Page 45 of Made for Mayhem

I squeezed his shoulder, leaning in to murmur, “Be nice.”

He said nothing, but he didn’t shrug me off either.

“Alright, Rookie’s aunt,” Molly said, sitting forward just enough to be heard. “Your turn.”

Daisy blinked. “My turn?”

“Yeah.” Molly pointed toward the hoop. “Spin around three times, between the legs, bank it off the garage, nothing but net. Winner takes all.”

Delgado whooped, then passed her the ball. “Ten’s up!”

Daisy reached for it and immediately fumbled the damn thing. It slipped through her hands, bounced off her knee, and she scrambled to catch it before it hit the ground. She finally snatched it out of the air, cheeks flushed, but smiling.

She bent toward Junie. “Okay, Rookie. No promises. But you did it, so maybe I can too.”

Junie clapped her hands as if this was the most exciting moment of her life.

Beckett stared right at me, a smug look on his face.

Oblivious to it all, Daisy took a deep breath, spun around twice, and attempted to bounce the ball between her legs. Instead of bouncing back toward her hands, the ball launched forward like a cannon shot—not at the garage, not at the hoop—but at Delgado’s chest.

It nailed him with a solid thump, knocking the air out of him.

He stumbled back, gasping, “I’m—fine!”

Molly grinned. “Honestly, that’s a better outcome than I ever hoped for.”

The kids howled with laughter. When Daisy was sure Delgado was okay, she laughed too, hands on her hips, chin on her chest. The late afternoon sun hit her hair just right, turning the loose strands around her face into gold. She was flushed, a little windblown, completely unpolished, and the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

The back door creaked open, and Emmy stepped out, looking unsurprised by the chaos. She grinned at Daisy and said, “I see you've met the world’s worst welcoming committee. Sandwiches are ready inside.”

In a damn near Pavlovian response, the boys stampeded toward the door. Queen Molly strolled in among her jesters, knowing they’d give her whatever she asked for.

Junie tugged Daisy’s hand as they followed. She glanced back at me, cheeks still pink from laughing, a spark in her eyes that cut straight through whatever defenses I had left.

“Coach, huh? It fits.”

I tilted my head toward the hoop. “Keep playing like that, and I might start giving you drills.”

Daisy’s grin curved slow and wicked before she said, “Good thing I follow directions well, then.”

The words landed low, soft but pointed. Immediately, my mind jumped to all the scenarios where I could test out that claim, and my dick gave a quick, traitorous twitch in my pants.

Fuck.

I reached up to fiddle with my hat, only now remembering she still wore it. My hand dropped uselessly to my side before I shoved it into my pocket, heat crawling up the back of my neck.

A low whistle sounded behind me right before Beckett’s hand clapped down on my shoulder. “Well, this is a fun new development.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I said, but the words didn’t have a bite to them.

Beckett laughed, then we walked inside my sister’s house.

Daisy was in the kitchen hugging my sister, and I just stood there and stared. For one stupid second, I felt just as bashful and off-kilter as my team.

She looked right at home in my world, and for the first time, I had to face the truth: no matter how bad our timing was, I didn’t just want to take care of her for the next six weeks.

I wanted her.