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Your passions are the keys to happiness ?

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Way back when, I was a cheerleader.

I wasn’t a flip-across-the-gym prodigy or anything having to do with exemplary talent. No, I just liked to cheer.

There was something so special about being a part of the group. We rooted on the (smallest town in our state to have a ) football team. And then, in the summer, we would haul off to summer camp and cheer for ourselves and the other squads in the July Midwestern heat. Despite the sweat, the bonding, the camaraderie amongst us—it was unparalleled.

Then I graduated high school and left my pom-poms behind.

What I didn’t leave behind, though, was my love of football. There’s nothing better than watching an eleven-man team execute a plan to outwit their opponent … and then do crazy celebrations in the end zone.

It doesn’t hurt that the uniforms were clearly designed by a woman. Have you seen those pants?

There are few times in life when you are able to bring your passions together. But that’s what the the Kings of Football series is to me—the merging of my love of football and my old cheerleading days. I was able to write a smoking hot, slightly broken, and mysterious tight end (there’s a joke to be made there!) and do it alongside two talented writers (and cheer for them along the way!).

This year has taught us all lessons. The thing I learned in the last month is possibly the most important thing I’ve learned so far: your passions are the keys to happiness.

The Relationship Pact reminded me of that.

I’ll walk out of twenty-twenty with that little life lesson in my pocket. (The pocket of my hoodie because who is wearing jeans these days?)

Excerpt

I reach for the chair in front of me. Instead of finding leather, my fingers brush against something else. Something warmer. Something smoother and rougher all at the same time.

My heart jumps in my chest at the same moment my head snaps to the side.

Oh. Shit.

The most beautiful set of hazel eyes I’ve ever seen traps my gaze. The warmth of the chocolate brown is cooled by the spring green embedded in the orbs. Gold flecks twinkle as the man slowly withdraws his palm away from mine.

I open my mouth, but I’ve somehow forgotten how to speak.

“Hey,” he says, his Southern drawl rippling across my ears. “You can have it.”

I shake my head to try to jolt myself out of the haze I’m in. “I … I can have what?”

His full, pouty lips split into a sexy smirk. “I meant the chair, but if something else is on your mind, just let me know.”

My heart flutters in my chest as a wave of heat courses through my body from head to toe.

A couple of days’ scruff peppers a sharp, chiseled jaw. His skin is sun-kissed and imperfect, and there’s the slightest mole beneath his left eye that gives a bit of softness to his appearance. His body is long, well over six feet, with broad shoulders and a thick chest.

It’s one heck of a picture.

Slowly, oh, so slowly, the fog in my brain lifts.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asks.

Sebastian’s gaze pummels me from the side. It’s as if it’s intentional—his ego cannot stand the fact another man is paying me attention.

If that’s the case …

A crazy idea pops into my brain. The longer I watch this man peer at me from under his thick lashes, the more it seems possible.

Crazy? Yes. But definitely possible.

“Want to do me a favor instead?” I ask before I can talk myself out of it.

My chest rises and falls in quick succession as he and I ponder my question. He narrows his eyes as he undoubtedly considers why a woman he just met might need his help.

His thick brows tug together. “That depends on what it is.”

Blood pours through my ears as I realize I’m potentially playing with fire.

But what’s the alternative? Sebastian gets to come over here and play poor Larissa?

Not an option.

“Are you going to ask or not?” he asks

I look up and down his long, muscled body.

Too bad he’s not an option.

Before I can overthink it, the hottie in front of me slays me with a playful quirk of his brow.

Screw it.

I take in a quick lungful of air. “I’m going to need an answer to two questions.”

“Shoot.”

“Quickly.”

He grins. “I can’t answer them if you don’t ask them, beautiful.”

I steady myself against the term of endearment and stay focused.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” I ask.

His eyes sparkle with mischief. “I like where this is going.”

“That’s not an answer, and we’re running out of time.”

“No,” he says hurriedly. “Hard no. Definitely not. No girlfriend.”

“Second question …” I take another deep breath and go in for the kill. “Will you be my fake boyfriend for five minutes?”

His grin knocks the breath I’m holding right out of me. “When do we start?”

The Relationship Pact

How hard can it be?

That was the question rolling around Larissa Mason’s mind just before she asked Hollis Hudson to be her fake boyfriend.
It was only supposed to be for five minutes, after all.

Granted, that was also before she felt his hand on the small of her back as he charmed the heck out of her family.

And it was definitely before she saw the football god shirtless. Otherwise, she would’ve had an idea of just how hard some things could be.

It turns out that pretending to be in love with a crazily handsome, somewhat enigmatic, and absolutely unforgettable tight end (that has an amazing tight end) is easy.

Reminding herself that just because opposites attract doesn’t mean they’re forever is much harder.

What they have isn’t love—it’s a relationship pact. Right?

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The Relationship Pact is a fun and flirty college sports romance with lots of heart. No cliffhanger.

Other interconnected standalone books in this series:
The Revenge Pact by Ilsa Madden-Mills
The Romantic Pact by Meghan Quinn

USA Today, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts Bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own.

She resides in the Midwest with her husband, four sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather’s nice and there’s always a piece of candy in her pocket.

Join the Locke List for exclusive stories, tales of mishaps, behind-the-scene looks, giveaways, what Adriana is reading, what you should be reading, cool recipes, and more: http://bit.ly/LockeList

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