Offense vs Defense

By T. Thomas

A Small Town Enemies to Lovers Sports Romance

Hunter is only focused on three things–being half the cowboy his father is, football, and college.

Tess doesn’t tie into his plans. Not one bit.

Now she’s everyone–working the ranch, living in the bunkhouse, and even eating dinner at his mother’s dining room table.

He can’t get rid of her, no matter how hard he tries to drive her away.

But what happens when he finds out she won’t leave because the Blume Ranch is the only safety she’s had in years?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tiff Thomas
• Release date: Apr 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224374878

T. Thomas

If you’re looking for happily ever after, you’ll find it here.T. Thomas is a sweet, clean romance author of emotionally gripping books that always end in love and happiness.She has been writing since she was thirteen years old. She enjoys spending all of her spare time writing, but she absolutely detests editing and proofreading.T. Thomas can normally be found in her little room of her own that she calls her "woman cave" writing her next book and putting off editing and proofreading for as long as possible.

Book preview

1

Hunter

H unter! my best friend, Reese, hollered after me as I marched into the locker room. I had to get showered as quickly as possible so I could head home to the ranch. There was always work to be done, and today was no different.

I’d chosen a college as close to home as possible, and I was grateful when they offered me a football scholarship. I’d worked hard to earn my grades and even harder to be one of the best football players the state had seen yet. But despite fans begging me to, I wasn’t going pro.

My life began and ended with the Blume Ranch, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I loved my family. I loved the ranch. I lived and breathed the hard labor that surrounded being a cowboy.

And today, like every other day, I had chores to get done, and I wanted to get them done before the cooler air moved in this evening. It was only fall, but winter was going to hit hard this year, which meant the cold was going to move in a lot sooner than any of us wanted it to.

Yeah? I called over my shoulder as I stepped into the locker room.

You headed to the ranch after you leave here, or you got time to chill at my place for a while? he asked.

Reese had moved out of his parents’ house as soon as he graduated high school. They didn’t get along at all. His parents were very strict Christians, and though they hadn’t disowned Reese when he’d come out as bisexual to them, they certainly hadn’t made his life easier. In fact, some of the things they did to him to try to make him straight again were disgusting, and I never wanted to repeat them.

The only reason he didn’t get sent to a conversion camp is that my dad finally had enough and stepped in.

Headed to the ranch, I told him as I stripped out of my uniform.

He began stripping out of his clothes as well while I grabbed my towel and soap and headed for the shower. Doesn’t showering defeat the purpose? He chuckled, following me a minute later.

Eh, I grunted. I can’t stand the feel of dried sweat.

Reese snorted. Never understood how you’ve lived and worked on a ranch all your life, and you can’t stand the feel of sweat.

It’s the salt, I told him. I really couldn’t stand the feel of the salt on my skin after my body dried. It was…gritty and made me feel like I’d been rolling around in the sand on a beach somewhere, which I wasn’t too fond of either.

Reese snorted. I finished my shower and quickly dried off before yanking on a pair of well-worn jeans and a t-shirt, throwing on my flannel shirt on top before grabbing my baseball cap out of my locker. It drove my dad nuts that I wouldn’t wear a Stetson; a ball cap just worked better for me. If the bill of the hat was getting in my way, I could just flip it backward and continue on with my day. Couldn’t do that with a regular cowboy hat. The brim was always in my way.

See you later, Reese! I called over my shoulder as I headed toward the exit.

Hit me up later, he replied, his shower shutting off. We’ll grab a beer and fries from the bar.

Sounds good. And