Gabriella Hawkes, known affectionately as Gabby to friends and family, was so focused on the bar’s big screen television in the private airport lounge, she nearly spilled her wine as she reached for the glass. It was the third quarter, two minutes on the clock, and the team she was rooting for was in possession of the ball after driving the ball down the field to the three-yard line. Two minutes seemed like a lifetime in a football game. There was always so much stop and go that it seemed like an eternity before someone finally scored a point.  She nervously took a sip of her Moscato and waited for the start of the next play. She’d been to plenty of football games. She’d even been to a few Super Bowls. Heck, her dad was a hall of famer. She was accustomed to the emotional roller coaster ride that ensued when watching a game. Yep, she’d seen plenty of games. But this wasn’t any old game. And it wasn’t any old quarterback she was cheering on. It was Jake Blake chasing greatness in his first Super Bowl as the star quarterback.

She wanted to be there, but when got the call that her clothing line, Gabby H Designs, was selected to be featured in a prestigious fashion magazine, it was the opportunity of a lifetime for a budding fashion designer. The caveat to this great opportunity of a photoshoot at an exotic locale was that she would miss Jake achieving something he’d longed for since he went pro, carving out a football legacy in his own right. Jake had an incredible talent reminiscent of his dad and his uncles. And the same good looks which made him a hot commodity on and off the field.

She sighed, contemplating if her presence would have made a difference. She’d sent him a heartfelt text this morning telling him that he was going to be great, and he responded with a thumb’s up emoji. A frickin thumbs up emoji.

Although they’d known each other all their lives, Jake Blake was something of an enigma. As childhood friends they bickered and teased each other mercilessly but adulthood had turned a once playfully contentious relationship into something…well she was still trying to figure out what label to put on the current state of their relationship.

They’d fell out of touch when Jake went to college, and she went to design school in New York. Once he was drafted, a first-round pick of course, his career exploded. She’d gone to Paris for an apprenticeship with a top designer. She only saw him when they attended the same social events, as their families had been intertwined since before they were born.  The playfulness and teasing had stopped and there was a smoldering undercurrent of attraction that was at times very confusing. Sure, he was still a cocky pain in the behind but the annoying little boy whose goofy smile used to make her seethe as he did something to gross her out was now a gorgeous man that made her heart flutter whenever he flashed what was now a more polished, enticing, slightly mischievous grin.

Now the whole world was taken with Jake Blake. He didn’t belong to just her anymore. He was in no shortage of women who wanted to spend time with him, and he appeared to love the attention. It seemed like every time she saw him being photographed out and about, he was posed with some beautiful woman hanging on his arm. He was living the dream of being a hot professional football player and she’d resigned herself to putting him out of her mind. And it was working too. She’d decided to move on and had even been on a few dates with a celebrity designer who’d been asking her out since they’d met at a fashion show. He had a reputation for changing women like he changed his designer shoes, but she didn’t care, they were hanging out she wasn’t taking his romantic overtures seriously. But things ramped up when they were photographed at a gala together and the next day, she’d received calls from her parents and everyone else she knew wanting details. She’d suddenly been thrust into the international spotlight for all the wrong reasons with a man she barely knew. It took a half hour of trying to convince her parents via video chat that she was just friends with the guy. And another fifteen minutes for the vein that usually throbbed over her father’s left eye whenever they were talking about a guy to subside. She politely rushed her helicopter parents off the phone, informed them she wasn’t coming home for her birthday but would be staying in Paris and laying low.

The next day she was shocked to answer the door to see Jake, looking gorgeous as ever, standing there with a two dozen roses in hand. She could have sworn she’d read that he was in Cabo with some actress he’d been seen with lately. So much for the obligatory happy birthday text he usually sent her every year. She was happy to see him and a little confused, but she didn’t push the issue, it was great to see him. Besides, Jake wasn’t big on talking about his feelings.

The following week had been a whirlwind of romance and renewing their relationship. It would have been perfect if he hadn’t up and disappeared just as unexpectedly as he’d arrived. She was torn between disappointment and anger but settled on anger after he’d sent a beautiful diamond bracelet with a card with some lame excuse about a family emergency. She knew his family, if there was an actual emergency, his twin brothers Connor and Colby or his sister Mackenzie would have called.  

