Dare To Love Series: Dreaming Up a Dare (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Free

have to play on the same team as him.
    “We already passed the trade deadline, anyway,” I pointed out, hoping to ease her worry a bit more. “So nothing else could happen until the summer.”
    “That’s good,” she murmured. Still worried. I could hear it in her voice even if she was trying to hide it from me. I couldn’t blame her, either. She’d just left everything she’d ever known in Livingston to come and live in Miami with me, but if I were to suddenly have to up and move to some other city…where would that leave her? It was a legitimate question. I didn’t want her to have that kind of worry. Hell, I didn’t want her to have any worries.
    “I’m just glad you’re coming to the party with me tonight,” I said, hoping she’d let me change the subject that easily. I didn’t want to think about Elle and LeBlanc anymore. I didn’t want another reminder that this would be my first summer without Elle in five years. I just wanted to move on, and with Pepper here, there wasn’t any better way of doing that.
    “I still don’t understand why Alex Dare wants you to be at that party,” Pepper said. She whisked the eggs in the bowl with a fork before pouring them into a baking dish over a bunch of potatoes and veggies, popping it into the oven, and going back to putting together a fruit salad.
    The problem Pepper was having with the party wasn’t the fact that I’d been invited; it was that I wanted her to go with me. She’d never liked being surrounded by a bunch of people she didn’t know. It would be bad enough if they were my teammates. At least she was somewhat familiar with those guys, even if she didn’t know them. But I was probably the only person she would know tonight, and that was going to leave her feeling insanely uncomfortable. I’d have to do everything in my power to help her relax while we were there, especially if I wanted to be sure she met the right people and made the right contacts. This was about her future. It was a first step, sure, but if she didn’t take this one, the rest wouldn’t follow very soon.
    “We spent a lot of time together last season after my concussion. Bonded over it.”
    I’d been out of the lineup for almost six months with mine. He’d suffered one that had ended his pro football career a few years ago. These days, he worked with the Thunder, helping guys navigate the transition from being professional athletes into whatever the next stage of their lives might be. For a while, I’d wondered if I’d be hitting him up to help me make that transition a hell of a lot sooner than I was ready for, but even though I was playing again, he’d left that door open.
    “He helped me out a lot back then,” I added.
    My concussion had occurred at around the same time Pepper was going through her recovery. For a while, I’d thought we were both facing the end of our careers.
    Alex had talked me through a lot of it. Pointed me in the right direction as far as local doctors who specialized in head trauma. If the guy wanted me at a Miami Thunder party, you could bet I’d be there.
    With Pepper on my arm, so I could help her figure out what to do next.
    “So we’re definitely going,” she said, sounding deflated.
    “We’re going.”
    “Please tell me there’ll be alcohol.”
    “Open bar,” I replied, grinning. Because now I knew she would come without continuing to give me a hard time. “We’ll take a cab, too. It’ll be great.”

Two
     
     
     
    Pepper
     
    Under normal circumstances , I never felt smaller than I did standing next to Jackson. It had a lot to do with the fact that he had a good foot and a half or more on me, not to mention that he weighed at least twice what I did. Our size difference hadn’t stopped me from being able to get him in a choke hold when we were younger, but now he was all muscle. I didn’t think I’d be trying that one again any time soon, even if he pissed me off.
    He looked like a man among boys when he was with his