Page 254 of Cross Check

Ten minutes later, she meets me by the front door. The jean shorts and white tank top she changed into make me push her against the wall and kiss her, and she giggles when I cup the back of her head so she doesn’t knock her skull against a picture.

“I think I have a problem.” I kiss her ear and tug on her beltloop. “I’m addicted to you, Lia, and I don’t want to find a cure.”

“There are worse problems to have.” She rests her hand on the back of my neck. “Is this a time-sensitive field trip? Or do we have some wiggle room to do other activities first?”

“The other activities are going to have to wait, baby, but I promise I’ll make it worth your while.” I pull away, reluctant to let her go. I check through the peephole, glad to find the coast is clear. “Ready?”

“What are we going to do the day someone runs into us?” Lia follows me into the hallway, walking by my side. “How do we play it off?”

“I’m considering a trade to Baltimore. You’re trying to convince me to join the team.” I shrug. “Something like that.”

“I’m not a fan of that,” she admits when we step in the elevator. “I love you, but I don’t want to ever coach you. That would be too murky, and I’d never want someone to question my leadership decisions based on personal relationships.” She follows it up with a wince. “I’m sorry. Was that too harsh?”

“Not at all. I get why you say that, and it doesn’t bother me. Guess we get to keep being rivals and using trash talking as foreplay, baby.”

We pile into my car and link hands over the center console. Lia hands me a hat and I put it on backward. She slides on a pair of sunglasses and smiles.

“What a beautiful day,” she says. “Are you going to keep where we’re going a secret?”

“Only for a few minutes,” I say.

“You do know I don’t like surprises, right?”

“I remember you mentioning it, yeah.” I drum my fingers on my thigh at a stoplight. My notebook is sitting in my pocket, and her feelings toward surprises is jotted down somewhere in there. “I promise it’s a good surprise.”

“Worth the wait, I’m sure.” Amelia relaxes in the seat. “Lainey and Sienna want to take another trip to the East Coast, and I suggested Thanksgiving. Sienna’s team is playing the DC Titans for the Thanksgiving Day game, so it should work out perfectly.”

“I’m glad you told them about me. They’re important to you, and it sucks keeping the people you love in the dark about things that make you happy.”

“The more I think about it, the more I think you should tell your teammates about us. It’s not fair that the people close to me know while your best friends don’t.”

“Really?” I glance at her. “You’d be okay with that?”

“If you trust them, I trust them.”

“They wouldn’t have anything bad to say about you or our situation. Liam is married to someone who works for the team. Mitchy is dating Lexi, and Ethan has slept with half the city.”

“I slept with him once,” she says, and I whip my head to gape at her. “I’m totally kidding, but that reaction was so worth it.”

“Brat.” I pinch her thigh. “Ethan plays the outgoing guy well, but I think deep down, he does all of the flirting and social media pages because he’s lonely. I have a feeling he’s missing something in his life.”

“Sometimes the happiest people are the saddest ones.” Lia folds her hand over mine on her leg. “I’m glad you all are so close. That’s not always the case in locker rooms.”

“I got lucky. If I had a crisis, they’d be there. Hell. Look at Riley. Liam, Maverick, Hudson and I taught him how to drive again after his accident. You don’t do that with casual acquaintances. Those guys are my brothers.”

We pass the rest of the drive talking about our training camp schedules. Off the highway, we take quieter roads with sidewalks and big lawns and houses with wraparound porches. We pass couples walking their dogs and a park with swing sets. The properties are bigger, and there’s a Little Free Library on the corner.

“Are we meeting someone?” she asks, looking out the window.

“Nope.” I pull into a long driveway and cut off the engine. With high hedges and line of tall landscaping, the house can’t be seen from the street. “Come on.”

Amelia follows me to the porch. I fumble with the lockbox and grab the key waiting for me. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch her run her fingers along the banisters, her gaze flicking to the columns.

“The porch is so wide. You could fit rocking chairs out here,” she says.

“And some potted plants.”

“I doubt I’d be able to keep them alive.”