I felt a little light-headed as I stood on the edge of the football field where Grace watched the sophomore football team practice on a Saturday afternoon. Normally, I ate breakfast, but nerves got the best of me that morning and I went with only tea. I liked to join her on weekends sometimes, but especially now that I felt unsettled. It was hot as hell outside, and my black shirt stuck to my back, but I didn’t care. I craved vitamin D and the warmth. I hadn’t been able to calm down since Samantha’s threat, and it was a secret that was eating me up inside. I wasn’t sure if my shivers were nerves or the fact my condo was always kept cold. Either way, I was a mess.
Did I tell Grace and see what she thought? Or would she judge me? Would she yell and not understand? Would she tell me to disclose everything to Fritz?
She yelled at two of the athletes being idiots before coming over to me and rolling her eyes. “Boys act like doofuses at every age.”
“True.” My mind went to my infuriating hot buddy teacher for a second. “You look good on the field though, G. Like you belong.”
She flashed a grin as a teenage girl wearing a school shirt and black athletic shorts walked up to us. “Mrs. Anderson, can I, uh, ask a question?”
“Of course,” she said, looking at me for a second. “She’s in my advisory and in my sports med program, so we see a lot of each other. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Oh, not at all. Please, ignore me.” I smiled and took a few steps back to let them talk in something that resembled privacy. I got my phone out to scroll through emails, but her voice carried over.
“I’m not sure what to do. Peter cheated on me, and he’s in our advisory and texted everyone I’m easy and a slut, and I just…I’m so embarrassed, and he plays on the team and…” She sniffed and looked over the field with her heart in her eyes, and it brought me back to the heartbreak of high school. The pain was so sharp and real and horrible as a teenager that I wanted to hug the girl myself.
Peter was an asshole, and I already hated him.
Grace’s face softened as she turned her attention on the girl, and pride flushed through my body seeing my best friend turn into a mentor. “Kayla, you are intelligent and have so much going for you. One teenage boy is not going to ruin that for you because he made a dumb decision. If you’re about to tell me you’re quitting my program to avoid him, we will have words. You are fantastic and—”
“Anderson, we have blood,” a coach yelled in our direction, and Grace almost growled.
“I’m sorry, Kayla. I have to go, but we are not done with this conversation.”
“I understand.” The blond girl sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. She looked so heartbroken and sad, I couldn’t stop myself from walking toward her. She wiped under her eyes before her very blue eyes landed on me. She flushed with embarrassment, and I held up a hand.
“I’m Gilly. Grace…uh, Mrs. Anderson’s best friend.” I smiled, and the girl nodded. “I’m so sorry—I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. It just kinda happened, and I’m going through something similar to you. I work with someone who is awful, but I refuse to let his actions dictate what I want out of life.”
“Really? Did he…ruin your reputation?”
“No,” I said, tilting my head to the side. “But he makes me doubt myself a lot.”
“Yeah, Peter made me feel gross and dirty. We never did more than kiss, and he said all this stuff…it’s just not true! People believe him, and it makes me so pissed.”
“You know the truth though. Your friends know. The people who matter know the truth, and sometimes, that’s all you need.” I thought of Fritz and Grace and Larissa, ignored the guilt seeping in about Samantha, and focused on Kayla. “It’s really hard, and I wish I could say this stuff doesn’t happen out of high school, but it does. You just learn how you deal with it better.”
“What are you going to do about this guy at work?”
“I’m going to keep doing what I love—which is teaching. Do you love the sports med program with Mrs. Anderson? Does it make you happy being on the field and treating injuries?”
She nodded and pulled on the hem of her shirt. “I would love to do what Mrs. Anderson does when I grow up. Being a teacher was always something I liked, but doing sports medicine with it would be cool.”
“Then you work hard at it. Ignore this Peter dude. The best revenge is being happy. Have you heard that before?”
“No, but I like it.” She smiled a bit. “Be happy.”
“Yes. He did that stuff to get a reaction out of you, to hurt you. There’s no other reason besides that, so him seeing you happy will be like a kick to the shin.” I nodded a few times and found myself following my own advice. Being happy and continuing doing what I love—teaching—would block out the weird and confusing feelings about Christopher. “People are going to hurt you. This guy…really misjudged me, like Peter did to you, and it hurt. It still does, honestly.”
She exhaled and stood up a little straighter. “Thanks for being honest with me. There are a lot of teachers or adults that think being seventeen means we need kid gloves or something. That’s why I like Mrs. Anderson so much.”
“Yeah, she’s always been pretty real with people. I met her when I was just out of high school.”
Kayla smiled as Grace waved her over, but before she started jogging, she thanked me again. “I hope your work situation gets better.”
“And you, I can’t wait for Mrs. Anderson to tell me you’re kicking butt.”
