“Your sister can be tough,” I whispered back.“Are you two staying?”
“She quit her job.She’s a ball-busting badass.”He giggled and ran off.
“Language, Vinny,” I called out with a grin.Hell, yeah!She’s staying.
That little kid had never cussed before.Hope would’ve washed his mouth out with soap.It’d do the kid some good if Erika rubbed off on him a bit, but perhaps not the foul language.
At the end of practice, Erika’s SUV returned without the trailer.I hadn’t even noticed she’d driven off.She fist-bumped Drew as he walked to his truck.I heard him say, “It was fun.”
I walked toward her.
She scraped her hair into a messy bun and crossed her arms, weighing my presence in her space.The shadows under her eyes were new, perhaps proof of exhaustion.Too much driving.Too much grief.Maybe too much single parenting.I opened my mouth, ready to ask what I could do.
She held up a hand to stop me.“I scheduled an appointment for us to talk tomorrow at nine in the morning at the clinic.We can discuss the business then.”
“You’re actually back for sure?”
She gave me a strained smile.“In an effort to avoid us throwing f-bombs in front of the kids, we can discuss things tomorrow.”She spun to follow Vinny to the car but paused.Then fast-walked back to me to whisper, “What happened on the day of the funeral is something we’re going to forget about.”
“I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”Her looking at me with those pleading brown eyes wouldn’t work.I was never going toforgether kissing me.I didn’t want to forget.
“It was a mistake,” she whispered.“A moment of insanity.Let’s chalk it up to the funeral and emotions running high.That jerk cheated on me, and I was feeling low.Then you got all protective, which was fucking hot.”She huffed and threw up her hands.“Now you made me throw an f-bomb.Forget I said all of that.I’m tired.I can’t think straight after driving so much.Let’s focus on the part where we fought.”She did a chopping motion with her hand.“No.Forget all of it.Milly doesn’t ever need to know, especially if you guys are headed in the marriage direction like she wants.I already barely remember it.”
It grated me raw to be labeled a mistake.“Marriage isn’t for me anytime soon.”
“Wewillforget it.”She gritted out between her teeth, “Forget.It.”
“You’re the one who brought it up, which means you remember every second of it.I can’t forget you almost coming on the desk I have to sit at every day.Or the fact you said you can fuck yourself better than me.How the hell do you leave after throwing down a challenge like that?”
“I did not… I’m sure I’m not the first girl you had on that desk.”
I gave her a double eyebrow raise and pressed my tongue against my teeth.
“Really?”She nibbled her lower lip and fought a smile.
I leaned in close.“The only reason I didn’t make you come on my desk was the people on the other side of the wall who would’ve been scandalized.”
“You’ll never know what you missed.”
Just as I was formulating a decent comeback, she marched off.
ChapterTwenty
ERIKA
“Thanks,Drew.You’ve been a huge help to get all the stuff in the house.”I put the last box on top of the pile just inside the kitchen.I heard Vinny’s shower kick on upstairs.
Drew shifted his weight from foot to foot, eyes dropping to the ground.“So, now that you’re staying, maybe you and I could, um…” He cleared his throat.“Maybe we could go out?Like, actually go out on a date?”
“For real?”The words tumbled out before I could catch them.I took a step toward him, and he instantly retreated like I was holding a lit match.His shoulders curled inward, bracing for impact.“Why would you want that with me?”
He opened his mouth like he was about to speak, then shut it with a frustrated exhale.
I huffed a bitter laugh.“You were my plus-one to prom because I was a mess.I’d just dumped Josh, and I thought I could, I don’t know, feel something again.I practically threw myself at you in the parking lot, and you looked like you were about to piss your pants when I tried to kiss you.”My throat tightened.“It was humiliating.For both of us.”
“You were so pretty and…” He swallowed hard.“I freaked out over what Josh would do to me if I kissed you.That was a long time ago.”
“Are you sure you want to go out with me?”
