Page 48 of Passion’s Song

Her body mourned a little over the loss of all that beautiful naked flesh.

He came up to her, a smile on his face.

“I thought I was meeting you at your place?” he said.

“I was thinking that we could discuss your classes over lunch,” April said. “There’s this great little Asian fusion place a few blocks from here. It’ll be my treat.”

“No way.” He shook his head. “I let you get by with buying that cinnamon roll the other day, but you don’t get to pay for my lunch. Ever. Consider it payback for all those times you used to do it back when we did homework together.”

She rolled her eyes, but a part of her liked that he still remembered what she did for him back in those days. Once his dad was killed, things became even harder for his family, financially. It wasn’t as if her family was well-off by any stretch of the imagination, but both her parents had well-paying jobs. It turned into a weird kind of game for her, figuring out the best way to pay for Damien’s meals without him seeing it as charity.

He’d always been so damn proud, but he couldn’t hide his circumstances from her.

Yet, look at him now. She was in complete awe of the man he’d become. He truly was the best kind of role model for her kids at A Fresh Start.

“I was thinking,” she said. “We have about thirty young boys who attend A Fresh Start, and while I’ve been able to convince some of them to take my music classes and Nicole has even gotten them into dance—although I think that’s because they have a crush on her and want to see her in tights—there’s still something missing when it comes to recreational activities.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed into slits. “What are you going for?”

She ignored his question and tried another angle. “Would you say that football helped to shape you into the man you are today?”

“Of course,” Damien said. “Teaches discipline, responsibility, teamwork—” He cut himself off. “I know what you’re getting at,” he said. “Forget it, April.”

“But just think of how beneficial this would be to those young boys,” she said. “Not all of them will get to play on a high school or college team, but there are lessons they can learn through football that will help them throughout their lives.”

“I can’t believe you’re pulling this on me,” he said. He shook his head. “Give them an inch and they take a yard. My mom used to say that all the time. Now I understand what she meant.”

April persisted. “It would be one extra hour a week.”

“An extra yard,” he countered.

“Would it help if I said please?”

His head went back with a laugh. “I’ll think about it. For now, why don’t we work on the project that you’ve already roped me into doing. I took a few minutes between meetings yesterday to capture notes in my phone. I have some ideas for the upcoming money management classes.”

As they walked toward the entrance of the park, they had to walk across the running path. They waited for two women who were jogging to pass, but one of the women abruptly stopped and turned.

“Damien?” the woman yelped. She jogged over to them and threw her arms around Damien’s neck.

April would have been more mindful of slinging her sweat on someone if she’d been jogging, but she guessed it didn’t make much difference since Damien was just as sweaty from his flag football game.

Great. She was being forced to witness two beautiful, sweaty people hugging in the middle of a park.

“Eva,” Damien said. “It’s been a long time. How have you been?”

“I’ve been okay, Mr. Top Ten Bachelor,” she said with a pretty laugh.

April immediately hated that laugh.

Damien chuckled. “Please, don’t bring that up.”

They chatted for several moments about Damien’s inclusion in the Get to Know NOLA list before he finally remembered April was standing with him.

“I’m sorry,” Damien said. “Eva, this is world-renowned cellist April Knight. She and I went to high school together. April, meet Eva Gutierrez. We, uh...”

“We had a different kind of...ah...schooling,” Eva said, her rich laugh saturating the air around them.

April wanted to shove a finger down her throat and make a gagging motion, but that would be juvenile. Maybe choking to death would have been a better option. At least she wouldn’t have to stand around in the midst of the awkwardness that suddenly surrounded them.