First Down

He has one game left. One chance to keep his feelings hidden. One girl who keeps making that impossible.

On the field, Grant Voss is the steady one. The reliable one. The running back who reads the defense, takes the hit, and does his job without needing the spotlight. Off the field, he's been doing the same thing with Poppy Hayes for months.

Wanting her from the sidelines.

Protecting her in every way he can.

Pretending it doesn't wreck him every time she smiles at someone else.

Poppy is sunshine in motion: bright, warm, impossible to ignore, and still bruised from the relationship she had with Grant's best friend. So Grant keeps his distance. He gives her friendship. He gives her steadiness. He gives her every careful piece of himself except the truth.

But on the final game day of his college football career, every line Grant has drawn starts to blur.

One sideline glance. One touch in a cold hallway. One moment on a football field in front of thousands of people.

And suddenly, the feelings Grant has spent all season burying are impossible to hide.

Perfect for readers who love college football romance, he falls first, friends-to-lovers tension, sunshine/grump dynamics, secret longing, complicated friendships, and big feelings that refuse to stay silent.

First Down is a steamy prequel novella in the Thorndale Hearts series and the emotional setup for Grant and Poppy's full-length romance, Second Option.

This book takes place over the course of one football game: the final game of the season, which also appears in Next Play, the first full-length book in the series.

You do not need to have read Next Play to enjoy this story. First Down is told from Grant's perspective and offers a different view of the game, the team, and the moments that begin to change everything between Grant and Poppy.