give all I had.

“All right, listen up,” I said to my teammates over the roar of the stadium, trying to tune them out, trying to forget how many hundreds of thousands of people were at home watching. “We’re only going to have one shot at this, so we’ve got to make it count. Mason, plant yourself in the end zone.”

He nodded, mopping sweat off his brow.

“And we’re going to have to move fast with the clock ticking down, so Kingston, I want you ready for the conversion, got it?” His eyes went wide and there was some nervous shuffling from other teammates, but I ignored it.

I knew how crazy trying to pull off a two-point conversion was in this scenario. I knew that it was a long shot and it was probably going to fail spectacularly, but I also knew it was our only shot, so I couldn’t pass it up. Like Coach said before the game, this might be the last shot some of these guys ever got at a championship. Not everyone made it to the pros. I couldn’t let them down.

“Got it?” I asked again, one eye on the timeout clock. We didn’t have all the time in the world to decide this.

Kingston swallowed and nodded. “Got it. Let’s do this shit.”

“We didn’t come this far to go home empty-handed, did we boys?”

“Hell no!” someone shouted, and just like that, the team was all riled up again, ready to go.

“Let’s go out there and show the world what the Growlers are made of!”

A round of cheers goes around and then we break, lining up along the line of scrimmage. I didn’t know about the rest of the guys, but my heart was in my throat, pulse thundering along with the stomping and chanting of the crowd, the whole place alive with a single thrumming heartbeat, and my bear the loudest sound of them all. I took one last look around the stadium, at the sea of faces all blurring together. I knew somewhere out there was Keely. I knew she was watching and cheering me on and that was all I needed.

“Hutt!”

The ball snapped into my hands, an old friend coming home. I stepped back, one, two, then three steps, stalling to give Mason the time to run the forty-plus yards to the end zone. A linebacker comes from my right and tries to sweep my legs out from under me, but I manage to dance just out of his grip, spinning out of the way of another attempted sack.

Come on, Mason, I prayed, knowing he was running as fast as he could, dodging tackles of his own left and right. And then he was only a couple of yards away. I figured out where he’d end up and aimed for that spot, letting the ball fly, soaring through the air, totally out of my control.

It wasn’t my best throw, and Mason had to dive for it, no one fully sure if he hit the ground first or the ball did. It was a make or break moment and the whole stadium was completely silent while the refs went off to the sidelines to review the tape.

I held my breath as the head referee jogged back out on the field and turned his mic on.

“After reviewing the play, the ruling on the field stands. Touchdown Growlers.”

The stadium exploded with cheers and protests alike, but I couldn’t focus on that. Because now that they’d made the ruling, I only had a few seconds to get my team assembled again to try for the two-point conversion. The play clock was running down as everyone got into position and it was all a little chaotic trying to move that fast and get the ball snapped before we were hit with a fifteen-yard penalty.

But then it snapped, I passed it off to Kingston, and he dove through the line of defensive linemen like he was headed into a mosh pit.

The refs had to pull people off of him as everyone clambered for the ball, trying to take it from Kingston before they could make the ruling of whether he’d crossed the end zone line or not.

The pile of players cleared and Kingston was left clutching the ball to his chest like he was protecting a baby. I thought the noise in the stadium was going to bring down the whole place.

We did it. We actually did it. With seconds to spare, we’d won by a single point. I couldn’t believe it.

I looked at Kingston, then at Mason and they were grinning as much as I was but looking just as bewildered, just as disbelieving. The clock ran down and then the rest of the team poured onto the field cheering and jumping and going crazy.

But there was only one person I cared about seeing.

I brushed off reporters and fans clamoring for my attention and stalk through the mass of people looking for her golden blonde hair.

There, through a maze of people, I spotted her and pushed forward with single-minded determination. By the time I got to her, Mason was there too.

“You did it!” she squealed happily, wrapping us each in a hug, giving us each a big kiss. I didn’t even mind waiting my turn. I knew she was worth the wait.

“I knew we had someone important counting on us,” I said, grinning.

Mason slipped an arm around her waist, grinning to himself too. “It’s going to take a while to sink in, I think.”

Then Kingston was there with us, laughing and smiling more than I’d ever seen. He didn’t even flinch at the sight of us on either side of his sister.

“You guys coming to the after-game party?” he asked.

Mason and I both looked at Keely and then shook our heads.

“I think we’ve got other plans,” I said, sending a warm grin to Keely.

“Enough said,” Kingston said with a grimace.

“You mean you don’t want to hear about our plans to—”

“Enough said,” Kingston cut off Mason and we all laughed at his expense. Even Kingston cracked a smile.

