Desmond

I was sixteen years old when I met Oakley Manning during a family beach vacation. He was funny, gorgeous, as obsessed with football as I was, and hurting after his mom abandoned him.

 

For two weeks, we were inseparable. Oakley made me feel complete, settling something inside me.

 

Then one night, I kissed him…and he kissed me back.

 

When he walked away afterward, I pretended it hurt less than it did. It’s a lesson that’s stuck with me—the people I want never choose me back.

 

Oakley

Everything about what I shared with Desmond Jackson was perfect.

 

Then, on the last morning of our trip, my ex-girlfriend-slash-best friend dropped a bomb: “I’m pregnant.” For the sake of the baby, we decided to make it work.

 

Eleven years later, Serena and I are still best friends, but our relationship is over, though we haven’t told anyone. Between her mom’s recent diagnosis and our daughter, we aren’t ready for more complications.

 

Enter Des, recently traded to L.A.’s second pro football team—my team being the first. Now he’s always in my periphery, infuriating and needling me…and still capable of making my pulse race. Our chemistry is as combustive as ever. Des worships my body in ways I’ve never experienced, but he doesn’t believe in forever, and I can’t do casual.

 

We compete at everything, but he doesn’t know he’s already won my heart. I just hope it’s a prize he wants…and that my world won’t implode if I have him.

 

The Lockdown Mann is a second-chance romance between two professional football players, with a complicated history and an even more complicated present. Expect banter, anonymous online messaging, and heart. There is no cheating in this book.​​