Page 11 of The Linebacker

The worst part was, her momma had once been fairly wealthy, but she’d let husband after husband take her money in the divorce, until she was so poor she’d had to ask Diana to finance her last divorce. Now, she sought out wealthy men only, thinking she was going to do the same to them.

Yeah, her mother had issues. And Diana did not want to inherit those issues. Sure, you could say that bad relationship choices were not hereditary, but where was the proof? Her grandma had been just like her mom. Her sister, at thirty-five, was in the process of divorcing husband number two.

There was a curse on the Jenison women, and damn it, Diana was not going to succumb.

Once they were in her car, Diana called Allison. “Hey,” she said when her friend answered. “Are you busy this evening?”

“Still at work,” she responded. “Probably won’t be home until after seven. Why, what’s up?”

“This is going to sound crazy, but I have Amil with me, and he is house hunting. I was thinking I could bring him by to see your place, since you guys are planning to put it up for sale soon.”

“You really are the best real estate agent in Portland,” Allison said with a laugh. “If he’s with you, I assume Dante is done with practice. He’s probably home. Give him a call. I’m sure he won’t mind. I think he’s cooking tonight, so you might get lucky and get an invite to dinner.”

“Thanks. If that’s the case, I’ll see you later then.”

She disconnected the call and paused before dialing Dante.

Dinner at their house, the four of them…this scenario had date night written all over it.

“Maybe we should wait for another day,” she suggested.

“Why? If I can find a new house and get a home-cooked meal all at the same time, that’s a win in my book,” Amil replied.

Well, if he didn’t see it as a date, maybe she was reading into things. Maybe it would be okay. Allison and Dante were casual people, after all. And Amil was supposed to be bonding with his new teammates. Having dinner at one of their houses certainly counted as bonding.

She called Dante.

Who, of course, told them to come over.

She clutched the wheel and stared straight ahead as she drove to Dante’s house.

She knew Amil would love Dante’s house. Which was crazy because she didn’t even know Amil.

Not really.

And yet, she was convinced.

“How did you feel about the trade?” she asked into the silence that had descended.

“Are you asking me how I feel about being on the same team with the guy who is keeping you and me from hooking up again?”

“No-o-o-o,” she said. “And Jalen isn’t the reason we aren’t going to hook up again.”

“No? Who is?”

“It’s not a who,” she said waspishly.

“Good to know. What, then?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Oh, I think it very much is my business.”

She gave him a swift glance before refocusing on the road. “How do you figure?”

“Because the attraction between us is palpable, and yet you refuse to do anything about it. Why?”

She did not want to have this conversation. “You should be bonding with your teammates.”