“I may have given you assholes my blessing, but it’s still going to take some getting used to. Don’t push it,” he said, glaring.

I held up my hands in surrender. “Enjoy the party for us, man.”

He nodded and left to join the rest of the team.

Keely turned to Mason with mischief in her eyes, a sly little smile stretching her lips.

“So, what were those plans you have?”

He growled, kissing the side of her neck. “The plans where we fill both your tight little holes until you’re begging us to make you come.”

Her cheeks flushed bright red and even I had to admit I was surprised by this side of Mason. I guess I always expected him to be gentle and tender, but this dominant side of him surprised me. Not that I was complaining. As much as I’m in charge in all the other aspects of my life, I was happy to let him take the lead on this one. Besides, Keely seemed to love it.

“What do you think? Could you go along with those plans?” I asked her, moving in to kiss the side of her neck, not even caring who might see.

She shivered and nodded. “Yes. Please. Now.”

While everyone else was distracted with the festivities and the reporters, we smuggled Keely through the underground tunnels that ran beneath the stadium. There was a whole complex under the stadium besides the gyms and training rooms and offices. There were meeting rooms too, and even little cozy resting rooms for guys to crash if they had a particularly rough practice or workout or something. They weren’t set up with anything more than a bed, but that was all we really needed and it seemed like Mason and I had the same exact idea.

Before the door was even closed behind us, my lips were on Keely’s, my hands tearing off her clothes, throwing the jersey to the side of the room, kissing down her neck, to her luscious breasts, her panting moans music to my ears.

“Oh, Ryder,” she moaned, her fingers knotting in my hair, holding me fast to her nipple where I sucked and nibbled as my hand slid down her soft belly into the front of her jeans.

Mason moved in behind her, kissing the back of her neck, his hands moving to her hips, shoving the jeans down roughly right as my fingers found her throbbing clit.

“Oh!” she gasped, arching into my fingers, clinging to my shoulders. Mason stripped behind her and centered his cock at her entrance from behind, stroking into her with shallow strokes that made her gasp and push back against him. But he held her hips firm and wouldn’t let her take more than he intended. The whole time, I was stroking her clit, sucking on her nipples, watching her face twist and contort into pure tortured pleasure. It was beautiful. Amazing. And I didn’t know how I’d gotten lucky enough to be witness to it.

“Please,” she whined. “Mason, please fuck me.”

He slammed his hips forward, filling her in one sharp stroke and Keely cried out so loud I thought the people above ground might be able to hear her, but I didn’t care. Let them hear her. Let them know how much she loves every last thing we were doing as we both claimed her.

Mason ground in deep, but didn’t withdraw at all, and Keely’s hips rocked and rolled and writhed against him, trying desperately to get more, but it wasn’t happening. He wasn’t letting it happen.

“What’s the matter?” I cooed, my thumb circling her clit over and over without actually touching it. And no matter how much she tried to move, neither of us were giving her what she so desperately wanted. “Tell us what you want, Keely.”

“More,” she panted. “Please, more. God, it feels so good,” she said, her voice breaking into a desperate whine. I’d almost feel bad if I didn’t know that we were going to give her everything she wanted.

“Like this?” Mason asked, pulling his hips back and slamming into her full force. Keely cried out and slumped forward against me, clinging to me for support.

“Or this?” I asked, pressing into her little sensitive nub, watching her thighs quake with the effort of standing.

“Oh… Please… I want you both to fuck me,” she said, groaning as she said it, like the words themselves turned her on. They sure as fuck turned me on.

Mason withdrew from her and the sad whimper of loss from Keely nearly broke my damn heart, but I fixed it real fast by filling her again.

“God damn, your pussy’s like heaven,” I groaned, kissing her long and deep. I’d forgotten how fucking good she felt. Like she was made to fit around me, made to grip my cock with that velvet vise of hers.

She turned to look at Mason, her eyes bright and wild. “Well?” she asked, a challenge in her tone. “I thought you were going to fuck my ass.”

We both groaned and my cock swelled inside of her, that filthy mouth making me crazy in the best way.

Suddenly, Keely tightened around me and I realized it was Mason sliding into her, slowly, to let her adjust to him. Instinctively, my fingers went to her clit, helping her relax, her wet arousal gushing out of her and coating us both, making everything slick without the need for lube.

“Oh fuck,” Keely moaned, Mason still inching into her, so slow it seemed like he wasn’t moving.

“Just relax, sweetheart,” he said, stroking her back as I rubbed her clit, kissed her neck.

