Page 93 of Penalty Kick

“You look like you could use a proverbial shoulder,” Dalton said, sidling up next to her. “My preference in moments like these is to offer tequila or rum, but since neither of those were in the cooler, your choices are cider or beer.”

Holding up a bottle of each, he moved them up and down, trying to see which option sounded better to her. Talia didn’t feel much like drinking, but she also didn’t want to be rude. Taking the cider from him, she twisted the cap off, taking a long swig. The cold liquid hit her throat, sending a shiver through her body, soothing her insides. Apparently she did need a drink.

“I know we don’t know each other all that well, or really at all, but I’m your uncle now—”

“I’m not calling you that. Same rules apply as Cowboy and Cullen. Happy to have you in my life, but I’m not calling you uncle. It’s weird.”

Dalton barked out a laugh. “Deal. ’Cause you’re right, it is weird.”

“Do you prefer Dalton or Tripp though? All these damn nicknames get really confusing.”

“Dalton. Absolutely Dalton. Tripp is an old family nickname, and frankly, someone I don’t even recognize anymore. He…” Dalton sighed, taking a long drag of his own drink. “Tripp did some things in the past trying to be cool that ended up backfiring and hurting the most important person in the world. Dalton got really lucky though, and she forgave him.”

Talia nodded. She didn’t know the ins and outs of what happened between Dalton and Zara, but Felicity had told her about how they had been childhood best friends who lost touch for almost a decade. Felicity would never fully admit it out loud either, but Talia also knew from the little she’d shared that Felicity had a special place in her heart for Zara for bringing Dalton back to Atlanta.

“So, like I said, proverbial shoulder,” Dalton continued. “Lay it on me!”

“Just how much do you know?” she asked, a little afraid to know the answer. She’d never been someone who shouted her business from the rooftops, so the idea that the news had traveled made a knot form in her stomach. Dalton might be family, but still, this whole ordeal didn’t need to be public information.

“Not sure I should admit to this, but I do own the parent company…so…all of it.”

“All of it?” she squeaked. Well, shit…

“Vegas, post Vegas corrective actions, pregnant stripper, and now apparently blackmail,” he listed. “Oh, and apparently someone got caught making out in the weight room.” He gave her a pointed look, but the curl of his lips into a knowing smirk gave him away.

“Like you’ve never been caught red-handed,” she quipped.

“This conversation is not about me,” he retorted, shaking his head and laughing.

Talia laughed. She could see why everyone liked Dalton so much. He was easy to be around, and he had a way about him that made you want to open up and spill all your secrets. Letting out a long sigh, she turned to look at him.

“I’m a bit of a mess,” she admitted. “And I’m not really sure why. My head is all over the place.”

“And where is your heart in all this?”

“Broken.” It was a simple answer, but still the most truthful thing she could say. “I trusted him. I trusted him like I have never trusted anyone else,” she emphasized, wanting to get the point across without having to say the words. Dalton nodded, the kindness in his eyes telling her he understood. “But now I’m not sure he’s the guy I thought I knew.”

“Because of the one-night stand?” Dalton questioned. Talia shrugged. “Because you’ve never held that against Gunnar.”

“What? No,” Talia answered before pausing.

Was that part of this? She hadn’t really stopped to consider how close to her own beginnings this was. Granted, her mother wasn’t a stripper, but still, she and Gunnar hadn’t known each other, and the whole thing had apparently gone down in a back alley—not the proudest moment for either of them. She’d also never thought less of either of them for that moment. Part of her maybe should have, since Elena had technically been cheating on Robert, but she wasn’t here to judge that choice either. Yet she was doing nothing but judging Dash’s…

“No,” she said again. “It wasn’t the one-night stand. Which apparently didn’t happen anyway. I don’t feel cheated on, nothing like that. It’s…it’s just the whole thing. All of it.”

“You're hurt because you see the good in him and are hurt by even the possibility that he could be anything other than the amazing man you know him to be.”

The profoundness of the statement caught Talia off guard. She blinked a couple of times, letting it sink in. Hurt by even the possibility that he could be anything other than the amazing man you know him to be. Well damn, if that wasn’t the whole of it.

“Exactly.”

Silence fell between them, even the animated conversation from the rest of the group having died down. Talia tried to find something to say. Something more that could help her express the chaos that was inside her. But she couldn’t.

“Talia, take it from someone who used to be that good-time guy,” Dalton said, breaking the silence. “Dash is who you think he is. I know he pulled a bunch of shit in the past, and that makes you doubt him, but don’t. People make mistakes. You’re allowed to be hurt and confused. Please don’t think that I’m saying you shouldn’t be. But give him the benefit of the doubt, and talk it out with him.”

“But what if it was just an act. I know Theo has proved that Vegas wasn’t what we all thought it was, but…but that also doesn't mean he wasn’t playing me.”

There it was. The thing that was holding her back still. Her fear that this was just all a game. That he hadn’t really fallen for her the way she had fallen for him. That she had made a mistake in trusting him. In choosing him.