Winning Play by Paige Ryan

Ask any football fan and they’ll confirm that the start of a new season always gives rise to a contagious feeling of excited exuberance.
Not for me though. As the trainer for the Gladiators football team for the past few years, I’ve long since become desensitized to the feeling. Instead my focus remains firmly on my work, doing everything I can to make sure my team has a winning year.
I thought the new season would be no different—until I met Taze Porter, the new head coach and my new coworker-slash-unofficial boss.
His mere presence is enough to reignite the long forgotten sensation of heightened awareness, trepidation, and elation all rolled into one. Except this time those feelings have nothing to do with the prospect of making the playoffs.
When it became obvious that Taze felt the same way about me, I began to wonder how the two of us would manage to keep our professional relationship, well… professional.
And now we’re about to spend a full month at training camp together. Long hours, late nights, constant collaboration—I can’t help but think the situation is a recipe for disaster.
Thankfully, if there’s one area where the new head coach and I can fully agree, it’s that we both play to win…