Off Season (The Blake Boys Book 15) by Rhonda Laurel Page B

sweat, dedication, and sometimes a few tears.”
    “You think I have talent?”
    “Wow.” Seth shook his head in disgust. “Did you hear anything I said?”
    Riley laughed and patted him on the back. “I get the gist of what you’re saying. There’s more to football than cashing a big check and being a star.”
    “Well, it’s a start.” Seth checked his cell phone. Morgan hadn’t called him, but he didn’t want to stay out too long in case she needed a nap. He started the truck and rolled out of the parking space and onto the main road. “I have to get back.”
    “So you’re cooking tonight?”
    “Yeah. Why do you ask?”
    “Is it OK if I stick around for dinner?”
    “Don’t you have something better to do on a Saturday night?”
    “Of course I do. I have invites to five parties and a very tempting offer from Shanna Fields, that smokin’ hot weather lady on channel eight.”
    “And yet you want to spend the evening with my family?” Seth pulled into the driveway and put on the parking brake.
    “What can I say? They’re an adorable bunch.”
    “So you want to be around my kids?” Seth gave him a sly smile. Riley wouldn’t last an hour in his house, but it was almost worth the calamity that would ensue to see if he could do it.
    Riley recoiled as if Seth had asked him to babysit. “Not by myself.”
    “It’s not easy to impress them. They’re sharp and they don’t take any crap.”
    “So in other words, it’s a family trait?” Riley huffed.
    “Exactly.” He nodded. “Cut the bull. You want to hang around because my niece is coming over for dinner.”
    Riley laughed. “Guilty as charged.”
    “Stay away from my niece, Sloane.”
    “OK. OK.”
    Seth ushered Riley into the house, hoping he would haven’t to kill him by the end of the evening. What would he say to T.K. if he strangled his star quarterback during a family dinner?
     
    * * *
     
     
    When Seth returned from the stables and announced Riley would be staying for dinner, Morgan took it as a good sign that their talk went well. She knew if anyone could get through to the young man, it would be him, despite not being pleased about those idiotic comments the quarterback made about him in the interview. Seth had a thick skin. Hell, worse things had been said about him publicly by Lamont, but she suspected he was using that sound bite as a way not to get involved. The reasons he gave her for staying away from the game were valid. He’d been laser-focused on being a family man and that was great. But they’d been working parents ever since Jake was born and they’d managed things well. They had a great support system in play to help when they weren’t available and it worked. She just hoped he wasn’t putting off his new career goals for her and the kids.
    Seth said he’d keep an eye on the kids if she wanted to get some rest, but she had other things to do like look for the home movies Charisma wanted to use for Grandma Reed’s party. It was going to be a grand affair, complete with a showing of the family home movies and slides, if only she’d remembered where she’d put them after the move to Texas.
    Morgan was proud of her cousin Charisma for the work she’d put in planning the celebration, which was going to be held in the ballroom of the regal Philadelphia Plaza hotel. She was busy these days with her new responsibilities at Reed Designs, college courses, and her relationship with Derek. They’d been talking a lot since the plans for Grandma’s party had begun, but sometimes she called and they just chatted about life. Charisma confessed to her that her relationship with Derek was the first one she’d had in which she could truly be herself. He didn’t judge, he just loved, and it scared the hell out of her. She wanted to be perfect for him and have the kind of relationship Morgan and Seth had. Morgan informed her that no matter how effortless it looked, their relationship worked because they worked at it. She told