First and Twenty: A Slow-Burn Pro Football Romance (Signed) by Amanda Layne

TORI

I was raised to be flawless.

Polished. Controlled. An asset.

Then one night in a small Tennessee town puts me in the path of a stranger with tattoos and sharp eyes, a man who doesn’t care about my last name.

Cade Whittaker just looks at me like I’m allowed to be real.

I tell myself it’s one night. A crack in the rules. A secret I’ll bury.

But I can’t unfeel it. The laughter. The want. The way my body remembers what freedom tastes like.

So when the pressure tightens and my “perfect” life starts closing in, I do the one thing I’ve never done.

I run.

And Cade gives me what no one ever has: a door that locks, a place to breathe, and space to put myself back together on my own terms. The more I rebuild, the harder it gets to pretend he’s only a safe landing.

Because safety turns into heat.

And heat turns into something I can’t afford… or stop wanting.

CADE

Football has been my whole life. The noise, the grind, the expectations.

But lately, even winning feels hollow.

Tori shows up like color in a life that’s gone gray, and I try to keep it simple: a place to land, no strings, no expectations.

Except she’s not just passing through. She’s everywhere. In my kitchen. In my quiet. In the part of me that’s been wondering what’s left when the game stops being enough.

I want her. Bad.

But she’s learning how to choose herself, and I won’t be another man who decides anything for her.

So I’ll wait.

Because she didn’t just crash into my life.

She became it.

First and Twenty is a spicy, emotional NFL romance featuring forced proximity, found family, a runaway heiress, a protective hero, and open-door heat.