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“Ma’am?” I ask, squinting over at Brynn, fighting my grin. “Does this work for you?”
Her lips twitch. “He’ll do, Maggie.”
“Great. Brynn, this is Jace.” She waves between us. “I’m sure you’ve gathered he’s a Griffin and here to help us out today. Jace, this is Brynn Nichols. She’s actually a student at AU also. She started working with us on a volunteer basis a couple weeks ago, actually.”
“Yes,” I say, through a small cough of polite laughter. “We actually know each other.”
“Oh. You do?” the woman glances between us, the excitement in her tone evident. “Well, fabulous. It’s a perfect match, then.”
Brynn beams and winks at me, and while it’s certainly not the first time a chick has winked at me, it’s definitely the first time I’ve found it sexy.
“Do you need anything before you get started, Brynn?” Maggie asks.
She shakes her head. “Nope. We’re good.”
“Perfect. I’ll let you take it from here and check on the others.”
Brynn nods, watching as she disappears. The second she’s out of sight, she steps forward, peering up at me with eyes glittering like jewels. “Tell me, Taggart, are you stalking me?”
I bark out a laugh. “Maybe. Does that freak you out?”
She gives me a coy little shrug. “Depends. What are you gonna do now you’ve found me?” Her eyes sparkle with mischief as she steps away and turns back around, and I swear if we weren’t standing in a public field with more than a dozen children staring right at me, I would take her right here.
“Okay, gang, listen up!” she hollers. “Mr. Taggart is going to be helping us today,” she motions toward me. “He’s actually on AU’s football team, so he knows his stuff.”
A couple of their faces light up as their gazes turn to me at once.
“So cool,” one boy drawls.
“What position do you play?” asks another.
“Wide receiver.” I grin as several of them nod in unison.
“My daddy says the Griffins’ passing game sucked ass last year.”
I cough to cover a laugh while Brynn shoots him a glare. “Coop! Language.”
“Sorry,” he mutters.
“Well, it wasn’t great, that’s true,” I chime in. “There was a lot of missed passes and stunted plays, but I’m hoping to change that.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” a tiny little brunette with pigtails in the back asks.
Brynn gasps, and I swear her cheeks turn ten shades of red. “Kiera!” she admonishes.
“What?” the girl pouts. “It was an honest question.”
“It’s okay,” I say to Brynn, then I turn to face Kiera. “Maybe not an official girlfriend yet?” I say like a question, and I wonder if it's weird we’re having a status talk in front of a bunch of nine-year-olds. “But I am seeing someone, and she’s pretty special.” I chance a quick glance at the blonde standing beside me to see she ducks her head a little, an adorable shade of pink crossing her cheeks.
Coop screws up his face. “Then why don’t you just ask her to be your girlfriend?”
“Yeah,” another boy says. “Then she has to kiss you all the time.”
Brynn rolls her lips before she turns to me, eyes dancing with humor. “Yeah, Jace,” she says, tossing the football back and forth between her hands, “why don’t you ask her?”
“Will she kiss me all the time?” I take a step toward her, and her expression is so playful, I want to reach out and nip at her smile. But I can’t and someone saves me from whatever stupid thing I was about to say with another personal question, forcing Brynn to turn and glare.
“Ooookay.Let’s ask questions at the end, shall we?”
