“Dad’s right,” Grant said. “Brush it off and go after the next one.”

“Hey,” Tucker said. “Quit talking him up. He’s the enemy right now. Drop another one, Leo.”

That made Leo smile, and then it was back to the game.

After a series of downs, Easton’s side turned the ball over. Grant had the ball next, and as soon as he dropped back he threw a long pass to Tucker. Flynn and Barrett crashed into each other in an awful collision, and Tucker caught the pass for what Katrina assumed was a touchdown.

“Ha!” Tucker said, slamming the ball to the ground. “In your faces, all of you.”

“That’s only because you had me as protection,” Flynn said. “Without me, Barrett would have flattened you.”

“Whatever.” Tucker calmly walked back to the huddle. “Face it. I’m better than all of you. At any sport.”

Grant shook his head, then looked over at Barrett. “Even though he’s on my team, you have my permission to turn him into a pancake the next time he has the ball.”

Barrett nodded. “Consider it done.”

Tucker just laughed, but on the next play, Barrett did just that, slamming Tucker to the ground.

Tucker just stared up at the sky.

“You okay?” Grant asked, grinning down at him.

“Fuck off,” Tucker said with a slight wheeze in his voice.

Grant laughed, then helped Tucker up. “You never did know how to keep your mouth shut, dumbass.”

When it was Easton’s turn at quarterback again, he threw it right at Leo. Flynn and Barrett did battle again. Katrina could swear the two of them crashing into each other sounded like two freight trains colliding. Tucker went after Leo, but even Katrina had to admit, Leo was fast. This time he caught the ball and scored.

Katrina was out of her seat, screaming. It might be makeshift play and mean nothing, but these were all pro players. And the ego boost for her brother was going to be tremendous. She could see the joy on Leo’s face, and all the Cassidys celebrated with him.

“No one gets an easy score in this family, Leo,” Easton said. “You did good.”

There were several skirmishes, and the score seemed fairly even. Katrina kept her eye on both Leo and Grant. Her brother was filthy and seemingly having a great time. After every play, whether they scored or not, he came out of it grinning. He apparently was being accepted by the Cassidys, and she knew that, to Leo, it was all that mattered.

On one play, Barrett knocked Flynn to the ground, stepped on him, and flew into Grant, knocked him flat and took the ball, scoring for his team. He raised his hands over his head, then slammed the ball to the ground.

Barrett looked fierce. “That’s how it’s done, boys.”

Katrina held her breath, even reaching over to grasp Lydia’s hand.

“Grant’s fine,” Lydia said. “Trust me.”

Grant leaned over and glared at his brother. “I think you broke my rib.”

Barrett went over and held out his hand to Grant. “Don’t be such a puss.”

Grant shoved a shoulder into his brother, then laughed.

Only then did Katrina exhale.

“I was going to suggest we join in the game because it looked like so much fun,” Anya said. “But now I think I’ll pass.”

“Yeah, you’d have to be insane to want to take part in that bloodbath,” Mia said. “I’m comfortable making fun of them on the sidelines.”

To prove her point, Mia shouted, “Is that the best you all have? I’m getting bored over here.”

Flynn glared at his little sister. “You’re welcome to join in, princess.”

She laughed. “Not on your life. But try and make it a little more interesting, will ya?”

The game went on for another half hour and ended in what Easton called a tie, much to the grumbling and complaining of his sons. They were dirty and sweaty and Easton said his knee hurt, so he called it quits.

“Good game, boys. Now everyone shake hands,” he said.

They all did, surprising Katrina, because it had gotten rough out there. Though they’d gone easy on Leo, but not too easy. He was banged up, and still grinning from ear to ear as he followed the guys to the backyard, where everyone rinsed off under the outdoor shower, then changed into swim trunks and cooled their hot bodies by diving into the pool.

All the women changed as well. They might not have played football, but sitting in that hot sun had been grueling. Katrina had no idea how the guys had played for an hour in that intense heat. She supposed they were used to the extreme temperature, and they had taken frequent water breaks.

Now, though, they all played in the pool like kids. Grant swam his way over to her.

“Did you enjoy the game?” he asked, hanging on to her raft.

“It was brutal. Do you and your brothers always play like that?”

“Like that? No. That game was mild by comparison, and only because Mom and Dad were around. There wasn’t even any major bloodletting. You should have seen us when we were kids.”

“This is true,” Mia said. “When I was old enough to get involved in watching them play, someone was always needing stitches after a fight broke out. All those trips to the emergency room were tedious.”

Katrina laughed. “The drawback of having injury-prone older brothers, I suppose.”

“Indeed. Though the nurses all thought I was cute and I got lollipops.”

“Suck up,” Flynn said, tossing Mia off her raft. She retaliated by hopping on his shoulders. Then they decided a game of chicken was in order. Katrina ended up on Grant’s shoulders, Anya on Leo’s, and there was a free-for-all. By the end of it, Katrina had gotten dunked several times.