Sam and Ed stood in front of the group. Before they started picking people, they'd had a short, whispered discussion.

Ed started. "Clark. You will be the floater since we have an odd number of people." Clark ran forward excited and stood next to his dad.

"I think he means just odd people." Spike said out of the side of his mouth and the group laughed.

Ed looked at Sam. "Previous losers go first." He swept his hand from Sam to the waiting group.

"Ooh." Mikaela looked at them.

"Hey. You guys cheated." Spike said seriously, then winked at Clark. "That Clark sneak was illegal!"

"Whiner." Wordy said and slapped the back of Spike's shoulder around Mikaela's back.

Mikaela smiled at the exchange but looked at Wordy in question.

Wordy tilted his body and said, "we were all tied, Clark hiked the ball to Ed, ran past him, grabbed the ball and took off for the end zone. I was trying to block Sam but he triple head faked me and got by me. He was about to pull Clark's flag when Ed ran in, picked him up and carried him into the end zone. Best play of the game."

"Yeah for you. Cheaters." Spike said out of the side of his mouth.

"They're just mad we got by them." Jules added with a smirk.

"ANYway," Sam said to get their attention, "I pick… Lew." Lew ran up and high fived Him.

"Ok, Jules."

"Spike."

"Wordy."

Mikaela saw it was just her and Greg left. Oh man, I hate being last.

Ed and Sam looked at each other and spoke at the same time. "Mikaela." "Boss."

The two walked forward, but Mikaela was stunned that it was Ed that had said her name, not Sam. AND, she's on the same team as Jules. Interesting, she thought. She looked at Sam as she high fived Wordy, Lew and Jules. She pointed at him and then the ground. "You're going down."

"Ooh." Ed looked from Mikaela to Sam. "I like her."

Sam laughed. He knew that it might miff Mikaela a little that he didn't automatically choose her, but he liked Ed's idea to have she and Jules on the team. He wondered though why he insisted they be on his team. He was glad this wasn't tackle football or he could be in trouble.

They played for hours and as it got closer to twilight they agreed on one more play and they call it quits. Ed's team had the ball and it was their last chance to try to break the tie. They gathered in a huddle and Ed said. "Ok Mikaela, here's your chance. They've had Sam guarding you every play, so this time, you and Jules switch sides. Clark, hike it to me, same last play as last time, except when you get in the open, Mikaela is going to get open too and you throw it to her. Mikaela, all you gotta do is get past Spike, catch it and run like the wind."

Mikaela and Clark both nodded.

"Ready?" He looked at them and they nodded. "Break." They all got in position.

Mikaela got in her new position and smiled when Sam looked confused. Ed had already said started to hike the ball so he couldn't switch places. She looked at Spike as Ed said "hike!", licked her lips and winked at him. Spike was surprised enough that she got past him, caught the ball and ran for it. She glanced back and saw that Sam was on her heels reaching for her flag. She twisted away and poured on the speed. She reached the end zone before he could catch her, turned around and spiked the ball. She did her best imitation of the Icky Shuffle and smiled at him.

Sam looked at her in amazement. How did she do that? He grabbed her around the waist, picked her up and turned her upside down so her face was near his mid-back.

Mikaela let out a small squeal and laughed, kicking her feet lightly. Well, he definitely had a really nice ass, she thought. She kicked her legs, put her hands on his waist, twisted her legs and did a round off off of his shoulder. At least it was supposed to be.

Sam was surprised when she kicked her feet and started to leave his shoulder that he clutched at her, trying to keep her from falling on her head. He caught her foot as it went past his ear, but he got her pant leg. He held on and tried to twist to catch her upper body but she had already twisted away from him. He ended up turning all the way around and letting go of her pant leg but it was enough to knock her off balance so when she landed she went right back to her butt, her hands out to catch her. She landed with an 'oof'.

Mikaela looked up from the ground at Sam. Whoa, what the hell was that? It probably looked like some fucked up Barnum and Bailey stunt. She held his concerned blue eyes and started laughing while the others came rushing over. They had been celebrating, but when they saw what happened they stood in shock.

Sam rushed to her. "Oh. Are you ok?" He knelt down next to her. "What the hell was that?" He asked scared.

"I was trying to dismount." Mikaela laughed.

Spike burst out laughing. His mind had drifted to the gutter.

"You were what?" Ed asked furrowing his brows.

Spike couldn't stop laughing. He looked at Lew and that was all it took for Lew to start. That got everyone giggling.

Sam looked at her, concern and a little anger showed in his eyes. "Are you hurt?" He asked softly.

"I'm sorry." Mikaela could see he was a little irritated so she stifled her laughter as best she could. She couldn't keep it from her voice when she said, "I'll warn you next time."

He sighed and stood. Obviously she was ok. Damn that had scared him.

The group started to dissipate. They could see that Mikaela was ok and that Sam was irritated with her. Greg tapped their shoulders and tipped his head towards the table. "Let's get the barbecue going."

Mikaela sat back and looked at him work his jaw. "Sam." She stood using her right hand to help herself and pulled her breath in sharply. Damn, she thought. That was stupid.

Sam turned when he heard her hiss in pain. She was holding her right wrist. He went to her and took it from her gently moving it. She only tried to pull away when he moved it down. "I don't think it's broken, but we should go get it checked out."

"I'm sorry. That was stupid." She put her arms around him and squeezed with her left hand only.

Sam put his arms around her and put his chin on her neck. "It's ok." He squeezed and then pulled back from her. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

"No. It only hurts when I move it. I don't think it's broken either. It can wait." She smiled at him.

"Are you sure?" He frowned at her.

"Yeah. I've broken this wrist once already. I know what that feels like. It's just a sprain." She nodded.

They'd only been seeing each other for a few weeks, but he had already started to be protective and worry about her. He looked at her in the fading light and thought, damn she's beautiful. He felt his blood rush and he put a hand on her cheek. He stepped forward and put this lips gently on hers.

Mikaela closed her eyes and listened to the rapid beating of her heart. When he pulled back and looked in her eyes, she thought, damn.

"Had an urge." He gave her a lopsided grin, his hand still on her face.

"I didn't mind." She said softly.

Sam slid his hand down her arm and took her left hand. "Hungry?"

Mikaela hid a sly grin and said, "very."

#####

this may be the only update for a few days. We are doing a real moviefest over the next 4 days so I won't have much time to write. Happy New Year all!

#####