Page 1 of Offside Possession

CHAPTER 1

STELLA MIRANDA

“Will you please just meet him?” my brother pleaded on the other end of the phone. I was tired. No, check that; I was exhausted.

“Sam,” I groaned heavily, even though I’d seen this coming from a mile away. My big brother was so predictable it was annoying!

“You don’t know anyone out there,” he pointed out, like that was reason enough for me to meet a complete and utter stranger even though he knew him from back when they were in high school. A LONG-ASS TIME AGO!

“And? That’s why you meet people,” I argued. I knew by his exhale that he knew I had a valid point. Sam knew just how good I was at getting to know people, making strangers into friends.

I never had.

I had a unique talent that helped me get people out of their self-imposed shells.

“You’re in Houston, Stells.”

“Good job. You learned how to read your location tracker,” I muttered under my breath, then frowned. “Which, hey, cool, but it’s kinda creepy, and you should probably turn it off.”

“What if you go hook up with randos again?”

“Well, wouldn’t that make me a lucky girl?” I smirked and could almost feel him rolling his eyes. “You shouldn’t do that; they could stay like that.”

“Do what?” he asked.

“Roll your eyes.”

“You’re not psychic,” he muttered. I giggled.

“You just did it again, and may I note you’re not denying you did indeed roll your eyes the first time.”

“Stells.”

“Can you just breathe, Sam! I’m okay. I will be okay! My place is all set up and livable. I have a great new job. Not only that, I am a grown woman who is fully capable. I’m almost thirty, believe it or not!”

“But you don’t know anyone.” The exasperation in his voice was a tone I was more than familiar with.

“I get that, but to be fair, I don’t know this guy, either.”

“He came to the house… like, twice.”

“Yeah, when I was what? Six? Seven? I don’t even remember him. I wasn’t like Rainy or Windy drooling over your smelly friends.”

“No, you were always stuck in your room playing with tarot cards reading your Build-A-Bears their future.” I laughed because he wasn’t wrong.

“And look at me today. I’m doing great. Talking about doing a reading, I have to go.” It was a total lie. I just wanted to hang up and move on from this crazy idea of meeting one of my brother’s old friends.

“Stells,” he warned. “Please? For peace of mind? So I don’t suffer an early heart attack at forty.”

“You can only play that card one more time in your life, Samuel Miranda. That’s unfair to put on me and to test the universe with that kind of crap, especially after you just got married.”

“Deal. I just want to make sure if something happens or you need help, there’s someone in Houston who can get to you in less than an hour, not a whole flight away.”

“You’re sweet, big brother,” I mumbled. “But you do realize that even if I meet this friend of yours, he will more than likely always be on the road all over the place.” This was a guees since his friend was some kind of hockey player or something.

“I get that, but he has people. Friends around who could be there, too.”

“Oh god, Sam! Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now? He probably thinks I’m some stranded twelve-year-old like on Home Alone. You do realize I’m more than capable of taking care of myself, right? I did it in LA. I can do it here.”