Page 85 of Hometown Hottie

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NOVA

While I was running errands in town, my phone rang and I fished it out of my purse to find Carson’s name on the screen. I smiled and my heart skipped, but then I remembered that things were still tense between us.

As it turned out, the beginning of our relationship wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. We weren’t in some kind of honeymoon phase where it was just us, a bed, and lazy mornings spent drinking coffee, talking, and laughing.

Instead, what we got was me trying to navigate my family’s troubles while he coached football camp and tried to give me the space I needed to do what I had to do. The smile faded from my lips as I answered the call. Anxiety made me jittery. Was this the call I’d been waiting for?

“Hey, you,” I said, trying to keep my tone light even as I gripped my phone real tight so that it wouldn’t slip out of my trembling hand. “What’s up?”

He’s going to tell me that it’s over. That he doesn’t want to hide and doesn’t want to be with someone who’s asking him to.

“Hey, yourself,” he said, his voice surprisingly warm. Not at all like someone who’d called to break up with someone else. “Do you think you could come over to the high school real quick? Vance and I are here, and if you’ve got a minute, I’d really appreciate it if you could meet me here.”

Maybe he wants to do it in person. Crap. “Um, okay. What’s going on? At least tell me if it’s good or bad.”

“It’s good,” he said easily. “At least, I think it is. Where are you?”

“A few blocks away. I had to come into town to do some things. Do you want me to meet you now?”

“The sooner, the better.”

I breathed out, nodding even if he couldn’t see me. “Okay. I’ll be there soon. I just need to run to the post office, then I’m all yours.”

“I like the sound of that,” he said, lowering his voice. “I really like the sound of that. See you soon, Nova. I can’t wait.”

With that, he ended the call and my heart soared again. Okay. Maybe he doesn’t want to see me just to break up with me in person. It sure didn’t sound like it.

Pressing my hand to my chest in an attempt to regain control of my heartbeat, I popped into the post office to send a parcel to my aunt from my mother. Then I hurried back to my truck and drove straight to our old high school.

As promised, Carson and Vance were already there, both wearing shorts with official-looking blue and yellow T-shirts with the high-school’s eagle emblazoned on them. I smiled at the sight of them back in Silver Creek Eagles gear after so long.

After hopping out of the truck, I made my way across the field. Carson ran drills with the current teenage football team. All hot and sweaty when he finally looked up, he grinned when he saw me and started in my direction immediately.

Those smiling green eyes met my own. His shirt stuck to his arms and abs, and all those pearly whites were being flashed right at me. My mouth went dry, my palms suddenly sweaty as a horde of butterflies took charge of my stomach.

“Thanks for coming.” He stopped just short of me and put his hands on his hips as he tried to catch his breath. “Have you got any plans today?”

Still having a hard time focusing, I bit my lip and let my gaze roam over his gorgeous face before it dropped to those broad shoulders. “That depends on what you had in mind.”

He barked out a laugh, pupils dilating a little. “Not that, but I’m available later if you want me to come over.”

His voice was rougher than before, but when I realized this hadn’t been a booty call—or a breakup—I fished my mind out of the gutter. “Okay. We’ll talk about later later, but what did you have in mind for now?”

“Do you remember any of your high school soccer drills?”

What?I frowned deeply. Well, if that’s not a sudden change of subject, I don’t know what is.

“Why?” I asked. “Maybe some, but definitely not all.”

“You kept playing in college, right?” He jabbed his thumb at a group of forlorn teenage girls moping at the far end of the field. “Their soccer coach didn’t show up for the first day of camp and it sounds like it’ll be canceled if they don’t find a new one.”

I sighed. It was hot as hell and I hadn’t played a lick of soccer in years, but he was right. I’d played all through high school and college, and I’d been pretty good. If it had been me sitting on that field back in high school, faced with the possibility that camp was about to be canceled, I’d have been upset and praying for anyone to step up.

Between that and the way Carson was looking at me, I nodded. “Let me see what I can do. I can’t promise I’ll be any good at it, but I’ll try.”

“Thank you,” he said emphatically, opening his arms until he seemed to think better of it. “I’d better not hug you right now. I’m pretty sure I stink.”