Running Forward: A Quick Snap Novella Read online

  Running Forward

  Crystal Perkins

  Contents

  Running Forward

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  The Quick Snap Novella Collection

  Acknowledgments

  Also By Crystal Perkins

  About the Author

  Running Forward

  A Quick Snap Novella

  By Crystal Perkins

  RUNNING FORWARD

  A Quick Snap Novella

  Crystal Perkins

  Copyright © 2020 by Crystal Perkins

  All trademarks are owned by their respective companies and are denoted by the use of proper capitalization of the company and/or brand. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This contemporary erotic romance is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Cover Design: Kari March Designs

  Cover Photo: Shutterstock/Dean Drobot

  Editing: Twitching Pen Editing

  Published by: Lady Boss Press, Inc.

  For Niquey, my sports girl who always makes me proud!

  Chapter 1

  Karli

  I am not a tomboy. Despite my current job and how much I love it, I am one thousand percent girly. I own my femininity like the boss bitch I am, and not even my annoying neighbor is going to dull my sparkle.

  “The glitter fairy called, and she needs whatever you stole back,” he says, with his usual smirk, gesturing at my glittery green and blue nails.

  “The aliens called, and they want their test subject back!” I cheerfully yell while flipping him off with my free hand.

  Of course, my takeout got delivered next door. Again. I mean, how hard is it to deliver my food to where it actually belongs? You’d think I’d get at least one repeat delivery person in six months. Or better yet, the app could allow letters in the apartment space—not just numbers—or give me room to write “townhouse on the right.” My old neighbor was elderly and loved to chat when she got my food, but Mr. Nerdy Asshole just likes to insult me and my dining choices.

  “Nice, thank you. Next time, maybe I’ll just toss that artery clogging shit in the dumpster where it belongs.”

  I whirl on him so fast, the bag bounces off my thigh. “No one would find your body; I can promise you that.”

  He holds up his hands and backs away slowly. Smart man. Well, except for the way his eyes are twinkling behind his sexy as fuck glasses and the smirk still on his plush lips. Lips I will only ever admit to myself that I want to kiss. Damn, but I want to kiss that infuriating and sexy man. It’ll never happen, though. We’d probably kill each other first—or during. Maybe after, if it’s not good. But looking at him, I know it would be good, and that’s the problem.

  I can’t have a hot fling with the guy next door, not with the way my life is right now. I’m still smarting from Dad’s sudden death, and work is about to get crazier than ever. No, I need to find some faceless guy who likes my short skirts and glittery nails but doesn’t expect to see me the next day. The only thing worse than getting involved with my neighbor, would be sleeping with one of the guys at work, and neither is ever going to happen.

  If I slept with one of the guys I get paid to yell at, they’d never respect me again. And yeah, they’d know because dudes gossip just as much as ladies who lunch. Not that I’ve ever been attracted to one of them, but still. Just nope, not going there, or here. Sleeping with the sexy nerd would make things awkward when we saw each other again. So, I can’t climb him like a tree, even though I really want to.

  Seattle has plenty of scruffy faced pretty boys in glasses and gamer t-shirts. It’s like an unofficial uniform or something. Tomorrow, I’ll go out and find myself a one-night nerd. Tonight, I’m going to enjoy my carne asada burrito and reality TV because I can, no matter what jerkface has to say about it.

  Alec

  What do you do when you have it all, but it’s not all you ever wanted? If you’re me, you start over again. I know not everyone has the luxury or privilege to do what I’m doing and that I’m one lucky son of a bitch. I’ve never taken my good fortune for granted, and I won’t start now.

  Four years ago, I was a senior in college, living the dream. I wasn’t the number one draft pick, but I was definitely going to go in the first round. That’s not just my ego talking—I was really that good. I was also great at math and computers, which came in handy when Mom got cancer and Dad needed my help.

  I gave up my dreams of football fields to help work the fields of Grandma and Grandpa’s farm in North Dakota. After Mom and Dad took it over when I started college, there wasn’t enough money to pay for extra help. They started struggling my senior year when Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I knew I couldn’t just abandon them, even if it meant sacrificing what I’d worked so hard for.

  But manual labor didn’t calm my brain. So, every night, when I should’ve been asleep, I wrote code and created apps. Apps for farmers to help them manage their feed and stock levels. I gave away those apps for free, and then I started selling modified ones to other businesses.

