Page 18 of The Linebacker

“I’m deciding exactly what to tell you.”

He waited. She assumed that’s what he was doing, because he didn’t say anything else.

She finally settled on, “My family is cursed.”

“Holy shit.”

“What?” Did he believe in curses too? That would be nice, to be honest. Allison and Emma told her she was being ridiculous. Maybe, sometimes, she thought they might be right, except she’d never had reason to question her lifestyle, so she simply hadn’t.

“Earlier today, when Dante was warning me away from you, I literally wondered if you were cursed.”

“One, why was Dante warning you away from me,” she asked, “and two, why would that lead you to believe I was cursed?”

“I wondered if you were cursed because he’s the second guy today to warn me away from you.”

“Jeez. I had no idea the guys on the team were so concerned for my sex life.”

“Actually, they’re concerned about winning the Super Bowl. Well, Pedro is. Dante seems to think you have a bunch of walls built up and I should focus on the team instead of on tearing them down, because you aren’t ready for them to be torn down.”

“Dante is a wise man. You should listen to him.”

“Should I?” He gave her a heated glance before focusing on the road. “Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on so I can be my own judge.”

“I just told you, my family is cursed.”

“What kind of curse? Is it something we can break?”

“You talk like you really believe in curses.”

“I believe you believe in them.”

Damn him and his logical thinking. She was half afraid to tell him the truth only because he might actually find a way to contradict it, and then where would she be? She’d have no reason not to hook up with the guy again, and that scared her more than she’d like to admit.

“I’m listening,” he said after a few moments of silence.

She looked at the sunroof. Was she willing to do this? To lay herself bare to him?

Emotionally?

Hell, maybe if she did, he’d be scared off and she would not have to make any decisions whatsoever. Easy peasy.

“All the women in my family, for at least three generations, have had utterly horrible luck with men. With relationships. Between my grandmother and mother, they’ve been married and divorced ten times. Ten. And my sister is trying to catch up. She’s currently on divorce number two. I decided back in high school that I did not want to be like them. And the only way to do that was to avoid relationships altogether.”

“Therefore the one-and-done rule.”

“Exactly.”

“I can see how you’d come to that conclusion.”

Wait, what? He wasn’t going to argue with her? Tell her she was a fool for believing in curses? That at some point, some time, someone would come along and convince her she should give love a try, despite all the cards stacked against her?

None of that?

Really?

They reached the practice facility, and he guided her vehicle into the space next to his truck.

“Thanks for showing me around today,” he said. “And thanks for taking me to Dante and Allison’s house. I do really like it and I would be interested in buying it, although I have a feeling they are going to change their minds about selling.”