Page 49 of The Linebacker

He’d learned from his mistakes in college. Cool the jets. Slow down. All good things come to those who wait.

That last one wasn’t always true, clearly, but in this case, he was willing to give it a try. Whatever he needed to do to keep her in his life.

He tapped on the computer screen. “What do you have for me?”

Her stance instantly relaxed. Someday, he’d point out to her his ability to calm her when she was agitated, but not today.

She situated the laptop so that it balanced on one of her knees and one of his, and then she began scrolling, talking through each house she’d found, extolling the various virtues. He nixed a few of them for no other reason than he did not need so many options. Show him three or four houses and he’d choose one of them.

He trusted Diana’s judgment.

“What happened with Jalen?” she abruptly asked.

He cupped the back of his neck. “I called him out on his suspicions and lied to his face.”

She stared at him. “Are you serious?”

He nodded. He hated that he’d done it. He was a terrible liar, normally, which was why he tried very hard not to put himself into situations where he needed to do it.

But he liked this family, this team. His friends. He liked the place he and Jalen were at. Take Diana out of the picture and he’d want to be buds with Jalen. Even with Diana in the picture…well, hopefully, one day the guy would realize that he and Diana were never meant to be and they could all be one big happy family.

Or at least Amil wouldn’t need to be afraid of screwing up Jalen’s game anymore.

“We’re playing the 49ers on Sunday. He needs to be in his happy place going into that game, because I guarantee they are going to be chippy as fuck. As you can imagine, they’re pretty pissed at the Mountain Lions.”

It was his fault. He’d given them all the ammo. Last season, he’d seen a crack in Jalen’s armor and ran with it. And then he’d told the rest of the defensive line. If he’d just kept his damn mouth shut, it would probably have been a nice, normal game.

But he’d thought it ridiculous that Jalen was so worked up over a woman. Over something that had happened almost two full seasons prior. And he’d believed Jalen and Diana were dating, and maybe that had annoyed him because he’d wanted to be the one dating Diana.

And now he was. Well, they’d not put a label on it yet lest Diana run for the hills, but she’d broken her rule for him, and considering the woman believed in curses, he knew how huge that step was for her.

He needed to protect his team and at the same time nurture whatever this was between the two of them. This morning, when Jalen had looked so fucking pissed—yeah, Amil had made a gut decision and he’d lied to the guy.

“He believed you?” Diana asked after a heartbeat.

Amil nodded. “He said I was too damn happy to not have gotten laid last night. I pointed out that I’d just won my first game with my new team and how the hell was I supposed to feel?”

“Valid.”

“And then he asked why you were so damn happy, and I told him I had no clue.”

He was fully aware why Diana had a shit-eating grin on her face and an extra bounce in her step this morning. He’d done that. And he wanted to do it again.

Every day to infinity would be good.

Diana cleared her throat. “So…we’re good?”

“You and me? We’re more than good. And Jalen’s fine for now. Let’s get him through the weekend, and then we can reassess. I don’t like lying to my friends, and I think we might be friends. Or pretty close to it.”

His phone vibrated. He tugged it out of his pocket, frowned. “Speaking of, he’s calling.”

Without a word, Diana pulled the computer into her own lap. Amil connected the call. “What’s up, man?”

“You’re still looking for a place to live, right?” Jalen asked by way of greeting.

Amil’s gaze strayed to Diana’s fingers, dragging along the mousepad built into her laptop. “Yeah.”

“I just found out the old lady who lived three doors down from me passed away. Her kids are looking to sell it, and they want to get out from under it quick. They’ve already cleaned it out, so it’s immediate occupancy. I’ll text you their number. You should come check it out.”