She joined Grace, and the weight in my chest felt lighter. Samantha would keep coming back if I paid her again, and Christopher would continue to upset me if I let him.
I needed to take a stance…I just wasn’t sure how.
Monthly Sunday Brunch and Bags was a dumb yet important tradition as we all moved on from college and started our lives. We never missed it, and it was the promise to each other to always stay in each other’s lives. Since Grace and Brock had a house, we tended to meet in their backyard where we grilled out, had a few mimosas, and caught up. Grace and Fritz were midargument about the rules of Bags while Brock stood at the grill watching his wife with the same soft look that conflicted with his grumpy exterior. Seeing them together always caused a weird combination of joy and jealousy. He was so good to her, for her, and I would always be thankful they found each other.
“Stop cheating, you dumbass,” Grace yelled at Fritz as he tried to argue that you could bounce the bag of rice off the grass and onto the board. “Brock, tell him he’s wrong.”
“Fritz, you’re wrong.”
“Oh, beat me up, big guy,” he fired back, earning a middle finger from Brock.
I laughed, seeing the people I loved most in the world hang out, and enjoyed a nice long sip of orange juice and champagne.
“You still refusing to date anyone, or can I set you up with this adorable teacher at my school? She’s your type, Fritz, I swear,” Grace said.
“No.” His tone darkened, and just like that, the momentary bliss I felt evaporated like an ice cube in the Midwest summer.
“No, as in you are interested in someone else?”
“No, as in I’m not dating.” His jaw tightened, and I had to set my drink on the armrest to place my hands on my legs to hide the tremble. “Samantha sent me a message last night.”
“What?” Grace yelled, causing Brock to frown. Even the grump knew about the hell Fritz went through.
“Yeah. It said, hey you.” Every line on my brother’s face hardened, and I hated this woman even more.
“Did you respond? You can’t. Gilly, did you know this? Why now?” Grace said so fast, she didn’t breathe between statements. Her gaze moved to me.
I shrugged. “He told me.”
“I’m not responding. There’s nothing to say.” He took off his sunglasses and ran his hand over his face. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I can feel the anger off both of you. Let’s just…play bags and eat. I’m not in the mood to have you two analyze my emotional scars today.”
Grace snorted. “Fair enough. I will try to analyze you later though.”
Fritz grinned, and it eased the sudden tension for everyone else. Not me. I got up and excused myself. “I think I left something in my car. Be right back.”
They didn’t pay me any attention as I got up and used their side gate to move into the front yard. I needed to get it together. Like now. With a shaky breath, I moved my limbs like I was stretching before a game, and when I was done, I gasped at the vision in front of me.
Christopher was there. Shirtless and sweating and ten feet to my right. He took a long swig of water and some of it splashed on his very muscular chest, and my entire body tightened with need. He was so damn hot and oh my God. His body wasn’t even fair. Broad shoulders and defined biceps that made my toes curl into my sandals. He was effortlessly handsome and took care of himself, and shit. His attention moved to me and widened with the same panic mirroring my own reaction.
Time seemed to freeze for what could’ve been a minute, or maybe two hours. I wasn’t sure I cared. With his wet skin shining in the sunlight, I couldn’t look away. His gaze traveled from my face, down my body, stopping at my cleavage before moving to my legs, lingering there.
What is happening? Why is he next door? Where is his shirt? Can I take a picture?
His mouth parted, and despite the fact we didn’t get along, memories from that night flushed through me. The way he used his hands, his mouth, his teeth. How defined his chest was and how hard his body felt when I explored every inch of it. He hid his body at work, and it was easy to ignore my attraction with all those sweaters and goofy outfits, but now…I shifted my weight back and forth between my feet the longer we stared at each other. Was he trying to remember why he hated me, too? Because if he told me to touch him right now, I would.
“No way!”
A young girl’s voice broke the moment, and I shook my head, blinking away my unwanted lust, and my eyes about bugged out of my head.
“Kayla?”
“Wait, you know my sister?” Christopher almost yelled as Kayla walked down the front porch and over the driveway toward me in ripped jeans and a large shirt.
“Yes! This is the woman I was telling you about yesterday. The one who has an awful coworker who really upset her.” Kayla beamed at me as my entire body turned red. She had no idea that her brother was the person I was referring to, but her brother definitely did.
I watched as he swallowed, hard. So hard I heard the click of his throat, and he had the gall to look at the ground.
“Do you live next door? That would be awesome!” she said, jumping up and down a bit. “This guy is my brother. Sorry, he’s in a bad mood because he and my dad were fighting about money, again.”
“Kayla,” Christopher snapped, making us both stand a little taller. “Will you check on Dad for a second? He was trying to install a microwave on his own. Stop him.”
“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “Fine. But Gilly, why are you here?”
“Mrs. Anderson lives here.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “I’m visiting her.”
