Page 17 of The Path to Loving Him
“Why would you say that?” she asks with a snarl to her lip.
“Because I didn’t think I was going to see him again,” I say through clenched teeth. “I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that I was going to get that job, so I thought, why not throw all caution to the wind, make up an alter ego, and run with it.”
“Well, good job accomplishing that plan.”
“Bower,” I groan, pacing the living room of my tiny apartment. “This is serious. What the hell am I going to do? Should I call Mr. Ganbear back and tell him I regret to inform him that I actually can’t take the job because I fucked his head coach and he thinks I’m a travel blogger?”
“Uh . . . no.”
“Then what?” I ask, holding my hands out.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Does this face look like someone who knows the obvious?” I ask, pointing at my face.
“Possibly.”
“Bower,” I groan. “Come on. This is serious.”
“It’s serious, but it’s nothing to be worried about. Do you know why? Because you’re going to walk into that school and on that baseball field like you own it, just like you owned Ryland Rowley the other night.”
“I did not own him. He owned me.”
She shakes her head. “Not how it works. A man can only own a woman in the bedroom if she allows it. Therefore, you owned him.”
I go to argue but then think about it for a second. I mean, she’s kind of right. I have to give him permission to own and control my body like he did . . . maybe I did own him.And I let the man spank me. Spank. Me.
“I can see it in your eyes. You owned him.”
“I mean . . . maybe I did a little. He did come really hard and then had to lay on the bed a bit to catch his breath.”
“See. You owned him. So take that power you harnessed and walk into Almond Bay unapologetically.”
“Do you really think I can do that? I mean, I lied to him and slept with him. Don’t you think it will be awkward?”
“Only if you make it.” She crosses her legs. “This is an opportunity, Gabby, one that you need. Do not let it slip by you because you took one night for yourself and did something unapologetically. Also, when have you ever cared what people thought?”
“True,” I say as I sit on the couch again. She takes my hand and looks me in the eyes.
“You go into Almond Bay and turn that town upside down. That includes Ryland Rowley.”
“Yeah.” I nod. “I can do this. I’m going to do this.” Chin held high, I add, “Look out, Almond Bay, I’m coming.”
“In more ways than one,” Bower adds with a waggle of her brows.
“Oh my God,” I say as I push my friend away. “Trust me, if there is one thing I know for sure, sex with Ryland Rowley is completely off the table. No one will be coming . . . for a while.”
Chapter Four
RYLAND
“He what?” I shout at my principal, Herbert Jenkins.
Mustache twitching over his upper lip, bald head shining under the fluorescent lights of his office, he calmly says, “David hired your assistant coach.” He tosses me a paper with a single name on it: Gabriel Brinkman.
I stare down at it and then back up at Herbert. “Who the fuck is Gabriel Brinkman?”
“Also our new math hire.”
