letting me know. Yeah, talk to you later.” He pockets his phone and grins. “Good news.”
It’s like nothing ever happened between us.
I ignore the irritation inching up my spine because he seems to have seamlessly moved on from our near kiss. “What is it?”
“The money for the rec center is available.”
My excitement blows the irritation away. “Really? Oh, my gosh.” My hands go to my heated cheeks. “I’ll head to Elva’s right now.”
“If you’ll give me twenty minutes, I’ll shower and go with you.”
I don’t really want to spend any more time with him than I have to, but it is his money. “Sure. I’ll meet you at the car.”
His beaming flash of teeth is blinding and acts like a beacon to the horny June bug with a death wish that lives inside me.
For the love of all that is holy, run away from the light, Tiger.
“Great.” He exits, and I drag in a huge gasp of air.
I have twenty minutes to get my mind right or die a fiery death like that horny June bug.
Twenty-Seven
Cash
Twenty minutes later, I’m kicking myself for sharing all that shit with Tiger. It was like once the words started rolling, I couldn’t stop them. I’ve never said those things to anyone but Duke, and even he doesn’t know some of the stuff I told Tiger. I just handed her all the ammunition she needs to bury me.
You know you can trust her, King.
That is the thing, I do know. Tiger is trustworthy, and she doesn’t have any skin in the game when it comes to my life, which makes her question of why I keep doing this to my body both valid and uninformed.
She can’t possibly understand.
But she’s not wrong about there being an easier way to make a living.
“Your thoughts are deafening,” the beauty queen next to me says.
I take one hand off the wheel and rub at the tight muscles in my neck. A forced laugh fires up my throat and past my lips. “Sorry. Sometimes I get pretty lost in thought.”
“I get it. You’ve got a lot going on right now.” She examines her short nails. “I hope Elva’s home. Maybe we should’ve called her.”
The stress holding my shoulders taut seeps from my body. She’s not going to force the subject of my health and football. “I’m sure she’s home. It’s still early.”
She glances at the time on her phone. “Oh, my gosh, it’s barely eight. It feels so much later.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy this morning. I ran three miles, apologized for being a grade A ass, and overshared like a junior high girl at a slumber party.” Why did I bring that up again?
A slender hand waves away my concern. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve told you things about Brad that only Maggie knows.”
Oddly that does make me feel better. “Does that make us BFFs? And before you answer, you should know that I confiscated the billboard vandal’s supplies the other night.”
“You did?” She has an odd look on her face that I can’t interpret.
“Yeah, I was coming back from the game and saw them sitting on the ground next to the homage to your beauty.”
“Ha. Ha.”
I laugh. “So I stopped and picked them up. Wonder why the person would leave them there for anyone to find?”
“No idea.”
Her unenthusiastic response tells me to move on from this touchy subject. I hold my hand up for a high five. “So, friends?”
But instead of slapping it like I’d intended, she wraps her warm fingers around mine and squeezes. “Sure, why not. And thanks for the billboard thing.”
As quickly as she takes my hand, she releases it, but it’s too late to avoid the damage. My attempt to shift these feelings crashing around my chest into something more platonic is destroyed with the gentle grip that still warms my hand. I like this woman, always have. It’s a little shocking to realize that a crush I had twelve years ago is still alive and well.
I clear my throat. “So … um … what’s the first thing you want to update at the rec center?”
“I’m not sure. I was just hoping to get enough money to pay the lease, but you’ve given us enough to do some serious updates.” She shakes her head like she can’t quite believe it. “I guess a new gym floor and some new sports equipment.”
I turn onto Elva’s street and pass a black Mercedes coming the other direction. “Isn’t that Brad?”