Page 87 of Penalty Kick

“Please explain.”

Frisky sighed heavily, apparently annoyed that he even had to ask. This woman was on his last nerve.

“Money. You pay me what I want, and this will all go away.”

Money. She wanted money. He should have known. All she saw was a professional athlete, in town winning a championship. Of course that screamed money to her.

“And if I do not?”

The smile fell from her face, her eyes turning cold. As she slowly stalked toward him, the temperature of the room dropped. It had been warm in here all day, the bright Georgia sun streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows turning it into an oven. Until now. Now it felt like an ice bath.

“Then it won’t just be a baby you have to worry about, but assault allegations. And what will your sweet little girl think of you then?”

Rage flew through Dash. How dare she bring up Talia. Thanks to her, Dash was left to wonder if he’d lost her forever. The one person who he thought had understood him. The person he thought was his forever. Frisky had made her doubt him. He couldn’t blame Talia completely—he had acted poorly in the past, and there were pictures and videos to prove it. But that was the past. The real him wanted her—all of her—for forever. Wanted to be by her side as she tackled those big dreams of hers. As she took on the world. Wanted to watch as she walked down an aisle toward him wearing white. And the only time he ever wanted to think about a pregnancy test was when Talia was waving one in his face, happy tears streaming down hers, showing off a plus sign.

“Leave her out of this.”

“Gladly.”

Frisky sauntered toward him, pulling a piece of folded-up paper from her back pocket. Slapping it against his chest, she smirked again, all her ill intent on full display.

“It’s all right here,” she continued. “How much and where to send it. And before you try and claim you don’t have it, the league is required to disclose your salary. So, we know you’re good for it. If the money isn’t in the account in forty-eight hours, you’ll be seeing my face on the news.”

Dash’s skin was on fire, the anger still boiling in him. He didn’t need to look at the number to know it was more than he was willing to pay. He just wasn’t sure how much of a choice he had. Either way, Talia was never going to forgive him. Hell, she was never going to believe him, much less forgive him. Either it was going to look like he paid off the mother of his child to disappear from his life, or he was going to be accused of a crime. This was a no-win situation.

With one last smirk, Frisky gave Dash a little shove, spinning around with the flair one would expect from a dancer, leaving him alone in the weight room. The silence that now surrounded him was deafening. The day had started out so great—a good solid practice in the morning, followed by an even better solo lifting session. Then Talia had barreled in here, and he was sure things couldn’t get any better. Well, he’d been right. Suddenly, he wished that the worst thing in his world was Gunnar being pissed that he’d been dating Talia behind his back. That concern seemed so small now. So fixable.

Because despite what Cowboy said, Dash was sure that after Frisky’s visit, giving Talia a couple of days wasn’t going to cut it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“You have to tell Gunnar,” Liam said, twisting in the booth to face Dash.

His large frame was already a tight squeeze into this space, but his new position made him seem even bigger. They needed to start asking the hostess for a table, where they each had their own chair.

Dash sat back, letting out a long, hard breath. His head was pounding, probably from the lack of sleep, his whole body so tense that all the massaging in the world wouldn’t help. Not with this whole blackmail thing hanging over him. He’d spent last night tossing and turning, alternating between thoughts on how to get out of this and how to win Talia back. Unfortunately, he’d come up with zero answers on either front.

Thankfully, the SOS text he’d sent around two a.m. to the guys asking to meet for breakfast before training hadn’t gone ignored. Liam, Chance, and Elliot had all been waiting for him when he strolled into the diner this morning, his heart the heaviest it’d ever been.

“Oh, you mean the coach who all but threatened to tear me limb from limb yesterday when he found me kissing his daughter?” Dash asked. “And that was before the whole pregnant Vegas stripper part.”

“He needs to know.”

“I agree with Liam,” Elliot added. “He might be pissed about you and Talia, but he’s not going to let you be blackmailed.”

Dash shrugged. He hoped his buddy was right, but there was no way of knowing. He’d gotten himself in some deep shit, and for all he knew, his coach might think that he deserved this. Hell, part of him thought he deserved it. If he hadn’t been so focused on putting on a show for everyone around him and had just been himself, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Then Talia might still be in his life.

“Look, I know he can be mean; he’s been my coach for years,” Liam said. “But I’ve said it before, the man is tough, but fair. If you tell him what is going on, he’ll put aside his anger and help. He won’t let you be treated like this just because he’s pissed.”

“How is she?” Dash asked. It was a hell of a non sequitur, but he didn’t care. He needed to know. His heart hurt at the thought that she was in pain. Pain that he caused.

“I don’t know.”

“How do you not know? You live in the same building. You are dating her roommate. Avery must have told you something.”

“Avery stayed at their place last night. I went up there around nine to check in and see if they needed anything. Even brought pizza. Door was opened and promptly slammed in my face again. Reopened about fifteen seconds later, pizza taken from me, and slammed shut again.”

“Damn, that’s harsh,” Chance commented.