Rush (Eligible Receivers #3)

Chapter One

Nora Olson looked out the window to the buildings that were growing larger as the plane lost altitude. Sucking in a deep breath, she dug nervous fingertips into the armrest of her seat as the plane descended into Portland.This was it. Finally!

Oh shit .

Her stomach churned, and she swallowed down the lump of bile that burned her throat.In return for her efforts, she got a nervous glance from the woman sitting next to her.Nora offered her a weak smile, realizing it was strained but knowing it was the best she could do given the current circumstances. Because when the plane landed, she'd be meeting her brother for the first time.

Ever.

Growing up an only child, Nora had always wanted a sibling—brother or sister, it didn't matter. Someone to share secrets with and stick up for her no matter what. An ally to complain to when their parents were being unreasonable, or hell, just having someone to talk with in the middle of the night. And now, Oz, her brother, was down there somewhere waiting for her. The first spark of excitement ignited in her belly, mixing with her anxiety. The two emotions did not play well together, churning in her stomach like acrobats doing aerial flips.

To distract herself, she pulled up her text thread with Oz and reread the last exchange they’d shared before her flight had taken off.Near the end, he'd said he couldn't wait to see her.God, she hoped that was true because she’d never been more excited to meet anyone before in her life.

She tapped out of her messages and tucked her phone back into the front pocket of her backpack.It still felt surreal she even had a brother—well, technically, a half-brother. They shared a father—a fact she might have never known if her dad hadn't passed away suddenly almost a year ago. Her dad being the love of her mom’s life, she hadn’t handled his death well. Back at college, Nora hadn't been coping much better, but her mom's entire world had shattered. So, with only a few weeks left of her junior year, Nora had taken her finals early and gone home to take care of her.

A few weeks later, Nora’s world had tilted, yet again, but this time into a whole different kind of tailspin when she found a shoebox full of old papers. Thumbing through them, she nearly tossed out the lot when a seven-letter word written in bold font caught her attention, spelling out the incriminating evidence of her father’s former life—Divorce. The revelation had hit Nora like a sucker punch to the solar plexus, completely knocking the wind from her. And if that hadn’t been bad enough, not only had her father been married before, but he'd also had a son with his first wife, a boy by the name of Oz Olson.

Her mother had been in no condition to answer her questions—not that Nora thought after twenty-one years of deceit she’d get any straight ones—so she’d done the only other thing she could think to do—she hit the computer. Turned out, her sibling was pretty easy to find. She knew something was up when the search engine had predicted her request after she’d typed out the Z in Oz. Seeing his photo cinched it. The resemblance to their mutual father had been uncanny, making Nora certain Oz was her brother. But her confidence wavered when nearly two months passed without any response to the letter she'd sent. Though she supposed when one claimed to be the sister of a man who happened to be a famous football player and current Super Bowl champ, a delay was inevitable—not that his fame mattered to Nora. If she may have been a bit disappointed when a DNA test arrived via Oz's agent instead of a more personal response, she hadn't balked, just stuck it back in the mail and waited another couple of agonizing weeks. The next call had been from Oz himself, and to her relief, he'd seemed as pleased by the idea of having a baby sister as she was of having a big brother.

Even after seven months of shared phone conversations, she still couldn't wrap her head around the fact they were finally meeting. Taking a deep breath, she placed a hand over her churning stomach, hoping to calm the nerves. What if she didn't like him, or worse, he didn't like her? No, if there was one thing she could be sure of, it was that Oz was a great guy. She knew some people were good on the phone or via text yet sucked in real life, but Oz wasn't one of them. He didn't have a fake bone in his entire body. So, all that was left was if he didn't like her. Nora shook her head, mumbling a resounding no under her breath loud enough the woman sitting next to her turned her head to give her a puzzled look. Nora tried another smile that only managed to encourage the woman to scoot further away. Whatever. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to even try to guess at someone else’s. Oz would like her. She wasn't saying she was perfect, but she was a nice person too. Her parents had given her a stable upbringing, and while she might not have had everything she wanted, she certainly had everything she needed. She was fairly intelligent evidenced by her good grades, and she made her friends laugh all the time so she must have a good sense of humor. She didn’t think she was annoying. All in all, she had a likable personality. She dipped her head in a short nod. Yes, Oz would like her.

But could he love her?

The wheels of the plane touched the ground with a little bump and a high-pitched whine filled the cabin as the plane decelerated across the runway before coming to a stop. The seatbelt light turned off and the captain said a few words that Nora paid zero attention to as she continued her inner pep talk-slash-freak out.

This was it.

The moment of truth.

Her stomach gurgled and saliva filled her mouth. Swallowing hard, she took a few deep breaths, patting herself on the back for having the forethought to skimp on breakfast that morning.

The woman sitting beside her gave her one last curious glance before standing to move out into the aisle. Nora stayed planted in her seat, unable to move.

It wasn’t until there were only a few stragglers left still needing to deplane that she finally got over herself. She would grab her bag from under her seat, march down the aisle, breeze through the sky bridge, and find her brother.

Any minute now.

Five tops.

The glare from one of the flight crew was what got Nora’s butt in gear and by the time she finally made it off the plane, the terminal was mostly thinned out. But even if the area had been packed, her brother still would’ve been hard to miss. He’d stand out in any size crowd.

Nora spotted Oz first. He was glancing around, most likely worried he’d missed noticing her amid the sea of arriving passengers. She was just about to raise an arm and wave to get his attention when his eyes found hers and locked.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat and just stared back, blinking away the sting in her eyes. They’d shared many pictures over the last few months while getting to know each other but actually seeing him in the flesh brought a wave of emotion she hadn’t been expecting.

