Seth groans and throws his head back, sending me a look like he wishes I had kept my mouth shut.
“I think you should sign up,” she says. Her voice quivers a little.
“What about the girls?” he asks.
“What about them?” she replies. “I’ll just start picking them up every day.”
Seth scratches his head. “You’re okay with that?”
She nods and smiles at him. “I’m fine with it.”
Seth smiles at her, too. “Okay,” he says.
“Will you let me know when your games are so I can come watch?” she asks.
“Matches,” Seth and I both say at the same time.
She laughs and holds up both hands in surrender. “Matches,” she repeats. “Sorry,” she says, but she’s laughing, too. “So, can I go to your matches?” she asks.
Seth nods. “Sure.” He looks toward the kitchen like he wants to get free. “I’m just going to get some water and go to bed,” he says.
“Good night,” Skylar calls.
He looks back over his shoulder and says quietly, “’Night, Aunt Sky.”
He walks away, and I look over at Skylar, only she looks a little shell-shocked. Like a stiff wind could blow her over. “You okay?” I ask.
She laughs and shakes her head. “Did you hear that?” she asks.
“He’s going to wrestle?” I’m slightly baffled.
“No,” she says quietly. “He called me Aunt Sky.” Her eyes are a little misty, I realize, so I squeeze her knee. She covers my hand with hers and looks up at me. Her gaze shoots straight to the center of me. “Thanks for your help.” Suddenly, her phone chirps from her pocket, and she lets my hand go to reach for it. “My boyfriend,” she says. She doesn’t look very happy to be hearing from him.
“I should go.” She has a f**king boyfriend, numbnuts, I remind myself. I get to my feet and throw my beer bottle in the recycling bin. She follows me to the door. “Call me if you need anything?” I suggest. Or if you don’t need anything, I want to add, but I don’t.
She leans heavily against the edge of the door. “I will,” she says. And I believe her. I just hope something goes dreadfully wrong so she’ll actually call me. No loss of life or limb or anything drastic. Maybe a leaky sink or a stopped-up toilet. “’Night,” she says.
“’Night,” I reply. She closes the door, and I stand there for a moment because I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.
The door suddenly opens, and Sky sticks her head out. She bumps into my chest, and I steady her by grabbing her elbows. I try to wipe the grin off my face, but it’s almost impossible. “Did you need something else?” I ask over a laugh.
“You’re still here,” she says against my chest. The heat of her breath does funny things to my insides. And the rest of me. “I wanted to ask you something,” she says, her voice all breathy.
She leans a shoulder in the doorway and looks up at me, her eyes so blue and clear that I could fall into them and stay there. She bites her lower lip between her teeth and then says in one big rush, “You mentioned when we were walking into the restaurant that you didn’t take my hand just because it was trembling. I was wondering…um…why else you might do that.”
I reach up and tug the length of leather that was holding my hair back and let it fall around my face. Then I make a big production of tying it back up, but I really just want to buy myself some time to figure out how to answer her. I grin. “I did mention that wasn’t the only reason, didn’t I?” I ask, still stalling.
She nods, still worrying that lower lip. Her cheeks are rosy, and her eyes are bright.
I don’t know the right way to respond, so instead I bend down and kiss her cheek. I linger, letting her breath blow across my shoulder as I take in the scent of her. It’s clean and girly with a hint of citrus and so damn breathtaking that I can barely stop sniffing her. I take one last inhale and whisper, “I did it because I like you.” She shivers lightly, and I see the hair on her arms stand up. I force myself to walk away. It takes everything I have in me not to turn around and look at her again. But I don’t. I keep walking.
###
I let myself into our apartment and stop short when I see someone sitting on the couch talking to Paul. My brother gets up, looking uncomfortable as hell. “Look who dropped by,” Paul says, pointing toward our guest. My euphoria ends immediately. All the good thoughts I had when I left Sky are suddenly dashed against the wall that is treachery and deceit.
His name is Kenneth, and he used to be my best friend. Right up until the moment that he f**ked my fiancée, April. “Ken,” I bite out. “What the f**k are you doing here?” I ask.
Paul gets between us, like he could keep me off him if I really wanted a piece of him. Not hardly.
“Well,” Ken says. “I…um…I was hoping we could talk.” He looks toward Paul like he doesn’t want to say anything in front of him.
Paul steps up beside me. “Do you want me to leave?”
I shrug. I can kick Ken’s ass just as well with him in the room as I can with him out of it. “Do whatever you want,” I say. I reach into the fridge and take out a beer, pop the top by resting it on the edge of the counter and slamming it. Then I flick the metal top toward the trash can. “Score,” I whisper to the room as it shoots inside.