Page 21 of First Down Promise

“Yeah, I looked him up on social media.”

Which I did after Josh told me about him. He appeared to be tall, but not as tall as Josh, with light brown hair and vibrant blue eyes. A former frat bro, too, but he graduated a couple of years ahead of me.

“Are you meeting him, or is he picking you up?” Pete asks, but it’s a privacy test.

“Meeting him, obviously. I didn’t think you’d want me giving your address out to a stranger,” I answer.

Pete’s shoulders sag. “It’s your address too, Abs.”

I push back from the counter, clutching my small bag. “Anyway, I need to go.”

“Well, have fun, I guess. Let me know if you need anything, or if he gives you weird vibes.”

“Yes, big brother. I will,” I tease again.

“Hey, I’m allowed to look out for you,” he says, lifting his hands in surrender.

It’s probably weird for Pete. I haven’t been on a date since I lived in Wisconsin. Sure, I always had a date for homecoming and prom in high school, but I never really dated anyone. And for someone who never dates, I should be nervous or have butterflies, but every time Rhett’s name lit up my phone this week, my stomach stayed frustratingly still. I’m just not invested yet, but that means nothing. It could be love at first sight.

Chocolate brown eyes, wavy hair peeking under a ball cap…number eighty-one.

I shake my head as I open my car door. If that Family Day was love at first sight, it’s been cruelly one-sided. Josh has always been an unhealthy infatuation, and I just need to get clean. Rhett could be the Josh Mackenzie antidote and be someone I can move on with.

I rest my forehead on the steering wheel along my hairline to avoid smudging my makeup. Is it toxic of me to wish for Josh to stay single for the rest of his life?

Driving doesn’t distract me as I navigate to downtown Nashville. Thoughts of Josh’s love life refuse to leave me alone the whole way. I arrive outside the burger joint where Rhett and I agreed to meet. It has a hipster vibe with an industrial yet modern style. Loud country music blares over the outdoor patio seating, and I spot Rhett standing by the front door.

I exhale in relief when I see that he looks like his pictures on social media and actually showed up, but for a first look, nothing inside of me stirs. He’s dressed as if he came here straight from work in a pair of khaki pants and a polo, and while he’s tall, he’s slim and slightly toned. But he’s not broad like Josh, and I’ve spent too much time fantasizing about clinging to Josh’s big shoulders.

“Hey, Abby, right?” he asks as I approach.

“Yeah, hi,” I reply.

He gives me an awkward side hug, and I breathe in something a little too strong on him. Axe? It’s not the subtle cologne I’m used to on Pete…or Josh, and it goes straight to my head, making it ache. I’ll still give him a chance. Cologne can be swapped, but I didn’t realize I was so sensitive to scents.

As we walk through the front door and into the air conditioning, I realize this is an order-and-pay-first, then-seat-yourself type of restaurant. We put in our orders, and I wait awkwardly while he swipes his card. It shouldn’t be so uncomfortable letting a guy pay for a date since it’s pretty standard on a first date, but should I have offered to split it? What’s the rule when it’s a blind date?

We find an empty table and take our seats. I set my paper cup, filled with ice and water, in front of me. Having a burger and fries is cheating enough; I didn’t need a soda as well. There’s a home game in a couple of days, and I’ll be taking advantage of Pete’s home gym tomorrow.

“So, how do you know Josh?” I ask while we wait for our order.

“I sold him his truck,” he answers.

“Oh, that’s right.” I knew that when I asked, but we desperately needed an icebreaker. “Do you like working for the dealership?”

His shoulders lift and fall as he rests his elbows on the table. “Eh, it pays the bills.”

“What’s your dream job, then?” I ask, trying to make eye contact, but his gaze stays on his soda.

“I don’t know anymore. Someday, I might be a manager at the dealership since I have a business degree.”

All right, so we might need to dig deeper to get an ounce of personality out of this guy. If Coop were sitting across from me, he would have already told me I looked beautiful, darling, or if he were Dane, he would have hit me with a funny yet weirdly sensual one-liner. And Josh? He would have said something dorky like that one time he said, catch you around. Is it normal for a guy who is supposed to be uninterested in a girl to be so damn awkward? I’ll have to ask Sadie for her take on it.

“I have a degree in marketing. I’m not sure what to do with it yet,” I say.

“But you cheer and have a famous brother.” His tone finally has some life to it, but something about it doesn’t sit right.

I furrow my eyebrows at him. “What does Pete have to do with my degree?”