He’s the superstar tight end staging a comeback. She’s the hit he never saw coming. For ten-year NFL veteran Griffin Lacey, football is life. Months after being released from his team due to a season-ending injury, he’s given an unexpected opportunity—a one-year contract to play for his hometown team. His game plan is clear: play to win, no distractions. But a fender bender on the way to the first home game changes everything. College literature instructor Brynn Nelson is thirty and not thriving. Trapped in a dead-end relationship and stuck in a city that has never felt like hers, every day seems to blur into the next. When she accidentally rear ends a sports superstar, the chance encounter makes her long to break free from the rut she’s in. He offers to show her the magic of her adopted city, and through their adventures, she reclaims her spark. As Griffin and Brynn’s connection deepens, they discover magic of a different sort—that love happens when you least expect it. A sexy, swoony football romance and a love letter to one of America’s most iconic cities, The Check Down is the first book in the Lacey Bros series.