Page 4 of Lowering His Guard

“But what about you?”

I look down at my bare feet buried in warm sand. “I've survived hotter beaches.”

I twirl back toward the surfboards, singing with the music pouring from the shack.

I watch Brock make his way to the resort. Back when I was a hippie surfer, I'd have chased him down the beach to try and make him smile. Huh. Maybe I’ll be a hippie surfer for the summer.

Chapter 2

Brock – a single father who should know better than to attend Mermaid Karaoke

Brock

I stare up at the sign for the Bootlegger bar.

Welcome to Mermaid Karaoke! Single ladies, don your fins and sparkles! The moon is high, the tide is rising, and it’s time to lure a smuggler with nothing but sequins, siren songs, and serious vocal chops.

Is this some kind of joke?

“I’m going to head back to the resort,” I mutter to my teammates.

Corbin blocks me. “If I have to be here, you do, too.”

I cross my arms over my chest and snarl at him. “According to who?”

“Me!” Nolan shouts.

Tanner raises his hand in the air and jumps up and down. “And me!”

My gaze catches Gage’s and he shrugs. “A beer isn’t going to kill you.”

“I don’t want to abandon Jace.”

Nolan frowns. “Jace is sixteen. He’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself.”

Those words hit me harder than any tackle I'd taken in years. I don’t want my son taking care of himself. He’s taken care of himself too much over the years. While I’ve been playing for the Seals and traveling all over the country for games, he’s been alone.

Not literally alone. My parents stepped up and helped raise him. They shouldn’t have had to step up. He should have been raised by his mom. But Serenity left when he was five. And hasn’t glanced back since.

Jace is nearly an adult. In two years, he’ll be off to college. And I’ll be the one all alone. I want to spend as much time as possible with him for these last two years while he’s still at home. Which is why I’m retiring after this season.

My teammates – Gage, Tanner, Nolan, and Corbin – don’t agree with me retiring. They think I should give it a few more years. They don’t understand.

“I promise Jace is fine,” Nolan says. As the quarterback of the Seals, Nolan thinks he’s in charge of everyone – on and off the field.

I scowl at him. “He’s alone.”

“Not necessarily,” Tanner sings. “Did you notice how sexy his surfing instructor is? Maybe he—”

I slap my hand over his mouth before he has a chance to finish. Tanner is one of the fastest wide receivers in the NFL. But he’s also a goofball who’s in trouble more often than not. In fact, his latest indiscretion might be his last. I don’t know how his team is going to get him out of the mess he created.

I will not abide a goofball disrespecting May. She is a competent teacher who obviously enjoys her job.

She’s also sexy. I force that thought away. It doesn’t matter how sexy the pint-sized surfer is. I’m not interested in a relationship. Been there. Done that. Have the sixteen-year-old son to prove it.

“Too late now,” Gage says. “Coach Knox is here.”

Damn. There went my chance to escape. Coach Knox is the offensive line coordinator for the Seals. I can’t sneak out when he’s here. At least, not yet.