“It feels… oh God, it feels so good,” she panted, her nails digging into my shoulders. And then, Mason was buried all the way inside of her. We both were. She was so tight and so wet, her muscles clenching and spasming uncontrollably even though we were all just being still, letting her come to grips with it.

Finally, I felt her relax around me a little and I stroked my hips forward, relishing in her gasp. Mason moved inside her too, and it didn’t take long for us to find a rhythm together that left her panting and begging for more.

“Ryder… Mason,” she moaned. “You’re going to make me… Oh Gooood.”

“That’s it, baby girl,” I said, fucking her harder, watching her come undone right before my eyes. “Come for us. Come with these two big cocks filling you up like a dirty girl, stretching you and making you ours. Ours forever,” I growled, knowing I meant it. It might have come out in the heat of the moment, but I knew I meant that more than I’d ever meant anything.

“Fuck!” she screamed, her whole body trembling as the wave crashed into her, taking us over the edge with her.

We never even made it to the damn bed.

But while Keely was still trembling and shaking from the aftershocks of her orgasm, we carried her to the bed and settled in on either side of her. Touching her, stroking her, playing with her hair, fingers exploring the sticky mess between her thighs.

And before long, we were all ready to go for round two.

Epilogue

Six Years Later

KEELY

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and my whole house was quiet. Too quiet. I was just finishing up a load of laundry when I stopped in the hallway to look at an old picture.

It was from that day. The day of the championship game. Somehow, during all the craziness and chaos, a reporter had gotten a picture of my brother and his two best friends. The so-called three musketeers.

Times were so much simpler back then. It seemed like the end of the world when he found out I’d slept with Mason and Ryder, and even worse when my brother wanted to put his foot down to prevent us from being together.

But that was all a long time ago. We were so happy. So carefree. So convinced that nothing could come between us, no force in the world could rip us apart.

I sighed, repositioning the laundry basket on my hip. We had such a good thing and we didn’t even realize it at the time.

I left that picture, still thinking about that day, and everything that happened after the game. And everything that had happened since. It was almost too much to believe.

At the end of the hallway, I was struck again with how quiet everything was. It was eerie. Unsettling.

Piercing through the silence there was a high-pitched whine, followed by, “Moooooooommy!”

Oliver. I dropped the basket and turned the corner, but before I could grab him, his dad scooped him up off the floor, lifting him high.

“What’s the matter, buddy?” Mason asked, concern wrinkling his forehead.

Oliver sniffled, wiping at his nose. “I tripped,” he said, extending his chubby little leg. At three, he still hadn’t lost all of his baby fat and he was just cute as could be with Mason’s stormy sea eyes and flaxen hair. He was my little cherub and I flitted right over to him looking at his scraped knee.

“It’s just a little scratch, bug,” I said, kissing his boo-boo.

He sniffled again, then bent his knee.

“All better?” Mason asked. “Mommy’s kisses are the best medicine, if you ask me.”

I grinned and nudged his shoulder playfully. He just couldn’t help himself.

“I think so,” Oliver said, swiping fat tears out of his eyes. Mason grinned.

“That’s good, because I heard a rumor,” he said, lowering his voice to a whisper.

By now, we’d caught the attention of Nixon, who had been on the couch watching cartoons, but was now surreptitiously watching us out of the corner of his eye. Being five — and old enough for kindergarten — Nixon was now way too cool for all of our antics. Or so he thought. He wasn’t totally immune.

“A rumor?” Oliver asked.

Mason looked very serious and nodded. I smothered a snicker, not knowing where he was going with this but already amused by their seriousness, the same wrinkles in Mason’s forehead mirrored in miniature on Oliver’s.

“What rumor?” Ollie asked.

“A rumor… that the tickle monster is back in town!” he said, attacking Oliver with tickling fingers, squeals of laughter filling the living room.

Nixon rolled his eyes and went back to cartoons.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something, and grinned.

“Nixon, you should be careful. I heard a rumor too,” I said.

He looked over the back of the couch at me, unsure. I could see the war behind his dark eyes, wanting to give in and have fun, but wanting to keep his reputation in tact. He was way too young to be worried about stuff like that.

“I’m serious,” I said, trying to inject some urgency into my voice. “I heard a rumor that there’s not just one tickle monster in town, but two…”

He gasped and whirled around just in time for his dad to scoop him up into a tickle attack.

“Ahhh!” Nixon yelled, struggling and fighting, but there was no use once the tickle monster got you. You just had to endure the attack.

“Mommy! Help!” he called, and I giggled, shaking my head.

“Oh no, I’m not getting involved,” I said, backing away.

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Mason and Ryder both stopped tickling our kids and turned to me, looks of pure mischief in their eyes.

