Caught Offsides – Gina Azzi

Carla offers as I grab a sweater and drape it over my shoulders. “No.” I shake my head. “I mean, thank you. But I need to do this on my own.” I don’t miss the way Luca’s jaw tightens. I give him a soft smile. “I’m really okay, Luca.”

“I looked this kid up—” my brother starts. “He’s not a kid,” Carla murmurs. Luca narrows his eyes at her. “He’s twenty-five. He’s starting his first season playing in Europe, and he just found out he’s going to be a father,” Luca scoffs. “And you think he’s going to stick around?” Carla winces and I sigh. “He’s here, Luca,” I remind my brother. “After I pretty much ghosted him. He got on the first flight the second I told him the news.”

“I’d say he’s handling things pretty well,” Carla adds. I nod. As much as I hate to admit it, Niko is taking this news a lot better than I expected. Much better than Christian did. Hell, even better than I handled it, which I’m trying not to hold against him. Luca swears and drags a hand through his hair. “Invite him over for dinner.”

“What?” I gasp. My brother gives me a look. “I want to meet him. Invite him for dinner. Tomorrow night.” He glances at Carla and she nods, indicating that their schedules are free to host my baby’s daddy for dinner. Fuck. I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know how much time he has or⁠—” “He’ll come.”

Luca cuts me off. “If he’s serious about this, about you and the baby, he’ll figure out a way to come. Tell him.” “Fine.” “Good.” My brother moves toward the door and yanks it open. “Be honest with him, B. But he better fucking step up.” I sigh and move to walk through the door, but at the last moment, Luca reaches out and tugs on my ponytail.

“You can do this,” he murmurs the encouragement. I drop my head so I don’t fucking cry. Nodding, I say, “I hope so. See you later.” Then, I leave the apartment and take the elevator to the ground floor. When I push out of the apartment building, I suck in a cool, crisp breath. Moving through Mercat Colon, I slow my pace and enjoy the airy breeze, the chatter spilling from the restaurants and cafés, and the moment of solitude.

The arches of the market are high, leading to intricate mosaics and gorgeous stained glass. I study the images of a harvest and take comfort in the depiction. There is simplicity and abundance, perseverance and community, all in one overarching theme. And I realize that impending motherhood, and all the conflicting feelings it brings, isn’t new. It’s something that women have endured for centuries.

Copyright © 2026 by Gina Azzi No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. 1kitap1.com/en contents Social Media Post 1. Niko 2. Bianca 3. Niko 4. Bianca Social Media Post 5. Niko 6. Bianca 7. Niko 8. Bianca 9. Niko Social Media Post 10. Bianca 11. Niko Club Stuttgart Official Correspondence 12. Bianca 13. Niko 14. Bianca 15. Niko Social Media Post 16. Bianca 17. Niko 18. Bianca 19.

Niko 20. Bianca 21. Niko 22. Bianca Social Media Post 23. Niko 24. Bianca 25. Niko Social Media Post 26. Bianca For Immediate Release Social Media Post 27. Niko 28. Bianca 29. Niko Epilogue Social Media Post Player Spotlight: Niko Karas Also by Gina Azzi About the Author 1kitap1.com/en social media post @NikoKarasSoccer Fire shoot today before the big move!

Pumped to be repping URBN Move before heading overseas to join @ClubStuttgart. I’ve got 48 hours in NYC—recommendations? #nextchapter #urbnmove #streetstyle #dreambig @SweetPea3 I love URBN Move! So happy you’re their new brand ambassador @NikoKarasSoccer @SoccerGurl I can be in NYC in 2 hours. Where should we meet? @SoccerSux33 Stick to playing the game. Do you really need to add modeling to your social media description? @DimiDoesChi Get some pizza. Bring some back for me. @URBNMoveOfficial @KelseyCrushesGoals The Greek God of Goals does modeling too?!

@ChiTownSports Yas! Love to see this @NikoKarasSoccer. The city is going to miss you big. @BiancaDiBlancoStreetStyle You’re late @NikoKarasSoccer. 1kitap1.com/en 1 niko “YOU’RE LATE,” the hot brunette mutters as I stroll into the location of the photoshoot, an industrial warehouse turned creative studio. Several areas of the large space are prearranged with furniture—a wingback armchair, a leather couch, barstools of varying heights—and set with props.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 110b2a177491df93
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,546,399 bytes (2.428 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 271
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 316.27 minutes
• Total Words: 63,255
• Total Characters: 348,210
• Average Words per Page: 233.41
• Average Characters per Page: 1284.91

Most Frequent Words

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