Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,19

correctly. I couldn’t have.

“I said, I want to see you again.” His amusement is so obvious it causes a bright red flush to work its way up my throat to my cheeks.

This entire day has me so confused and turned around. Nothing is happening the way I thought it would. So much for spending half my night going over scenarios about what this conversation would be like. Out of all the options I had planned out in my head, this was not one of them.

“Why?”

His laughter fills the cab at my question. “Because, Hailey, I like you. You’re sweet and you’re fun. Even back when I first met you, I was drawn to you. I want to see why.”

I don’t know how to respond to that. His words warm my heart, and other parts of my body, but my head is not ready to go there with anyone, not yet. It’s only been two years since Seth and I split up and the scars from that relationship are still barely scabbed over.

Luckily, I’m saved from having to say anything because we pull into the garage parking lot. Just like when we first pulled up to his apartment, I jump out of his truck and rush to my car as fast as I can without flat out running. If it wasn’t for the fact that I am the most unattractive runner, I might have attempted it.

Mitchell yells my name from behind me, but I ignore him, slinging open my car door and practically jumping inside. Scaredy cat is a title I will gladly accept. He reaches my door just as I hit the lock button to keep him out and I studiously avoid looking over at him when he tries to talk to me.

After a few seconds, I can hear his sigh. It’s so loud it comes through the window. “Okay, Hailey. Have it your way…” I almost relax, but then he says, “for now,” right before I pull away from him. My hands are shaking, and when I hit the first red light, I focus on taking deep breaths to steady myself.

Mitchell Anderson is not what I need right now.

Chapter 13

Mitchell

I’m still thinking about Hailey and the way she ran away from me earlier when I take Evie to dance class. What I said to her shouldn’t have been a shock. We were drawn to each other the moment we met. Of course, I’d want to see where that goes.

As much as I’d like to focus my attention on what my next move with her will be, today is important to Evie. This class is a type of showcase, where they’ll be showing off one of the dances they’ll be doing in their recital next month and debuting the outfits they are planning to have us all purchase for the event. It’s my least favorite part of her taking dance because there’s constantly an outfit to buy or a competition to pay for and Tabitha hates to spend money on anything but herself.

The minute we walk in the door, Evie takes off for her group of friends standing on one side of the room. Since she won’t remember I’m here until it’s time to show off, I head over to where there are a couple of parents I know hanging out together.

“Hey man,” Isaac Montgomery greets me when I join them. He’s standing in a group that includes his brother Caleb, his brother-in-law Luke and Luke’s brother Mark. Mark’s married to one of the owners of the studio, who just happens to be who Evie wants to be when she grows up.

I say hi to him and the rest of the group, listening as they continue their discussion about the classes each of their kids are taking and Mark bragging on how good the choreography his wife Meredith came up with is.

There’s not much I can contribute, so I just listen to the good-natured ribbing the four of them do, wishing my brother and I had the close relationship they clearly do.

After a few minutes, the conversation turns to the upcoming school year and Caleb asks Isaac about which class his daughter is in. His daughters are teenagers now, but they went to the same school, so he knows a lot of the teachers.

“Sophie’s teacher is new this year. She seems nice though, Sophie can’t wait until school starts so she can read all the books in her classroom.”

Caleb laughs. “Like mother, like daughter. Better watch it, Isaac. Sophie will