Love means saying you’re sorry, and proving it.

Sonny Black was the star quarterback in high school who couldn’t possibly be in love with the geekiest girl in school, Mandy Daws. He’d been seeing her under the guise of chemistry tutoring, but when his buddies found out there was a little more going on, he lied and said she was a slut, wrecking her life and earning her enduring hatred.

Eleven years later, Sonny is headed for the Super Bowl despite amazing bad luck that has earned him the nickname Sonny Black Cloud. When someone mentions that the bad luck must stem from someone he failed in the past, the first name that comes to mind is Mandy’s. He tracks her down at the small university where she teaches chemistry and tries to seduce, beg or win her forgiveness, and he needs it before the Super Bowl.

Excerpt:

“She said my rotten luck probably comes from some bad thing that I did in the past. Some time when someone was depending on me and I failed them. And because of that now when I’m depending on defenders and receivers, they’re failing me. So if I can fix what I did this bad luck will go away.”

Mandy stared at him. “And you believe this mumbo jumbo?”

He grinned again. “I was pretty sure you were going to say that.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Charm me. It won’t work.” Mandy ground her teeth together. Don’t let it work. Don’t let it work.

Sonny looked around the office. It didn’t take long, but he’d probably walked in with a couple of plays worked out in his head. “Come on, Mandy. I screwed up. Can’t you forgive a guy for being a bonehead and maybe let him take you out to dinner?”

“It still won’t work.”

“Please?”

“First of all, I have every right to still be pissed at you. Second, me accepting your apology will not change the stupid things that happen to you on the field.”

“How can you be sure? I have great defenders and I still have the highest sack rate of any quarterback in the NFL. My passes get dropped more frequently. Every time something goes wrong the media resurrects that fumble at the snap from last season.”

“The one where the ball bounced off your fingers three times before you dropped it and all the other players just stared at you?” Mandy snickered and reached for her computer mouse. “I loved that one. I have the gif on my hard drive.”

“I don’t need to see it.”

“I do.” She opened the hard drive and scrolled down the list.

Sonny put his hand over hers.

Mandy’s breath stopped in her throat. God, she had forgotten how electric that felt. In high school, Sonny had been everything she wasn’t. Popular, confident, easy going, calm. Endlessly sexy. Only two girls in their class hadn’t had crushes on him. Of the two, one had already come out as a lesbian. The other one figured it out later.

“Please don’t play that gif.”