Next Man Up (Making the Score #2) - Tawdra Kandle Page 0,40
could become something more. If it doesn’t, you’re not out anything, because you’ve still got a friend, right?”
I thought about Zelda again. I could hear her voice, the way it had sounded that night, as she’d told me about her family and the way she’d grown up. I saw the vulnerable light in her eyes and the way she’d trusted me. I recalled the warmth that her trust had kindled in me.
I wanted more of that. I wanted to hear Zelda tell me more about herself, more about her deepest thoughts, what made her tick. I wanted to tell her my stories and feel her soft hand smooth over my chest as she comforted me. I wanted to stroke her hair as she lay her head in my lap, both of us content in the restful silence.
“From the look on your face, I’m thinking there’s already a girl. You have someone in mind.” Dad sketched around the pattern.
“I don’t know if I’m good enough for her, though.” I didn’t plan to say the words, but they tumbled out anyway. “She’s pretty incredible.”
“Eli, let me tell you a secret. None of us are good enough for the women we love. Not one single joker among us is worthy of them. But sometimes they cut us a break and let us love them anyway, and they love us back. If this young woman is as special as you say she is, I’m betting she’s smart enough to see the man you are. Then you just have to make sure you can live up to the potential she sees in you.”
I gripped the arms of my chair. “Can I do that, do you think? Am I capable of being that man?”
Dad looked up at me, his gaze steady and filled with shining belief. “Only you can answer that question, son. Only you can make that decision.”
Chapter Seven
Zelda
“Have I mentioned how happy I am to be back with you guys?”
On the other side of our suite’s small living room, Gia bit into a slice of hot pizza and spoke around the stretching cheese, wincing as it burned her fingers. Next to me, Quinn laughed.
“Maybe once or twice.” She paused. “In the last five minutes, that is.” Leaning toward the coffee table, she lifted her own piece of pizza and nibbled on the end. “Was your summer seriously that awful?”
“And worse.” Gia leaned back and propped her bare feet on the arm of the narrow sofa. “I thought staying with my dad in New York would be exciting. Spoiler alert: it was not. He’s totally obsessed with the new girlfriend.”
“That sucks.” I ran one finger around the edge of my slice, nabbing bits of pineapple. “So you left.”
“Yeah, and that whole out of the frying pan, into the fire deal? That describes the rest of my summer. Staying with my mom at her new place was hell on earth. Being that close to all my sisters was torture.”
Quinn made a small noise of sympathy and sipped her bottle of water. “Did you . . . see Matt at all?”
Gia groaned, kicking at the poor defenseless couch. “God, yes. I made the mistake of coming down one weekend when I couldn’t stand to be with my mother one more second. Matt’s grandparents were away, and he said I could crash with him. Which I assumed meant we’d actually spend time together, hang out—you know, boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Silly me.” She shook her head. “He was partying the whole time. And I wasn’t always invited.” She exhaled a long, frustrated breath. “He . . . he brought girls back to the house. I could hear them in his room, hooking up. Fucking. And there I was in this pretty little guest room, miserable and wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into.” She grabbed for a napkin and swiped it over her face. “Needless to say, I got out of there as fast as I could.”
“You should’ve come down to the shore and stayed with my mom and me.” Quinn sighed. “It was just the two of us most of the summer, and my job didn’t take up all my time. Nate visited now and then, but mostly, we were on our own. We would’ve loved to have had you stay with us.”
“Thanks.” Gia managed a smile. “But I didn’t want to be the pathetic friend with nowhere to go.” She took another huge bite of pizza. “Anyway, it’s over now. Trust me, I’m never putting myself in