Let the Rain Come Down [The Moonlight Breed 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Gabrielle Evans (tools of titans ebook .txt) 📕

“I promise to take it easy on you. C’mon, Oscar. Live a little.”

His idea of a good time didn’t involve broken bones or being covered in mud from head to toe. Besides, it was freaking cold. The vampire Enforcers who’d joined them didn’t seem to mind the temperatures, but Oscar wasn’t so enthusiastic. “I want to be on your team.”

“Deal,” Demitrius answered immediately.

“I think the other team should be skins!” Zuriel shouted, licking his lips as he looked the Enforcers up and down. Then he bumped his hips against Oscar’s and grinned. “Look at all those hunky guys with no shirts on. This is going to be awesome!”

“I’m on their team,” Zavion announced, bouncing on his toes next to his brother. “I do love team sports.”

Was Oscar the only person who saw this as a bad idea? Judging by the excitement buzzing around the clearing, he had to say yes.

“All you have to do is run toward that tree line,” Demitrius explained. “Then I’ll throw the ball to you. All you have to do is catch it and keep running.”

“Oh, that’s all I have to do. Wonderful,” Oscar grumbled. Yeah, it sounded easy when Demitrius said it. That didn’t mean he could do any of it. “Fine. When do I run?”

“I’ll tell you. Just line up over there at the end next to Jackson.”

Oscar did as he was told, but he didn’t have to like it. In fact, he hated it. He was going to make a total fool out of himself, or worse, end up with a concussion. Football was a barbaric sport as far as he was concerned, and he just couldn’t understand how getting hit by a man twice his size was supposed to be fun.

Everyone lined up in their positions and crouched low to the ground. Everyone except Oscar, that was. He stood straight, his hip cocked out to the side and his arms crossed over his chest. Oh, his dear mate was going to get an earful after this.

“Oscar, go!”

“Crap.” Taking off across the field, he ran toward the tree line, just as Demitrius had told him. After a few yards, however, something hard smacked him in the back of the shoulder, nearly knocking him to the ground.

“You’re supposed to catch it,” Demitrius called to him, looking as though he was trying not to laugh, though Oscar could see his teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

“You hit me!” he yelled back. “Why the hell did you hit me?” Fuck, he hated this game.

“Just come back. We’ll try again.”

Grumbling under his breath the entire way, Oscar stomped back to his place beside Jackson. “This sucks.”

“Lighten up, little man,” Jackson said to him with his trademark boyish grin. “Look over your shoulder when you run so you know when to catch it.”

On the second run, Oscar did as Jackson suggested, watching over his shoulder as he jogged down the field. It didn’t help in the least, however. Instead of smacking him in the back, the football hit him in the side of the neck this time, knocking the air out of him for a moment.

“Get off me!” one of the Enforcers said in annoyance. “I’m on your team. You don’t tackle your teammates.”

Zuriel just clung to the guy’s naked back and grinned like a loon. “Oh, oops. I got confused.”

“You okay, Oscar?” Demitrius strode over to him, tilting Oscar’s head one way and then the other as he examined his neck. “Sorry about that.”

“I think I’m just going to go home. This really isn’t my thing, love.” As much as he wanted to spend time with his friends and feel included, getting knocked around really wasn’t worth it. The game couldn’t last forever, and then he could do more pleasurable things with his lover.

“Aww, don’t go.” Good grief, a man that big should not pout. Furthermore, it should not be so effective.

“I suck at this, and I’m okay with that. What if I just watch from the side rails?”

“Sidelines,” Demitrius corrected automatically. “One more time. Can you just try one more time?”

Oscar huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t see how it will make any difference. I’m not going to magically get better just because the third time is supposed to be the charm.”

“Trust me. I have an idea.”

Oscar’s eyes went wide, and he batted at Demitrius’s hands when the shifter reached for the button on his pants. “What are you doing?”

“You need to take your clothes off.”

“Are you insane? How is being naked going to help me catch a football?” Oscar glanced around at the people milling about the field and shook his head. “No way.”

“Well, then I guess you’ll have to shift with your clothes on.” The wicked grin his lover gave him did little to instill confidence in this plan. Demitrius pulled a small foam football from the front pocket of his jeans and wiggled his eyebrows playfully. “No one will be able to catch you.”

This was most likely true, but…“How the hell am I supposed to catch it without hands?”

“I’ll just hand it off to you.”

“If you can do that, why were you throwing it at me in the first place?” He had a few choice words for his mate that he hoped wiped the smug smile right off his ridiculously handsome face. Not wanting to disrespect the man in company, however, he decided to save them for later. “I will get you back for this.”

“I have no doubt,” Demitrius answered with a chuckle. “Hurry up and shift.”

Standing behind Demitrius for a bit of privacy, Oscar quickly stripped out of his clothing, knelt down to the cold ground, and shifted into his hedgehog form. If he got stepped on and squished, he was going to be highly upset. Then again, he had a feeling that Demitrius would be even more pissed if someone were to hurt him, even accidently. The knowledge gave him a small amount of comfort, but he still didn’t see how this would work.

“C’mon,