“No way!” She grinned. “Okay, I’ll come say hi after I save my dad from himself. He’s a wonderful idiot most of the time.”
She waved and practically bounced inside her house, leaving me with my inappropriate thoughts of her shirtless brother. His stare was intense again, making me a little breathless because I had no idea what was going to come out of his mouth.
An apology? An insult? An invitation to his bed? If I had to pick, I wasn’t sure which one I would’ve preferred.
He put his hands on his trim hips and pressed his lips together as he scanned my outfit again, this time, his gaze heating. “I feel like we should…talk.”
“Talk?” I repeated, not even caring that I let the word fluctuate, bordering on flirting. I hated how this guy made me feel, yet…here I was.
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, which only made every muscle of the front of his body move with the movement, and I sucked in a sharp breath. He was the last guy I was with, and while it never bothered me before, it did now.
Why did I wait so long?
“I’m not sure we do.” I closed my eyes, hoping that not seeing him would help the lust overtaking my rational thoughts. “I should—”
“Gilly, get your ass back here. We have a bet going on about your not-a-dime situation,” Fritz said, leaning over the gate with a curious expression on his face. “Uh, did I interrupt something?”
“No. No.” I took three steps back, like standing ten feet from Christopher would give everything I was feeling away. “This is…” I froze, unsure what to say. They all knew who this guy was. They heard me complain about him the last two weeks. But a part of me was petty, and a grin stretched across my face. “My buddy teacher.”
“No shit.” Fritz laughed, hard. “Grace, get over here. Looks like your neighbor might be Gilly’s buddy teacher.”
“Shut up!” Grace joined Fritz at the gate, and her eyes widened. “That’s the guy?”
I scoffed and went back to my friends. “He’s not worth introducing.”
“I disagree. I’m Christopher Callahan.” He followed me toward the gate and held out a hand to Fritz. “I know she probably hasn’t used the term buddy teacher in any good instances, hm?”
“Not a single one, dude.” Fritz shook his hand. “I’m her brother, but I gotta say, the not-a-dime challenge was hilarious. Really challenged her, which was fun. She got all worked up over it.”
“Is that so?” Christopher’s gaze warmed as it landed on my face before shaking Grace’s hand. “You must be Mrs. Anderson. My sister, Kayla, loves you.”
“Oh, what a small world! You gotta meet my husband. Brock, come be social.”
“No,” he grunted from the grill, and I had never loved my friend’s husband more.
I snorted and put my hands on my hips this time and tried to look tough. “Well, this has been…fun, but we’re hanging out, and you should go help your family move in.”
“He can have a beer, Gil. Chill out. Seriously, he deserves one. He teaches kids. Little humans. Just hearing you talk about it makes me tired.” Fritz opened the gate and ushered him in. “If you have time, you can join us.”
“I think I will.”
“Fritz, you’re my brother. Side with me, damn it.” I almost stomped my foot at how weird the situation was becoming—my enemy was in the backyard with my friends…shirtless and being goofy?
What the hell was happening?
“Yeah, no shit, Gil. But the fact he got you, the most high-maintenance person I know, to stop your funds for a week is incredible.”
“Fritz,” I yelled, using a tone I rarely used. Everyone stilled, and my brother finally got the fucking message. I glared at my idiot brother as Christopher’s sister appeared at the gate.
“Dad needs help, Chris. He swore he didn’t need to read the directions, but you know how that goes. Oh, hi, Mrs. Anderson.” Kayla smiled again, and her eyes got wide when they landed on Brock. I understood the feeling. Brock was as intimidating as he was handsome, and it flustered me the first couple of times too.
“Rain check on the beer.” He nodded to Fritz and jutted his chin to me. “Walk me out, hm?”
“Rather not.”
“Wasn’t a question.” He placed his large hand on my elbow and raised his brows. “Please.”
Maybe it was because his skin was on mine, or the fact his chest was inches away from my face, but I sighed and let him lead me toward the gate. He smelled like soap and sweat, and heat seemed to radiate off his very delicious body. Warmth spread through my body at how my hormones seemed to completely forget he was awful to me. I could feel my friends’ stares on my back, but I didn’t care.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, glad Kayla moved back toward her house.
“What did your brother mean?”
“Why were you fighting with your dad?” I fired back, playing the exact same game he was.
His chest heaved as he let go of my arm and stared down at me. He studied my lips for a full thirty seconds before he smiled. “You blushed like this that night too.”
Good lord. His tone was dark and secretive and hot. My stomach swooped at the first mention of our night together, but I didn’t get a chance to respond. His dad came out, and he gave me one last pointed stare. “We have a lot to talk about, and I know exactly how to make it happen.”
“Hm?”
“Gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow, Gilly.” He said my name like a promise and winked.
Okay, what the hell just happened?