Her feet started moving before she could stop them. Slowly at first then picking up speed until she was right in front of Oz and throwing her arms around him.

His whole body stiffened before gradually relaxing. After which, hesitant arms hugged her back.

Feeling all kinds of awkwardness, she untangled herself and took a step back. She looked up—way up because he was tall with a capital T and she was short with a lowercase S—and stammered, “Sorry, sorry. I’m a hugger and my excitement to meet you got the best of me. I got a little carried away.”

His eyes turned soft. “It was unexpected,” a smile curved his lips, forming little lines around his eyes, “but nice.”

She smiled back, her heart filling at what she hoped was the first of many brother-sister bonding moments.

***

When Nora walked into Emerson’s pub, The Parting Glass, she’d felt right at home, and that was mainly due to the woman herself. Oz’s wife had greeted her with open arms, literally—apparently, Emerson was a hugger too—before ushering her to a corner booth where she plopped a plate of food down in front of her, promising a nice, long chat as soon as the lunch rush ended.

Now, she sat across from Oz, eating the weirdest—though thoroughly delicious—burger she could ever imagine, wondering why she’d been so anxious to meet her brother and sister-in-law in the first place. Oz was trying very hard to make her feel right at home.

And it was working until he asked, “So are you planning on going back to school for the fall semester?”

She took her time chewing, stalling for time because, just like when her mom had asked the same question, she wasn’t sure of her answer.

Oz’s expression turned sheepish, and his lips quirked in a gentle smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I just know you quit school to take care of your mom after…”

They’d been careful to avoid the subject of their mutual dad after an awkward, and thankfully brief, conversation where they’d agreed that their parents’ issues had nothing to do with them and the relationship they were trying to build. Maybe one day they’d be able to talk about it without hurt feelings, but for now, Nora would honor their silent pact and dance around the topic. “Yeah, I’m not sure what my plans are yet. I kind of destroyed my scholarship leaving school like I did.”

“You know, we have a great University here. If you decide you want to go back, I can… you know… help pay for it,” he offered hesitantly.

His kindness hit her straight in the heart. “Thank you. That’s very generous, but I can’t accept something like that. I came here to get to know you, not use you.”

His cheeks turned pink. “I know that. I also know it wasn’t your choice to leave school.” He raised a hand when she was about to refuse him further. “But I get it. I suggested it too soon. Let’s set it aside for now. You’ll be here a while so you have plenty of time to think about it. Just remember my offer stands if you change your mind later.”

“Thank you. I do appreciate…” She trailed off mid-sentence when a commotion erupted somewhere behind her, pulling her attention. She turned in the booth to see what all the fuss was about.

And stilled.

Then her heart started thumping.

Holy shit. The man who had just walked into the pub was stunning.

It was hard not to notice how tall he was while standing a full head above the gathering crowd. And ripped . The guy’s t-shirt was stretched to its limits. His sharp cheekbones and strong jaw would make most women drool, but it was his eyes that grabbed Nora’s attention, their golden honey color contrasted beautifully with his darker skin tone and black close-cropped hair.

Her brow puckered as the small crowd grew larger to the point people were jockeying for position—it didn’t seem safe. The man must’ve agreed because a frown pulled at his full lips. His mouth moved as he said something she couldn’t quite make out before he bent at the waist, his biceps flexing when he came back up holding the cutest little girl. Her curls were in a pony that was probably meant to be positioned at the top of her head but was currently leaning precariously to the left. It screamed, my Daddy did my hair today , and it made Nora’s heart sigh. Because, of course, he was taken. Still, a woman could look, and she did just that as he jostled the little girl to his hip and murmured in her ear in a clear effort to soothe the fussing child.

The crowd parted after another word from him, and her heart picked up pace as he made his way in the direction of their table. She spun in her seat, catching Oz in the act of waving the guy over.

“I’m glad you could make it, man,” Oz said, turning to her, “Nora, I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Lincoln Scott. Linc, my sister, Nora.”

The most beautiful man she had ever seen reached out a large, well-defined hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same here.” She’d barely gotten a grip on his hand when he was taking it back to jostle the squirming child who had gone from fussing to crying.

“I thought getting her out for a bit might help, but it seems I’ve made things worse,” Linc said apologetically to the table.

Oz slid over in the booth. “Do you want to sit down with her? Is she hungry? Emerson can whip her up something to eat.”

“No. She’s probably just tired. I better take her home. Maybe she’ll go down for a nap. Sorry to cut things short, but we’ll get together soon, yeah?”

“Yeah, man, just give me a call.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Nora spoke to Linc’s already retreating back.

Turning back around in her seat, she noticed a frown tugging at Oz’s features as he watched Linc leave. “I’m sorry about that. I promise he’s not usually so distracted.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Nora meant that. The guy looked like he had his hands full.

“I know it’s not an excuse but he’s going through a lot right now, and I know he’s really worried about Sophie.”

“Sophie?”

“Sorry. The little girl. She’s his niece.”

Nora didn’t try to hide her surprise. “Oh, I assumed she was Linc’s daughter.”

Oz shook his head. “No, she’s his sister’s little girl, but both her parents were killed in a car accident not that long ago. Linc’s got full custody, and it’s been a lot.”

Nora gasped. “My god. That’s horrible.”

“Yeah.” Oz dipped his head. “They’re still grieving. The situation has been a huge adjustment for both of them. Sophie hasn’t spoken a word since it happened. Emerson and I have been trying to help as much as we can, but we can only do so much.”

His phone chirped and he glanced at the screen. “Damn, it’s my coach. I need to take this but I’ll only be a minute.”

Nora distractedly nodded, tuning out Oz’s conversation as he spoke on the phone, her mind still on that poor little girl.

But more so on the intriguing man who’d been holding her.