French Fries With A Side of Guys by Rebekah L. Purdy
Published by: Swoon Romance
Publication date: September 14th 2016
Payton Carter is one of six kids (all of which are named after famous football players), not to mention the only girl in the Carter household. With this much testosterone and no mother, it’s no wonder she’s absolutely clueless when it comes to makeup, dances, and talking to guys she’s crushing on. And now she’s about ready to start her freshman year of high school,which is nerve wrenching enough, but when she ends up running into her crush, Chance Montgomery, at her dad’s sports restaurant, she finds out that the quarterback for their rival team is moving to Aller Falls. This is nothing short of fate.Payton realizes she has to find a way to impress Chance and get him to ask her out or at least know she’s interested in him—preferably without dropping a plateful of fries on his head, like she did last time. After taking her two oldest brothers’ advice, she decides to go out for the freshman football team, figuring that between practices and games she and her crush will surely be able to talk. And maybe talking will lead to something more permanent or at least to a first kiss. Only this plan backfires in ways she never imagined, when she beats Chance Montgomery out of the starting quarterback position. Now not only does she make him the laughing stock of the team, but also has to figure out how to avoid the snotty cheerleaders, a traitor best friend, not to mention winning games for her team. Too bad this is just the beginning of her freshman year.
“Hey,
pumpkin,” her dad called out, hurrying across the field to talk to
her. “You nervous yet?”
Nervous?
That was an understatement. But she pasted a smile on her face. “A
little, but I’m ready.” She cracked her knuckles then attempted
to slow her breathing, which in no way did anything to calm her.
“Hey,
what are you Carters doing here?” The coach jogged over. “I
thought you didn’t have another one due to come up until next
year?”
“Hi
ya, Bill, actually my little girl is trying out.” Dad grinned from
ear to ear, giving the Cheshire Cat a run for his money. “She’s
tough as nails and has a pretty good arm on her.”
Coach
Youngman’s face went slightly purple, as he seemed to choke on his
words. “Mr. Carter, may I have a word?” His eyes were pretty
close to bulging out of his head, and Payton watched her father’s
smile fade as he followed after Coach Youngman.
Great.
This definitely didn’t bode well for her. Already she saw some of
the other guys watching the interaction. Payton couldn’t hear a
word her dad and Coach Youngman were saying, but her father’s wild
hand motions told her all she needed to know. She probably wasn’t
welcomed on the team.
“Don’t
worry. Dad will set him straight.” Marino nudged her arm as if
sensing her distress. “Besides, you’re a Carter, he’d be insane
to turn you away.”
She
nodded but knew there were some battles her brothers and dad couldn’t
fight for her. She’d have to show the coach how good she was on the
field. Well, if she was given the chance.
After
a few minutes, Coach Youngman came back over with her dad and gave
Payton a forced smile. “We’ll be glad to have her. If she’s got
the right moves, she’ll have a place on the team.”
It
seemed to Payton that the word “if” was getting a bit more
emphasis than the rest of the words in the sentence, and she suddenly
wondered if she’d even make the cut.
Marino
slapped her on the backside. “Don’t worry about anything. You’ll
be great. You’ve got this.”
She
watched as the rest of her brothers came in, all of them standing
around waiting to see what she could do. It almost made her more
nervous, because that meant a bigger audience if she screwed up.
“Just
look to the sideline if you need us. We’ll give you some helpful
gestures.” Rice held up his middle finger.
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