Riding the Rookie

Deja Whitlock has a sprint time, a chip on her shoulder, and no scholarship to her name. She walks on to Halston's football team and earns the roster the hard way. The one person who told her to take it slow — Reb Halloran, garage owner, club VP, eleven years older — is also the one she can't stay away from. He vouches for her at a hearing. He teaches her to read a defensive front. He keeps his hands off her for three weeks and then doesn't. When a booster tries to strip her eligibility for riding with 'known associates,' Reb walks into a state investigation to save her. He loses his club for it. She gets to keep the field.