Offside (The Barker Triplets 1)

Pain crumpled around her heart and she was surprised at how much it still hurt that he didn’t know. After all this time.

“Your sister was all over the place, kind of wild and she followed me into a room and,” he looked so uncomfortable it tugged at her heart. “Well, we had sex. It was only that one night and I just…” he looked away. “I just thought you should know.”

Weird meowed and hopped off the bed, obviously bored with their talk. Billie watched the cat disappear and then she turned to Logan, moving into him, wrapping her arms around him.

“Okay,” she said softly.

[i]Tell him the truth![i]

She opened her mouth because if ever there was a moment to spill her guts to him, it was now. She rested her cheek against his chest, listened to his heart, and drank in the heat of his body.

“Are you sure you’re okay with

that?” he murmured.

[i]Tell him.[i]

But she couldn’t. As much as she knew she needed to, she just couldn’t. How could she tell the man she loved that she’d been lying to him for years? How could she let him see just how pathetic she was? How she had tricked him into having sex with her?

She couldn’t do it. Not right now.

Not just yet.

She ignored his question, leaned into him and whispered. “We just hit twenty-five minutes, Mister. You’ve got some catching up to do.”

Chapter Twenty-six

“I hear the Angry Pirates are playing the Cornucopia tournament in the city.”

Logan grabbed a roll of tape and tossed it on the counter for Mr. Talbot to ring up. He had just gotten his skates sharpened and was in a hurry. It was nearly six and he was due at Billie’s for dinner.

He grinned at the thought. Dinner with Billie.

Dinner with Billie and her family. Their kinda-sorta official first public date.

“Ah, yes. Our first game is tomorrow night.”

“Hmm,” Mr. Talbot’s bushy eyebrows rose above his glasses. “That’s a tough tournament. Attracts a lot of teams from around the state.”

He nodded. “I’ve heard.” Actually Logan didn’t give a shit about the tournament. If he had his way, he’d spend each and every evening this week in bed with the woman who’d somehow carved her way into his life to the point that she was the first thing he thought of in the morning, and the last thing at night.

He handed Talbot some cash and waited for the elderly gentleman to ring up his purchases. On the wall behind him were numerous framed pictures and magazine articles featuring a host of local sports stars, though most of them featured Billie. He gazed at a picture of her standing beside a trophy nearly as big as she was. By the looks of it, she was about ten or twelve, with braces on her teeth, hair stuck in a wild ponytail, chin thrust out proudly as she held her stick and posed.

Underneath the caption: [i]Most Valuable Player, Golden Sticks Tourney[i].

Mr. Talbot followed his gaze. “Damn, but she was something.”

Logan nodded. She sure was.

“She playing in this tournament?”

Logan frowned. Out of all the naysayers in town, he thought Talbot was one of the ones in her corner. Hell, even Duke Everett and most of the guys in the league had come around. The only trash talk he had heard lately had come from Sabrina and a bunch of her friends.

“Of course she’s playing,” he answered sounding more than a little defensive. “She’s part of the team.”

Mr. Talbot handed a paper bag with his purchases along with his skates. “Uh huh,” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Shit. Talbot’s attitude surprised him. “I didn’t think you’d have a problem with her playing.”