Page 49 of Offsides Attraction

Gloria looked surprised. “That would be lovely, thank you,” she said, kissing him on the cheek, before walking back to the table, clueless as to the disaster about to erupt.

“Do you want anything, Penny?” Five asked.

“Sebastian Vander Vetter’s head on a silver platter,” Penny said, as the temperature around them dropped. She hadn’t looked at him since his mother had outed him, and she risked a glance. The remorseful look in his eyes was a sucker punch to her heart.

“Let him explain,” Lucas said.

“You knew?” she asked, spinning toward Cal. The temperature dropped further.

“Just now, before we came in. You have a right to your cold fury—”he yanked the zipper up on his puffer jacket and glared at her—“but talk to him before you condemn him. And really, Penny, it’s no different from someone using a pen name. He’s still the same lovable prick.”

“Not helping.” Bash said with a slow exhale. “Give me five minutes to plead my case.”

“And then you’ll leave me alone?”

“Five minutes in your office. That’s all I ask.” He hadn’t answered her question, but Penny walked to the office with Bash hot on her heels. The sooner they discussed this, the sooner she’d be done with him. The heavy office door clicked behind them and she walked to the far side of the room. She wrapped her arms around herself as she leaned against the filing cabinet and stared at him.

“Clock’s ticking.”

“I don’t know where to start.”

Penny snorted. “How about the fact that you’re Sebastian Vander Vetter of the Vander Vetters and heir to the Vander Vetter Publishing empire, but you’re masquerading as a football player.”

“I wouldn’t say empire.”

“That’s your takeaway?” Penny’s voice cracked. “I don’t even know what to call you. Do you prefer Sebastian?”

“No. I hate that guy.” His anger surprised her. Sebastian Vander Vetter had everything she wanted, and he hated it. Penny wondered again about the possibility of parallel universes, but Elspeth always claimed it was a myth dreamed up by sci-fi writers.

“But Bash is short for Sebastian?” He nodded. At least that makes sense.

“A guy on my high school team started using it and it caught on. It fit, so I went with it. In college, there was a mess-up with the uniforms. They thought Vander was a middle name and didn’t put it on the jersey. I pointed out the mistake, but the coach said Vetter was better. They’d need to drop the font size to fit Vander Vetter on the back and it wasn’t worth the cost.”

“And that’s how your alter ego was born.”

“It’s like Cal said. Bash Vetter is my pen name. But Penny”—he stepped toward her—“I’m still the same guy. It doesn’t matter what you call me.”

“Ass,” she mumbled, feeling better for the verbal slight, and the jerk chuckled. She hated that his argument made sense. Her anger subsided, but her hurt didn’t. “Why not keep the charade going?”

“I knew I could help.” He brushed her cheek as he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Are we good?”

“No.” Unlike him, she was honest. He’d had valid reasons for his behavior, but he should have been forthcoming with her.

“Will we be?” The raw sound of his voice matched her emotions.

“I need time to process.”

“That’s fair,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. Bash sounded disappointed and resigned, and Penny hated how reasonable and understanding he was. He should fight for her. For them. Not roll over like a submissive dog and give her space.

“What are you doing?” she asked as her traitorous arms slipped around him.

“You need a Penny Buchanan hug.”

“I don’t need a hug.” She breathed him in and a part of her settled. “And why do you call it a Penny Buchanan hug?”

“Because with you it’s a full body hug, and there’s always a tiny sigh that escapes when you tuck your head between my chin and shoulder, like you’re doing now. Think about this while you’re thinking about us,” he said before tilting her head and kissing her tenderly. He slipped past her defenses and surprised her with a full press blitz as he fought for her forgiveness with his kiss and touch.

She pushed him away. “You make it hard to think.”

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