Page 64 of Full Coverage (Boys of Fall)

“Yep. Very.” She had. New York had been great. It was the stuff that came after that. “Okay, two new blades,” she said. “You’re all set.”

“Will you check my wiper fluid while I’m here too?” Coach asked.

Wiper fluid? Really? Was there anyone who didn’t know how to do that themselves? “Of course.” She popped his hood.

“So how are you? Guess I didn’t ask,” he said as she filled up the nearly full fluid and replaced the cap.

“Fine. The same,” she said, playing along. “Why do you ask?” There. She could be straightforward if he couldn’t.

“Just checking on one of my favorite girls.”

She gave him a legitimate smile. “You’re sweet.”

Just say what you have to say.

“How’s the coolant?”

Okay, fine. She checked. “Looks good.”

“And the brake fluid?”

She checked. “Yep, you’re good.”

“How about the tire pressure?”

She sighed. What was going on? Why not just say what he’d come here to say? She pulled the pressure gauge from her back pocket and squatted next to the passenger side front tire.

The pressure was perfect. As expected. She moved to the back tire. Also fine.

Finally, she caved. “You really going to have me check them all?” she asked.

“Yep. And the oil, the filters, the hoses.”

She got to her feet. “Which will all be perfectly fine.”

“Probably.”

She turned and tucked her hands into her back pockets. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to come to me for at least two weeks.”

“About?”

“Nolan.”

She gave him a little smile, but her chest hurt just hearing his name out loud. “Why did you think I would come to you about him?”

“Because you’re in love with him and he’s acting like a jackass.”

She gave a short laugh. “You can help with that?”

“Oh, I’m a specialist in dealing with jackasses,” he said. “Lots of practice.”

She smiled, but shook her head. “He had to go back to San Antonio to finish the book.” She swallowed hard. “I distracted him too much.”

Coach gave her a half smile. “Well, that’s as it should be. If a man isn’t distracted by the woman he loves, he’s doing something wrong.”

Her heart kicked at hearing Coach say Nolan was in love with her. She believed it, actually. But hearing someone else acknowledge it felt…awesome.

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