Off Season (The Blake Boys Book 15) Read Free Page B

that daddy’s girl thing Patton raved about before Mackenzie was born. It felt good to know that whenever she needed him, he was just a stone’s throw away.
    He was content in retirement, but when he got the urge to reminisce, he’d chat with Patton about their former team. He’d catch his favorite sports analyst’s show every afternoon. Now T.K., a man who’d pursued him relentlessly about joining the Tomcats organization for years, had stood in his home moments ago practically begging him to counsel his wayward quarterback. Seth had been following Riley Sloane’s career. He was a good player but let early buzz about his potential greatness go to his head. Riley’s massive ego began in college and he’d become obnoxious and arrogant in the NFL. He was more interested in perfecting his brand than in buckling down and earning his success.
    The reason Seth had succeeded was that he’d learned to navigate the pitfalls pretty well. He’d listened to the coaches, and even though he didn’t always agree with them, he respected the years of experience they had over him. He’d valued his relationship with Jimmy and didn’t flaunt it in the faces of the other players. From his interviews, Riley sounded borderline insubordinate. That was another thing. The controversial bad boy’s hair-trigger interviews made for good tabloid news and put the spotlight on the team for the wrong reasons.
    Riley liked being the star and reveled in the fact that the world was hanging onto his every word. What he really needed was a good sack from Patton followed by a tough love talk. That would clear all those delusions of grandeur from the young man’s head. And if he didn’t change his ways, he’d only succeed in dragging his team down into defeat with him, no matter how much raw talent Riley might have.
    No, Seth wasn’t interested in teaching a quarterback how to be great. He was done with that life. Now the most important thing to him was that Morgan and the kids were happy. He hated to turn T.K. down, but it was the best thing to do.
     
    * * *
     
     
    Morgan turned into the main gate of the ranch and waved at the guard, happy to be back home. The short trip to the market proved to be more exhausting than she realized. She loved hosting the sleepovers, but she knew it was going to be chaos in the house until the parents picked the kids up tomorrow afternoon. She blamed her recent lethargy on her attempts to keep up with four active kids, but she’d been struggling to get her energy back after that nasty bout with the flu.
    Seth had been a trooper, helping out with the kids while she was sick. He was doing better than anyone expected since his retirement. He wasn’t one to sit still, but he seemed to be settling nicely into their new life. She could tell he missed football. The long chats with Patton about how the Titans were playing and watching the sports shows religiously were a dead giveaway. She just hoped he wasn’t delaying finding a new passion because of her and the kids. He’d said countless times that he felt bad about the traveling he’d had to do when he was a football player, but she didn’t see it that way. There was never a time when the boys went lacking for love and affection from their father. He was great at motivating people, and she thought for sure he’d decide to coach. But even lucrative offers from T.K. weren’t able to coax him back into that world.
    She made the turn on the road that led to J.J. and Sam’s house. She’d found a new diaper rash cream in the baby aisle she thought Sam and Isabelle would like to try. She parked the truck and grabbed the bag. J.J. opened the front door as she made her way down the path.
    “Hi, J.J.” Morgan kissed him on the cheek. “How are you?”
    “Drained.” He laughed. “You and Seth warned me about a two-kid household, but I thought you were exaggerating.”
    “I’m not above saying I told you so.” She smiled. “So you have anything planned for