Page 41 of Tango

“What? Don’t you like their meatball sub, mashed potatoes, and Jell-O?”

I quivered at the thought. Nothing was worse than Jell-O.

“No, but can we take some home for Mark?” I smirked, and he laughed. We’d both been in the kitchen when Mia served some to the kids. Mark took one look and ran off with a girly shriek. Mia laughingly filled us in on his phobia with the quivering mound.

Jellophobia was a real thing—well, at least it was to me and Mark. Not that I was going to share that with anyone. Lord knew the house would use it against me and I’d find my shower stuffed full of it one day. I followed the rest of them outside for some fresh air.

“Moore,” I whispered as we gathered at one of the tables, “is that…?”

“Yes,” he cut me off when he spotted Dustin, “he was transferred here.”

“What?” I felt my bravery kick in, and I went to stand.

“Ivy,” his fingers laced around my wrist and gently sat me back down, “now isn’t the time.” He shifted his gaze to the others, and he was right. We didn’t need to drag them into this either.

“Of course.” But that didn’t mean I didn’t keep my eye on him. At one point, he even sat a few tables away, facing me, and ate his lunch. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he wanted to make sure I saw him.

An hour later, Moore and I sat tucked in a corner of a little coffee shop. I chose my chair purposely, so my back was to the restaurant. If he was anything like the rest of the guys, I knew he’d want a clear view of the place. As much as I wanted to dig in about Dustin and why the hell it looked like he was working there, I had an unusual opportunity to understand Ty a little better. I wasn’t about to waste it. We ordered, and he beat me to the punch with a question.

“What made you become a psychologist?”

“Wow, you don’t waste any time.” I laughed and pretended to have a serious thought. “My father helped me make the decision, but not in the way you’d think. He wasn’t exactly a model dad.” I grimaced to make my point. “I guess I wanted to help people. Sounds kind of cliché, but I’m one of those who wants to help others, and at the same time it helps me.”

“And your father, where’s he now?”

“No idea, and I’m good with that now.” I gave him a wry smile. “Okay, my turn. How long’ve you known Ty?”

“High school.” He chuckled. “We were both asked out by the same girl. She wanted us to choose, so we did. We both chose not to date her and became great friends because of it.”

“That’ll teach her.” I laughed as I dipped my bread in my soup. “And Brown?” I looked up and hoped I hadn’t crossed a line.

“Ah,” he cleared his throat, “he was that quiet kid in school, always kept to himself. Then he came out for football tryouts and attempted to tackle Ty, but he wouldn’t go down. Ty’s like a brick wall, so it was Brown who got laid out. When Ty offered him a hand to help him up, Brown did some weird thing and knocked Ty right on his ass. Everyone kinda held their breath to see what he’d do to him, but he just busted out laughing. From then on, Brown was just one of us.”

“My God, men have it so easy. Women are so much more complex.” I smiled and thought how true my words were.

“If your ex-fiancé came back into the picture, would you consider him?”

“Oh, that’s how were going to play this?” I brushed the crumbs off my fingers.

“I have no walls up, Ivy.” He shrugged. “Neither should you.”

“Okay, okay.” I laughed lightly. I enjoyed his openness. “No, there’s no way we could ever work. Besides, I’m a completely different person now than I was back then.”

“Is he still in love with you?” I gave him a hard look. He grinned. “Something Ty might have mentioned.”

“Maybe, but I’m in love with Ty. He’s out of luck on that one.”

“Good answer.” He nodded.

“What’s with Ty and his family?” I held up a hand as I second guessed my boundaries. “Maybe I shouldn’t ask that.”

“Beckett.” He lowered his head and shook it before he smiled at me. “You couldn’t be healthier for him, Ivy.”

“Why?” Now he had me even more curious.

“Because he’s struggled with his relationship with his family for years. He feels guilty about it but doesn’t know how to fix it. I’m happy he’s now dating the one person that maybe, just maybe, can help him figure it out.”

“Maybe I could if he’d let me in and not snap my head off when I ask about it.”

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