  Within a year, I had enough money to hire local workers for our farm while I created more and more apps to make lives easier for business owners. In two years, I was a multimillionaire with offices around the world, but the money wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Needed more. And so, earlier this year, when Mom finally succumbed to the disease no amount of money could cure, I sold it all for over a billion dollars and walked away.

  Football was my passion, but I wouldn’t change the choices I made. Honestly, there wasn’t a choice. Mom and Dad needed me, and I went home. I had those days and nights with the two people who never gave up on me and always showed me what love really means. Now, I’ve been given a second chance at my first dream, and nothing is going to stand in my way.

  “Flynn! Good to see you man,” Will Montgomery tells me when I enter the locker room.

  “Good to finally be here.”

  “I’m just glad to be playing with you and not against you now.”

  “Same, and it’s all thanks to you,” I remind
him, feeling a wealth of gratitude toward my old friend.

  “Well, not all. You wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t worked for it. I was honestly afraid you might’ve gone soft while working in an office.”

  Even though he’s a couple years older than me, Will and I played against each other in college and have always respected each other. He even called me when Mom passed away and then again with a chance I didn’t even know I could have. He arranged for me to take part in a private combine event with his team.

  “I worked on the farm that first year, and there is nothing easy about that, jackass. But really, thanks for the heads up and getting me in. I owe you a few meals, at least.”

  “You know I’ll never turn down food.”

  “That I do know.”

  He introduces me to the rest of the team, and we’re just shooting the shit when the air in the room changes. It’s like when my sexy but spacey neighbor walks into my orbit. But there’s no reason for her to be here.

  “Oh hey, Coach J! Are you here to start showing the new guy what a hardass you are already?”

  “You know it, Montgomery.”

  Holy shit, I’d know that voice anywhere. It is her. Before I even turn and our eyes connect, I know I’m in trouble. Bigger trouble than when I threatened to toss her burrito last night.

  Chapter 2

  Karli

  Why, God, why? On the day I’d vowed to find myself a sexy and nerdy flannel wearing hottie, my next door neighbor is in my locker room. Okay, technically it’s not mine, but I’m directly in charge of a few of the guys and indirectly a boss to them all.

  “You must be Flynn,” I say, using Alec’s last name, which I didn’t know until now.

  He knows my name, though, because of my misdelivered meals. So, is this just some kind of practical joke on his part? The players are famous for this kind of BS. Players, right. I need to remember he’s something more than just a video game player. It’s actually hard to forget as I take him in.

  Instead of a loose video game shirt, he’s in an Under Armour fitted workout tee. The damn fabric molds to his impressive pecs and perfectly muscled arms. They’re not too big, but definitely not small either. And those biceps, combined with the jet-black hair and glasses…FOCUS, Karli. He’s speaking, and I need to focus.

  “We live next to each other, Karli.”

  And there he is. The asshole who seems to think I have no brain cells.

  “I’m more than aware of that, Alec.”

  “Whoa, wait, you two are neighbors? How did I not know this?” Will asks, looking back and forth between us.

  “You don’t know everything,” I remind him.

  Apparently, I don’t either. I knew our team was looking to trade one of our running backs for a defensive linesman we wanted, but I wasn’t here when it all went down because Dad was hospitalized and then died days later. During that time, they beat the trade deadline, let one of our rookies step in, and planned a special combine to get a fourth player for the position. The only way they could fit the combine into the schedule was to hold it the day after Dad’s funeral. For obvious reasons, I wasn’t emotionally ready to evaluate anything but my grief, so I missed it.

  My boss took over my duties while I was out, and the other coaches filled me in when I came back to work earlier this week. But I was swamped with catching up on everything else. Looking up our newest running back should’ve been a priority, since I’m the running back specialty coach, but I figured I’d get to know him and his style today. At least, I had one thing right out of those two.

  “Those nails gonna hold up out there?” Alec asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.

  If looks could kill, he’d be on the ground right now. As it is, he’s going to be hurting once I’m done with him today.

  “Tempo Runs, Flynn. You can start with ten after you’re warmed up, and we’ll go from there. Make sure to let me know if you’re tapped out, though, because I’m not heartless enough to let you drop on my watch.”

  I walk out of the locker room as his teammates start ribbing him about his “punishment” for calling out my nails. They all know better than to mention how I do my nails or dress when I’m not working. Alec should also know not to mess with me by now. And honestly, I need him not to mess with me because it just turns me on. I’m so fucked, but unfortunately, not literally.

