Fourth and Goal Read Online Free PDF

sin. He's the most honest, fair man you could ever meet.” Rachel spoke with renewed conviction. “There's no way Dad shaved points in any game, let alone the state championship."
    "And one or both of those assholes know the truth. I'm not letting Dad drink his life away to protect them."
    "I'm on it."
    His eyes bored into hers. Resisting the urge to look away, she met his gaze. “Weasel your way into Derek's life, earn his trust."
    "That'll take time.” Simon shoved the ball in her lap and waited for her to throw it. She held the slimy thing in two fingers and tossed it outside. The rabid Lab galloped after it.
    "Find a way to get to him."
    "I plan on appealing to his innate sense of decency."
    "You're placing a lot of stock in him being a decent person.” Mitch's cynicism annoyed her, even though part of her agreed.
    Rachel hoped like hell Derek did have that particular trait buried somewhere deep. “If he doesn't, this'll never work. The only way to the truth is to push him over the edge with guilt. I just don't quite know how I'm going to swing it."
    "You'll find a way. Help him with his game. Ramsey's got to make something happen this year, or he's done."
    She couldn't argue that point. An exceptional athlete from birth, Derek's long legs had given him the speed of a world-class sprinter with an Olympic Gold in the 4x4 relay to prove it. In college his lightning-fast reflexes eluded tacklers. His large hands and long fingers caught any football thrown in his vicinity. His blazing speed left defenders in the dust. Yet all the talent in the world hadn't gotten him any further than a disappointing third-string wide receiver in the pros. She knew. She'd followed every step of his career.
    He'd gained twenty to thirty pounds on his lean body, all in muscle, courtesy of professional football. But being a pro had changed something else too, something not so easily defined. She'd read it in his stance, in his demeanor, and definitely in his eyes.
    The last time she'd seen him up close, he'd been an eager college senior. His quiet confidence had announced the world was his for the taking. She didn't see that confidence now. Instead he looked as if life had beaten him down too many times, and he didn't quite trust it anymore. Guilt could eat a person from the inside out. Could his current emotional state be attributed to his own culpability?
    He'd changed, but then so had she.
    Never mess with a woman ready to call a trick play when the game was on the line.
    Derek gulped down a large cup of water. He crushed it and tossed it into a nearby garbage can. Squinting into the relentless afternoon sun, he wiped the sweat from his brow. It had to be 102 in the shade. The small eastern Washington college town where the Seattle Lumberjacks held training camp was known for its scorching summers.
    Even with temperatures in triple digits, the heat wasn't as scorching as the pressure put on this team to win. Last year, his first year with the Jacks, they'd finished three and thirteen. Two games better than the previous year. Just another below-mediocre season in a sorry decade of football for the Northwest.
    Derek had sucked right along with the rest of his teammates. He'd thought playing with Tyler again would be all they'd need to repeat their high school and college glory days. No fucking way. Dropped pass after dropped pass racked up on his stats. Meanwhile Tyler, as starting quarterback, didn't gain any fans with his on- and off-field escapades.
    Funny how life worked like that. One minute they'd stood on top of the mountain, the world at their feet. The next, an avalanche of mistakes and bad luck had swept them downward until they hit rock bottom. Now bruised and battered, they fought their way back to the summit.
    At the height of his athletic career, Derek had been the Rose Bowl MVP and a world-class sprinter with an Olympic Gold in the 4x4 relay. But that gold turned into fool's gold, and he was the biggest fool of all. One hit