He stopped walking again just before they reached a group of people standing next to the bleachers. “I uh . . . was out of line back there. I’m sorry.”
Imani cupped her ear. “What? Can you say that again?” She took pleasure in knowing Garrett was more than a little uncomfortable. His face was tight like maybe he was constipated. It made her want to laugh out loud.
“You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?”
“Nope.” She crossed her arms underneath her breasts and waited with just a hint of a smile on her face.
It was the cute little dimple on the right side of her cheek that disarmed him. Garrett felt free to let down that protective wall with her. If he were honest, he had already let it down, so why stop now. He exhaled loudly. “Maddon said this isn’t flag but tackle. You play tackle football?”
“Are you really going to wuss out on my apology?”
His head snapped back. “I don’t wuss out on anything . . . ever.”
She started to walk past him. “Apparently, you do.”
He touched her arm.
Her knees went weak.
Her mouth went dry.
He felt it too, but this time he decided to ignore the feelings and somehow managed an apology. “I’m sorry.” The words were spoken low, but the intensity behind them was strong.
Imani licked her suddenly dry lips and responded breathlessly. She stuttered, “S-see, that wasn’t so bad.”
Garrett was glad he would be leaving tomorrow because there was no denying the moth-to-a-flame chemistry between them. He couldn’t promise to keep his hands to himself especially when her eyes said she didn’t want him to.
“Yo!” Maddon came running up to them from the parking lot breaking their spell again. Imani couldn’t help but think his timing was either really good or sucked.
“Why are y’all standing out here? It’s game time!”
*****
They had been having a great time at the SanDusky. Imani came across old friends and had warm reunions except when she ran into Shawna Adderson. She’d been flirting so hard with Garrett that Imani wanted to puke. It gave her immense pleasure to knock her on her ass several times during the game.
It was the last play in the fourth quarter. The score was tied. Maddon, Garrett, and Imani were all on the same team. It was fourth and inches from the goal.
Garrett had been playing quarterback and was excellent at it. Imani hadn’t really expected anything less. He seemed to be in tip-top condition and had a good throwing arm. This time, however, they planned to fake a pass to Maddon, give it Imani, and she would run it in for the touchdown.
“Hut one . . . hut two . . . hut . . . hut . . .” He backed back as if he was going to throw the ball to Maddon. Instead, he placed it into Imani's hands. She ran the ball as fast as she could over the goal line. The moment she crossed it the wind was knocked clean out of her. She was tackled to the ground from behind and fell face first into the grass. Unfortunately, the ground didn’t give, and she hit her head so hard her helmet fell off.
The wind was more than knocked out of her. It would serve her right if she turned over and saw that it was Shawna.
Maddon and Garrett came running over since she was slow to get up. Not only was Imani slow, but she also couldn't move. The shouting she initially heard was getting further and further away. It was impossible to make out who was saying what. The next thing Imani knew, she was being turned over and checked for injuries.
She didn’t think she was really hurt, well maybe her pride. Her eyes fluttered open then closed. Suddenly, Imani was lifted into the air into someone’s arms. Briefly, she looked up into those sexy hazel eyes—more gray than green now. Eyes that had had her stomach in knots all day.
Just before everything faded to black, Imani could only think about how good Garrett smelled even after running around playing football.
Chapter 9
Present Day
An earthquake in Chicago? That was unheard of—almost. Illinois sat on the New Madrid fault line, but it had been relatively dormant since the eighteen hundreds until today.
Garrett was having a hard time keeping himself and Imani on their feet as they attempted to get out of the building, but he had to do just that to make it out of the high-rise alive. Knowing that, his singular focus was to keep Imani upright and get her to ground level. Unfortunately, there was going to be nothing simple about it.
The floor continued to move like a seesaw causing them to sway back and forth, throwing them completely off balance. He held Imani even tighter and tucked her close into the haven of his arms.
She had no plans of letting go and held him in a vice-like grip. They stepped over broken glass, dodged debris falling from the ceilings, and swerved around chairs that lay on their sides littering the walkways.
As tough as Imani tried to be, Garrett could see the whites in her eyes. She was scared. So was he. The floor tilted again. For a brief moment, he lost his grip and Imani slipped out of his hands.
Reaching out for him, she screamed, “Gaaarrettt!”
Somehow, he managed to regain his hold and snatch her
