Page 36 of The Linebacker

After taking care of the basics, she headed toward the heavenly scent of breakfast deliciousness, not bothering to change out of her pink pajama shorts and matching shirt—or to even put on a bra. Why bother?

Amil wouldn’t notice. They were roomies, nothing more.

Although, yeah, she did take a little bit of satisfaction in the way his eyes widened when he glanced over his shoulder as she stepped into the kitchen.

Lazlo rushed up to her, meowing like he hadn’t seen her in days. He’d been in bed with her when she crawled under the covers last night. Apparently, Amil had freed him from the bedroom at some point this morning.

She scooped him into her arms and peered around Amil’s shoulder at the concoction he was making on the stove. “Smells delicious. What is it?”

“Sweet potato hash,” he responded without looking at her. “And good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“There’s plenty of coffee.” He nodded at the nearly full pot.

“Thanks.” She poured herself a mugful then topped off his before adding creamer to her own.

“Thanks,” he said with a quick glance at his now-full cup.

God, was this the lamest situation ever? She tried to imagine what this experience might be like if they’d banged all night instead of slept in separate rooms.

Before she let her mind travel too far down that road, she asked, “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I expected to. Your couch is very comfortable.”

She spared a moment to feel guilty that she’d not offered him the bed while she took the couch, since he was starting in his first Mountain Lions game later today. But she squashed the feeling. First of all, he’d shown up on her doorstep, knowing she had only one bed, and acted like they were just friends.

Besides, she knew damn well he would have refused her offer.

“Are you nervous? About the game, I mean,” she asked.

He sprinkled shredded cheese over his concoction and fried up a couple of over-easy eggs. Dividing the hash between two plates, he slid the eggs on top before carrying those plates over to her two-top bistro table. With both coffee mugs in hand, she followed and seated herself across from him.

“A little,” he finally admitted before taking a generous bite. “My parents are coming to the game, and I don’t want to disappoint them.”

If she had food in her mouth, she would have inadvertently spit it out, right across the table and into his face. “Your parents?” she sputtered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He furrowed his brow. “I didn’t realize I was supposed to. Is that something you’re supposed to do when you slept with a woman once two years ago and she insists it can never happen again?”

She rolled her eyes. “This isn’t about—” She flapped her hand between them. “It’s about you. Your parents. This is your debut with the team.”

He still did not seem to understand.

“I’m your PR manager,” she said. “I can take care of your parents. Put them up in a suite. Arrange for whatever food and drinks they want to be delivered. Tell the camera crew so they can show them on television during one of the commercial breaks.”

“Okay, first of all, my parents would hate it if you deliberately put them on TV, so please don’t do that. As for the rest, I bought them tickets exactly where they wanted to sit. And they can get their own food and drinks. They would undoubtedly prefer to do that. They are very lowkey people.”

She supposed that should come as no surprise, considering Amil was just about the most laidback person she knew. Still… “Next time they come to a game, why don’t you let me handle these details? It’s part of my job.”

“It’s no big deal, Diana.”

He would say that.

“What do you think of the food?” he asked. Apparently, the conversation about his parents was over.

She wondered if she’d get a chance to meet them as she took her first bite. But then she forgot all about his parents, because, “Wow. This is amazing.” She took another bite and damn near groaned.

Amil grinned. “Thanks.”