            “Yes!” She screamed along with the other patrons. He may have moonlighted as a magician with his disappearing act, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t root for the guy. Jake’s millionaire dollar arm threw the ball through the seas of bodies, and it landed into the hands of the team’s wide receiver. She couldn’t help but smile when Jake flashed a slight grin as his teammates celebrated the touchdown. But in perfect Jake form, the smile disappeared as he headed back to the bench. The announcers screamed accolades as they went to a commercial break.

            The bar erupted and was all abuzz from the fantastic play.

            “Can I buy you that drink now gorgeous?” The creepy guy, who wreaked of cheap cologne sitting next to her grinned.

            “Thanks again, but no thanks. I’m still nursing my wine.” She held up the half empty glass. It was the third time he’d offered to buy her a drink. She glanced at her watch. It was almost time to get away from his cheap cologne and board her plane to paradise.

            “Who are you rooting for?” Cheap Cologne guy’s equally obnoxious friend said to the lady bartender.

            “Jake Blake.” The bartender beamed as she polished a glass with a bar towel then placed it on a tray.

“Typical answer. He’s not a team all by himself, you know.” The guy snorted. “Every woman I know thinks Jake Blake is the hottest thing walking. I don’t know what the hype is all about with that guy.”

“You asked.” The bartender smirked.

            “He’s overrated.” Cheap Cologne guy chimed in with a nod.

            “I don’t think that’s a fair assessment.” Gabby plopped her glass on the bar so fast a little of the wine splashed onto her hand. “He played pretty damn good in college and has great career stats for a rookie since he turned pro and going to the Super Bowl at his age.”

            “And he looked good on that magazine cover last month.” The bartender fanned herself with a cocktail napkin.

            “He’s just another pretty boy that will wash up after this season and end up a sportscaster.” Pesky friend rolled his eyes. “The pretty boys always crap out fast and the rest of the world have deal with his existence of what could have been as he tries to salvage a broken career with a side gig.”

            “It won’t happen to Jake. He’s good. Better than good. Football runs through his veins. He’s a Blake.” Gabby huffed, getting a little perturbed by the idiotic, clearly jealous men.

            “Please.” Cheap Cologne rolled his eyes. “He’s nothing like his old man.”

            “He doesn’t have to be.” Gabby snapped. “He’ll make his own way.”

            “His dad was hot too.” The bartender sighed as she pulled the tap to fill a patron’s beer request. “They’re from Texas, right? It must be something in the water down there.”

            “I know him.” Gabby beamed. “I’ve known him all my life. He took me to prom.” She threw in that factoid so it would stick in Cheap Cologne’s craw.

            “No way.” The bartender’s eyes widened. “What’s he like?”

            “The game is coming back on.” Cheap Cologne said loudly and pointed to the screen.

            The trumpet of the familiar theme song played loudly as the camera scanned across the field, then cut to the announcers.

“And we’re back for the fourth quarter of what has been a tremendous game.” The announcer, an older guy who was a former player and a friend of her dad, said robustly. “We’re in the middle of history in the making folks. It’s time the rubber meets the road as we see who will be victorious. As a friend of Jake’s Dad, I know this must be quiet a moment for the Blake family.”

The bar resumed its rowdy fanfare. She was pretty sure Cheap Cologne wasn’t going to ask to buy her another drink. He’d even moved a few inches away from her. She looked at her watch again. She hoped she’d be able to stick around for the end of the game before they called her to board her flight.

As the commentators pressed on about what it would mean for Jake to have a Super Bowl win so early in his career, the camera panned on him. He was looking out at the field and the players. She knew that look. She’d seen that determined look on his face over the years she’d known him. It was the same look of determination and resounding focus he had when he surprised her in Paris for her birthday. He was in the zone. When he looked at her like that in Paris, her heart fluttered at the possibility of what Jake had going on in his head. She wondered what made him flee and send an expensive diamond bracelet as an apology. She reached out with a heartfelt text wishing him good luck with the game. He replied with a thumb’s up emoji. She held back the urge to send him an emoji as well, with a different finger in the air. But it was his special day and he had to focus. The man could be maddening at times and was afraid she loved him for it.

Jake & Gabby’s love story begins!   The first book in The Blake Boys – The Next Generation Series. I hope you enjoyed the pre-edited excerpt!

Happy Reading,

Rhonda

   

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