“Oh no you don’t,” I said, still backing away, my hands held out. “No you— Ahhh!” I yelped, dissolving into laughter as they both grabbed me and hauled me to the couch, assaulting me with tickles, both our boys joining in on the action.

“No fair! Four against one!” I protested, squirming and trying to get away from tickling fingers. But the truth was, I loved this. This was perfect. This was everything I’d ever dreamed of and more.

We’d had our fair share of troubles and hit more than a few roadblocks along the way, but in the past six years, Ryder, Mason, and I had made a family together. We found the home we didn’t know we were looking for.

Their college coach kept his promise of trying everything in his power to convince his connections to try and draft both of them on the same team, and as unheard of as that was, it happened. My whole family was together.

Kingston was another story. He was off in New York these days, but he came out to Chicago as often as he could to visit his nephews. It was really the ideal arrangement, because even though King had given us his blessing and eventually mostly got over the whole thing with his two best friends sleeping with his sister at the same time, he still struggled with it sometimes. So short visits were for the best.

Besides, then we didn’t have to watch our behavior around him.

“Okay, okay! I surrender! What are your demands?” I panted, my whole body still tingling from the tickle assault. It really wasn’t fair to get ganged up on like that.

“I’ll tell you mine later,” Mason purred in my ear, nuzzling into my neck with a growl.

“What he said,” Ryder answered, his hand sneakily skimming down the inside of my thigh. I shivered, heat pooling between my legs.

“Pancakes!” Oliver chirped.

“Pancakes? For lunch?” I teased him, going in for a tickle attack of my own.

He squealed and laughed, but nodded. “With whipped cream and bananas!”

I turned my attention to Nixon, wiggling my fingers at him menacingly. He scooted away from me, his eyes wide. “What about you, my pretty? What are your demands?”

He thought about it for a long moment, his face scrunched up in a serious look. Then, his eyes lit up and he grinned. “I want to go to a Cubs game!”

Ryder clutched at his chest, staggering back. “Betrayed by my own flesh and blood… Baseball! Pfft,” he scoffed.

I hit him on the shoulder. “He doesn’t have to like football. He’s also my son, you know.”

“It’s okay, never mind,” Nixon said, sounding dejected, his big brown eyes turned toward the floor.

I glared at Ryder and jerked my head in Nixon’s direction, my mouth tight.

He sighed, then draped an arm over Nixon’s shoulder.

“I was just teasing you buddy. There’s nothing wrong with baseball. And if you wanna go see a Cubs game, then by golly, we’re going to go see a Cubs game.”

Nixon looked up, eyes bright and hopeful, but still guarded. “You mean it?”

“Of course! Your mom’s probably never even been to Wrigley, which is a damn shame.”

Nixon looked to me for confirmation and I shook my head. “It’s true, I haven’t. That’s the field, right?” Years and years of living with these sports guys and watching ESPN to see them in action had taught me a couple of things. Not a lot, though.

“Yes, that’s the field,” Mason said, chuckling warmly, his arms wrapping around me from behind. “It’s a Chicago institution.”

I frowned. “Like the Field isn’t? I’ve been trying to convince you guys to go there ever since we moved here.”

Ryder wrinkled his nose. “But that’s a museum. This is different.”

“It’s a museum full of dinosaurs,” I said, on the verge of pouting. But that was the magic word.

“Dinosaurs!” Oliver squealed. “Can I have that instead of pancakes?”

I grinned while Ryder grimace. Mason didn’t look nearly as put out, but that was probably because he knew the Field museum was near the planetarium and I would bet my weight in gold he was going to angle for us to venture there too before it was all said and done.

“Of course you can, bug. You won the tickle war, after all,” I said, grinning from ear to ear as I stuck my tongue out to Ryder.

“Save that for later,” he said, pushing it back with his finger before he kissed me. “I can’t believe you’re going to get me into a museum, you nerd.”

“I’ll have you know, at least three-fifths of this family are nerds,” I said mock-defensively.

He laughed. “The fact that you’re talking in fractions isn’t helping your case, sweetheart.”

“You’re the one that’s stuck with us nerds,” I teased.

“Hey, the Adler Planetarium is right next to the Field,” Mason said from behind me. I turned and found him with his phone in his hand, the website already pulled up. I just grinned, shaking my head.

“Sounds like we have some field trips to plan,” I said.

“Can we still have pancakes, though?” Ryder asked.

I snort-laughed and kissed him. My life was absolutely perfect. No doubts about it.

“Pancakes for everyone!” I cried to a chorus of cheering boys. Yep. This was perfect.