Page 55 of The Do-Over Girl

“Because you don’t sound convincing?”

I laugh. “You’ve got balls, Dylan. I’ll give you that. But you have a fair point. I guess my take on girlfriends is that there’s a time and place, and there’s a limit. If you think you can handle the distraction, then you’re better than I was at your age.”

“But you did handle it. You crushed it in high school and got a scholarship.”

The boy makes another good point and this is one of those times I wish he wasn’t so relentless.

“You’re right. Maybe it was all in my head. Maybe I had a lot of growing up to do and you’re different.” I shrug. Maybe I messed up. But this isn’t about me, it’s about Dylan and he’s come to me for life advice. Time to earn my stripes as a high school coach. “How serious are you with Mia?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. Seems we share our communication style. “She makes me feel good, I mean better about myself. Like I can conquer the world and I can tell her, I don’t know, when I’m worried about things.”

“Sounds serious.” I know what to say, what sounds right to say and I hope to hell I am right. “Sounds like you have a good thing going. Don’t waste your chance. Don’t let go of a good thing.” I watch him. “But Dylan, don’t let it derail you when you hit a rough patch.”

“I won’t, sir.” He tries not to smile.

I smirk to ease his tension. “Enough serious talk,” I say. “Get out of here before your dad calls me looking for you.”

“You kidding? He’s thrilled that you’re spending so much time helping me and the others. You’re the best, coach.”

“Back at ya, kid.”

* * *

I walkinto the house and automatically head to the kitchen. It’s too late for dinner in the dining room. The scent of roasted chicken permeates the air, but, for once, I don’t feel much like eating. I take a seat at the table set for two, weariness setting in. No one’s around, and I wonder about the second plate, whether Mrs. Pike plans to join me tonight.

Part of me is relieved at the idea of not having to see Kali, but most of me will be fucking pissed and disappointed if she doesn’t show. As I spread my legs and lean back in my chair, thinking maybe I ought to forget about dinner and head for bed, Kali comes into the room from the hallway, breathless, like she ran all the way.

I take her in, my breath stopping for a beat because she’s dressed for something, like she’s going out in a little black dress that hugs her body, dipping low to show creamy white mounds of her breasts and short enough to show most of her long shapely legs.

My first instinct is to whistle, but I don’t for a lot of reasons, chief being that I need to know if she’s going somewhere—or if she’s dressed like that for me.

“Where’s Mrs. Pike?” I ask as she walks toward me.

“She took the night off to visit with friends in Bath. I told her I’d take over and cook your dinner.”

My brows go up automatically. “That’s some chef’s outfit.”

She laughs,sitting opposite me, about to say something that will dissolve my intentions to go on the straight and narrow path and keep her at arm’s length to follow the directive I gave the team to concentrate on hockey.

“What are you doing, Kali?” I keep my cool—for a minute—staring at her.

She blinks, not responding right away while gathering her poise. I don’t let her. “What was that bullshit you told the kids about that dance being nothing? We were kids, but we had something. Are you lying to the kids or yourself, Kali?”

There are a few beats where the emotions running amok on her face settle into something resembling sadness. Fuck. Anything but that. What about embarrassed or contrite or…any damn thing but sad. I can feel my resolve to put her aside cracking, but I can’t let that happen. Who knows where I’ll end up if I let her sit across from me at dinner wearing that dress?

“I’m sorry, Nash. You’re right. I...was taken by surprise. But I don’t think it’s any of their business, is it?”

“Fuck, no.”

“Good—”

“Answer me this, Kali. Do you think whatever we had didn’t matter, that it was nothing more than a teenage crush?” I have no idea why I’m asking, why I’m pushing her because it’s pretty fucking clear she had some idea about us getting together tonight, and I’ve been literally dreaming about spending another night with her.

She sighs and meets my eyes. “Truth? I was madly and deeply in love with you then. You were the love of my life, and no matter how many years have passed and how much it pains me, a part of me is still in love with you, Nash.”

I don’t move as I take in her words, letting them lash me, letting them make me feel too much. Her eyes sparkle with tears, but she doesn’t cry. Her face shows all her pain and sadness without tears.

She starts to stand, and I grab her arm, stopping her. “Where are you going?”