“You weren’t mean,” she says. “You just ignored me.” Her mouth forms a pout of annoyance.
“I should have talked to you more, so you didn’t feel so rejected.” I unwisely add, “But I didn’t want you to get your hopes up.”
Allie glares at me, her eyes burning with the fire of a thousand suns. “Clearly. But you don’t have to worry about that now. I’m good and over my infatuation with you, Noah. You’re nothing but a co-worker to me.”
I know I had that coming, but still,ouch. “I wasn’t trying to insinuate you still liked me. But couldn’t we be more than co-workers?” Her alarmed look causes me to rectify that request. “Couldn’t we be friends?”
“Friends.” She repeats the word like she’s never heard it before.
“Why not? I mean, you’re friends with my sister. Couldn’t you be my friend, too?”
“What would our being friends entail?”
I shift my weight from foot to foot nervously. “I don’t know. We could have coffee in the break room sometime. Or we could catch a movie, maybe grab a burger …” I’m making a real muck of this. I’m actually trying to ask Allie out without asking her out because she’s made it clear she’s not ready.
“I go out to eat with my friends,” she says hesitantly. “But if we do this, I pay for myself.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” I tell her with a smile on my face. “How would you like to have dinner tonight?”
“I’m meeting my parents tonight,” she says. “I moved into anapartment above Rosemary’s and they don’t know I’ve left home yet.”
“Excuse me?” I ask with a laugh. “They think you still live with them?”
Her chin bobs up and down. “I’m pretty sure.” Then she says, “I could have supper with you tomorrow night, though.”
“Sounds like a date,” I say enthusiastically. Her look of alarm has me adding, “A friend date, nothing more.”
“We can meet over at the diner after basketball practice tomorrow night.” Then she turns and marches out of the gym like she’s leading a parade.
Meanwhile, I’m grinning like I just won a year’s supply of free ice cream. Allie Rogers is most definitely not ready for a real date, but that’s fine with me. I like her and I’m looking forward to spending time with her any way I can. I have no problem being friends with her. And who knows, maybe in time our friendship can build into something else.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ALLIE
I have zero game. None. Nada. Zilch. I’m sure Noah is only being nice by asking me to have supper with him. I’m equally certain he isn’t interested in me in a romantic sense. So why do I feel the need to keep telling him I won’t date him?
He must either think I have a real ego problem, or that I’m a couple slices short of a full loaf. Even so, I would have given my right arm and several toes for him to talk to me when we were in high school. Any time spent in his company back then made me feel like the luckiest girl alive. Even when he was ignoring me, there was just something about the sight of him that made me grateful to have eyes.
I dated two guys in college before I met Brett. The whole time I was with them, I compared them to Noah. Probably because they both kind of looked like him without being quite as luminous. They were both over six feet, with dark wavy hair and blue eyes. They were both athletic and fit. Even though they had charisma, neither could hold a candle to Noah Riley. Which is probably the reason I stopped seeing them.
Brett came along in my senior year. He was nothing like Noah.He was much shorter, his hair was lighter, and his eyes were brown. Brett wasn’t exactly athletic, although he always bragged he was a great ping pong player—insert eye roll here.
I wasn’t dazzled by him so much as I was relieved to finally like a guy I couldn’t compare to my childhood heartthrob. Also, by then, Noah had finally moved out of the forefront of my brain and secured himself a place as a fond memory. Actually, less fond than painful, but still.
I can’t believe that all these years later he’s back in my life. Not only that, but we work at the same place and we co-coach basketball together. What are the chances?
My day moves along quickly, which is nice. My classes all seem to be settling into the rhythm of having a new teacher, and I’m equally comfortable with them. I was nervous when I took the job that the constant presence of kids would be a painful reminder of my fertility situation but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
By the time children reach high school they’re on the verge of adulthood. They are so far removed from babyhood I don’t feel even a ping of sadness around them. Instead, I feel excited for them. I have a real desire to help them in any way I can as they make thier leap into adulthood.
When the last bell of the day rings, I pile up the papers on my desk before heading in the direction of the gym. Leah Flynn catches up to me in the hallway. “Miss Rogers,” she says. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
I stop walking and turn toward her. She looks a little sad today and is missing some of the spark I’ve begun to associate with her. “Of course. What’s going on?”
“I was wondering if it might be okay if I skipped practice today.” Her eyes shift nervously from side to side.
Leah is so dedicated to her sport, she’s the last person I would think would want to miss practice. “Are you sick?” Her head swivels from side to side. “Do you have a big test to study for?”
