Page 12 of Coping Skills

He raised an eyebrow, finishing off his second piece of pie. “What about the big name places like Harvard or Stanford?”

She shrugged, looking away from him again. Some emotion passed over her face, but she masked it before he could figure it out. “It depends on my test scores. If I don’t score high enough, it’s not even worth bothering. And they’re so far away, so I don’t know. Probably not.”

“Really? You haven’t even taken the test yet, and you’re already ruling them out? What ever happened to going after your dreams? You know, reach for the stars and all that shit.”

She laughed, and he couldn’t help grinning at the sound. He loved it when she laughed. “You’d make a great motivational speaker. That should be on a poster. You could put it up in your classroom for whatever you’re planning on teaching. What are you planning on teaching?”

He gave her a pointed look. “Math. And I’ll coach football too, so even though this probably will be my last season, despite Coop’s high hopes for me to go pro, I won’t be done with football entirely. Don’t think you’re going to change the subject so easily, though.”

“Well, now you can have a third career writing quotes for motivational posters. ‘Reach for the stars and all that shit.’” She chuckled again. “That’s perfect.”

“You should, you know.”

That look crossed her face again. “Yeah. We’ll see.” She gave a forced smile. “I still have to take the test first.” Standing, she gathered her plate and fork, glancing around. “Trash can under the sink?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I can get that, though.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.” He watched her throw away her paper plate, then come back to the table and gather her phone and keys from where she’d set them. “This was fun, but I need to get going. Homework and a website to finish.”

Daniel stood. “Sure. Me too. Well, homework anyway. I don’t have to build websites for anyone.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks for letting me barge in like this. I promise I’ll text next time.”

“It’s fine. Barge in any time.”

“Okay. Well …” She twisted her keys in her hands, looking toward Coop who was now engrossed in his game, seemingly oblivious to them. Daniel wasn’t fooled. Coop paid attention to everything. It was part of what made him one of the best offensive tackles on the team, noticing anyone coming up and blocking them before they got to the quarterback.

“It was good to see you. I’ll text you after the game on Saturday to see if you’re free, okay?”

Her dark brown eyes met his, wide and searching. “Okay.” He walked her to the door, stepping outside and pulling it closed behind him so he could have a moment without Coop witnessing everything. “Goodnight, Elena. Thanks for the pie.”

“You’re welcome.”

Taking advantage of her upturned face, he placed his hand behind her head and brought his lips to hers. It was an innocent kiss, closed lips to closed lips, but her indrawn breath had blood rushing south. He broke it off before he was tempted to turn it into something more, knowing they couldn’t go further.

She stared up at him some more, his hand still behind her head, the lights from the parking lot casting a warm glow on her face. Pulling away, she broke contact and looked down. “Goodnight, Daniel.” And with that she was gone, leaving him standing on his steps watching her get into her car.

When he went back inside after she drove away, Coop had paused his game and was waiting for him.

Resigning himself to a conversation he knew he wouldn’t like, Daniel went into the kitchen to cover the pie and put it in the fridge. “Spit it out, man. I know you have something to say.” If he had to listen, that didn’t mean he had to look at him while they talked.

“Nah, man. Not really. Just noticing that you got it bad for that chick.”

“Your point?”

“Just that you’re already pussy-whipped by a girl who’s got you firmly in the friend zone.”

Daniel smirked at that. He hadn’t told Coop about their activities on Saturday. Instead he said, “She needs a friend right now.” That was true, too. And he intended to keep being that. It was up to her how good of a friend he was. With the way she’d stared at him tonight, and how things had gone on Saturday, he was pretty sure he was the kind who gave her screaming orgasms—the best kind of friend, in his opinion. And if she let him do that, he’d push to make it official.

Coop just snorted and started his game again. “Suit yourself, man.”

“Thanks. I will.”

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