  Alec

  She’s a masochistic bitch, and I’m a wuss who got turned on by having her boss me around on the field.

  Those are my two thoughts as I submerge my aching body into the ice bath after practice. Farming for long hours every day left me sore, but the farm has nothing on Karli Jensen. I would hate her if I didn’t respect her so damn much. What she did may have pushed my body to its limits, but it also worked me out exactly like I needed.

  Besides the Tempos we all did—I just had more than the other running backs—she varied our sprints, worked with the rest of the offensive coaching staff on drills, and was just a badass. And, if I’m being honest, seeing her in a polo shirt, joggers, and Nikes combined with her sparkly nails was pretty damn hot. Yeah, I needed this cold bath for more than one reason today.

  “Don’t stay in there too long, or things might shrivel,” the object of my thoughts tells me as she walks into the therapy room.

  She’s wearing a floaty, short skirt paired with a lightweight sweater and sky-high heels. The baseball cap hiding most of her shoulder length black hair is nowhere to be seen, and her makeup is turned up. Basically, she’s back to the way I normally see her and just as sexy as ever. I can’t resist messing with her.

  “Are you worried about me or that no one will be home to get your food delivery?”

  “Normally, I would say my food because duh. But I’m eating out tonight.”

  “Oh.”

  That shouldn’t bother me, but for some reason it does. It’s not like she orders food every night or that I’m home every night to get her misdelivered heart attacks in a bag, but still. I don’t like it.

  “You…um…you did good out there today. I know I ran you hard, but you kept up with everyone.”

  “Thanks. So, you got a hot date tonight, or something?”

  “Or something. Goodnight, Alec.”

  “Night, Karli.”

  I wanted to ask her what the “or something” is. Hell, I still want to jump out of this bath and run after her to ask. But that’s not my place, and it never can be. Getting involved with the brown-eyed beauty I sometimes crave more than my next breath would be dangerous to both of our careers. No way am I going to jeopardize something I just got back, even for her.

  Chapter 3

  Karli

  “Wait, Mr. Nerdy Sex God is a player on your team now?” my best friend, Xavia asks. We’re at Red Mill Burgers, having the best burgers and fries known to mankind.

  “Yep.”

  “Do not one word me. We’ve known each other too long for that.”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  I’m totally playing dumb because I know exactly what she wants to hear. I also know I’m going to cave, but it’s fun to make her work for it.

  “Did he wear his glasses on the field? How hot did he look in athletic wear? Did you get a look at his dick when you were in the locker room?”

  “How are we even friends, Xav? Of course, he didn’t wear glasses on the football field. And you know the guys keep it covered with at least towels when I’m around.”

  There. I gave her some of what she wanted. Maybe she’ll forget the other question.

  “He didn’t know you’d be around, and you didn’t answer my other question.”

  “The guys would’ve made sure I didn’t see any swinging dick, even if he didn’t know. You know how protective of me they are.”

  It’s true. Despite fearing me on the field, they treat me like a little sister when I’m not pushing them to be the best they can be. It’s sweet, or at least it was until I found out I have an inappropriate crush on one of them. One
who already acts like an annoying older brother.

  “Spill.”

  I take another bite of my burger so I can prolong my answer, but she won’t wait forever. We met as cheerleaders in high school and stayed in touch throughout college where I did dual majors in Sports Medicine and Kinesiology and she was honing her computer skills in Silicon Valley. We’re both girly and kickass at the same time, and now that we’re back in the same city for the foreseeable future, we make time to get together once a week.

  “Okay, so he’s even hotter in workout clothes than he is in his glasses and slouchy jeans. He’s been hiding some serious guns and pecs and damn it, abs for days under those clothes. He lifted the edge of his shirt today, and I almost dropped to my knees.”

  I lower my head and bang it on the wooden table a few times because I cannot be like this every day at practice and games. I worked too hard to get where I am, rising faster in my career than even most men do. I won’t give that up for a hazel-eyed hottie with a chiseled jaw.

  “Ooh, this is going to be good. Nerdy, hot guy and stunning you, spending all your days on the field and your nights with just a wall separating you. I give you one week.”

  “I cannot go there. You know that,” I remind her, rolling my eyes because I shouldn’t have to remind her. She knows what it’s like for me as a woman in sports.