Page 16 of Penalty Kick

She did not just send Tanner a text about kisses!

Talia: Ignore that! That was not meant for you!

Tanner: Then who was it meant for?

That was a question she was not answering. Not in a million years.

Dash: I am sure you are tired Bonita, so I will let you rest. I hope you have sweet dreams.

Dash: Of me ;)

Oh, she would have sweet dreams of him all right. As long as she didn’t have nightmares over that mis-sent text. Oh, who was she kidding? Dash would win out. She could still taste him on the tip of her tongue, like it had been only moments ago that he’d stolen that kiss, rather than months ago.

“What’s that smile for?” Liam asked, the front door flinging open wide.

His deep, Irish accent startled her. She quickly hit the button on the side of her phone, making sure the screen shut off. There must have been one hell of a guilty look on her face, because Liam stopped dead in his tracks, pizza boxes in hand.

“Someone’s got a secret.”

“No!” she answered, probably too quickly.

“What’s his name?”

“What’s whose name?” Avery asked, appearing behind her boyfriend.

“The one causing that smile.”

“Who says it’s a he?” Talia snarked.

“The way you drool over Henry Cavill?” Avery offered. “Not that I blame you. In that tight Superman outfit…oh boy…” Liam threw her a look, although Talia wasn’t sure if it was because she was commenting about another man or a comic book hero that wasn’t one of his beloved Marvel heroes. “OMG, is it Dash? I saw you watching him during practice today.”

“No,” she lied. She was not going to own up to this flirt-texting with him. “I am not interested in him.”

“I don’t want to be a part of this conversation. Gunnar will have a fit, and I need to be able to tell him that I don’t know anything,” Liam commented. Putting the pizza down on the table, he walked into their kitchen. He was still in earshot—their apartment wasn’t that big—but at least he could lie and say he wasn’t in the room.

“Spill!” Avery said, parking herself on the couch.

“There is nothing to spill. I’m not interested in him. I was only watching him with the kids. That’s it.”

“If you want to keep lying to yourself, then go for it. But I’ll just be over here, waiting on the truth.”

Talia shook her head, trying to make it look like she couldn’t believe Avery had just said that. She had every intention of not only lying to herself about her noninterest in Dash, but to the rest of the world too.

No matter what.

CHAPTER FIVE

Dash took a long, hard look at himself in the mirror, trying not to laugh. He looked ridiculous. Felt even more so. But this was for Talia.

And that made it worth it.

Twisting, he checked out his ass, securely encased in the tightest pair of jeans he had probably ever worn. And that was saying something, since he liked his clothes fitted. Brand names had not been something that his family could afford while he was growing up—much less anything designer. Now that he had the means, he’d become a bit of a clothes horse, as his mother put it. The denim he was sporting at the moment, however, wasn’t what he was used to wearing. Thick and tough, it seemed more suited for someone who was going to be out doing construction than hanging out in a bar. But what did he know?

His phone rang, the personalized tone his little sister had chosen filling the air as he looked for his T-shirt. He wouldn’t be allowed to wear it once he got to Bunz, but there was no way in hell he was climbing into the Lyft without one. That was asking for trouble. Grabbing his phone, he swiped at the screen, excited to hear her sweet voice.

“Maria!”

“Hector!” she exclaimed. Despite her insistence that she was a grown-up, her voice still sounded so little to him. Maybe that was just the big brother in him. Continuing in their native Spanish, Maria asked, “What are you doing?”