Page 73 of The Penalty

He shakes his head. “It’s not enough. I’d give you the world if you’d let me, baby.”

I open my mouth to protest again, but he stops me. “And selfishly, it’s for me too. I want you there with me.”

I sigh, not sure how I could say no to him now. And I don’t want to say no. It’s a dream of mine to go to a bowl game, but I know how expensive they can be. My brothers and I looked it up one year, thinking maybe we might be able to scrounge together the money, but our hopes were immediately crushed when we saw the prices. And then the flight and the hotel. I know it’s a lot. But looking into Tyler’s hopeful eyes, I already know what my answer will be.

I smile. “Ok.”

Relief washes over his face. “Good. It would’ve been really awkward to have to carry you onto that plane to make sure you got there.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Hell, yes, I would.” I laugh because I actually believe he might do that. “I wish I could kiss you right now. I love when you laugh like that.”

“I wish I could kiss you too,” I admit. Kissing him and touching him are my favorite things to do lately. I can’t get enough of him.

“Well, I’ll let you get some sleep, but I’ll call you tomorrow night,” he says.

“I look forward to it.”

He blows me a kiss, and I blow one back before we hang up. It’s still surreal to me that I’m in some sort of relationship with The Tyler Danvers.

I’m unable to contain my chill about the gift I opened last night as I bounce into my mother’s kitchen the next morning, where all my brothers are at the table sipping on coffee.

“Guess who’s going to the Peach Bowl?” I taunt, taking a cup out of the cabinet and filling it with coffee.

“I’m guessing you?” Matt says with raised eyebrows.

“Yep.”

“Why do you get to do that? Is La Vista sending you?” Chris asks. They know I was working with the football team for one of my classes, so I should’ve gone along with that, but I’m terrible at lying to my family. So, I opt for the truth. Kind of.

“No. Kylie’s dad got us tickets,” I tell them like it’s not a big deal even though I know this is huge. They know this is huge.

“Kylie’s dad?” Matt asks. “As in Coach Danvers, head coach of the La Vista U football team?”

“Yeah.” I pour creamer into my coffee, hoping they don’t start asking too many questions.

“Why would he buy you tickets?”

I shrug casually, but it’s getting harder and harder to school my features when they act suspicious. “I don’t know. I guess he wanted Kylie to be there and Kylie probably wanted me there. She’s not really into football.”

“And how are you getting to the Peach Bowl? It’s in Atlanta, right?”

“Uh, yeah. He got us plane tickets, too.” I hope my voice doesn’t sound as nervous as I feel.

“Are you kidding me?” Chris says.

“What’s the big deal? Tyler has a lot of money. I don’t think that’s a secret. It’s literally nothing for him.” Even as I say it, I cringe inside. I hate even pretending that I’m ok with using Tyler’s money.

“Oh, he’s Tyler now?” Chris questions with a raised eyebrow, and my face pales. Shit. I didn’t mean to let that slip.

“I don’t understand what the big deal is,” I say, leaning against the counter, purposely not going to sit in the empty chair next to them at the table.

“I heard you on the phone with someone last night,” Oliver says, and at that moment, I know he’s likely told my brothers what he heard, and that’s why they’re acting like this.

“Ok,” I say, careful not to give anything away until I’m sure what they’re talking about.

“It was him, wasn’t it. Are you two like a thing?”