Page 157 of The Overtime Kiss

“Yeah, but doyou?” He leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Because telling the kids is one thing. But if this is realreal…have you thought about what that looks like for you?”

I know what he’s asking. Have I thought about where this could go? If it’s long-term? Marriage again? Another ring, another house, a whole new future I wasn’t planning on?

That twisting feeling intensifies, but it’s not bad. I’m not afraid. I just want to do it…right. I don’t want to make mistakes. Don’t want to set the kids back. Don’t want to promise too much too soon to anyone.

I drag a hand over my jaw, my mind zigzagging with all the next steps I’m not sure how to take. But they’re ones Iwantto figure out. “I’m working on it,” I say, meaning it.

“Good to hear. I’ll be here for you,” he says, and that’s another thing I like about the move from LA—I’m close to family but close to all these new friends too.

“Appreciate it,” I say, but then Corbin gets distracted as a brunette with blonde streaks in her hair, wearing jeans and a sweater with a line drawing of a slice of cake on it, walks by. No,rushesby. Like she’s late.

“Hey, Mabel,” he calls. “Did you forget to say hello?”

Mabel stops, then backtracks. For a split second, something flickers in her expression when she sees Corbin, like she didn’t expect to run into him. “Sorry. There’s a space I need to go check out.”

“Oh sweet,” he says, “let me know how it goes.”

“I will, and speaking of,” she says, lips curving up in a smile, “did you forget to answer my email?”

Corbin smirks. “Of course not. I’m still mulling it over.”

“It’s a good idea, and you know it,” she teases.

I glance between them, noting the way she holds her own but teases him too. Then I turn her name over in my head. She must be Mabel as in Mabel’s Cookies. The one who did a partnership with a San Francisco ice cream shop a few months ago.

As if reading my mind, Corbin nods to me.

“Mabel, this is Tyler. He plays hockey for the second-best team in the city. Tyler, this is Mabel. My best friend’s sister,” Corbin says, his tone lighter now, “also known as the best baker in the world.”

“Nice to meet you, Mabel,” I say.

“You too,” she says.

“Her cookies are the best,” he adds.

Mabel lifts a shoulder and holds his gaze. “You know that sounds vaguely dirty, right?”

Corbin wiggles his eyebrows. “I do.”

Mabel rolls her eyes. “I’ll catch up with you later. We can talk about that idea.”

“Absolutely.”

“And nice to meet you, Tyler. Also, I’m sure your team is actually the best.”

“We are,” I say and once she takes off, I glance at him. “What idea?”

Corbin tells me the plans, and color me intrigued. “Will you do it?”

“I think so.”

“Sounds like a recipe for trouble,” I say, thinking of the way he looked at her when she nearly passed him by.

Corbin grins. “But I like trouble.” Then he clears his throat. “But back to you. What’s the plan with Sabrina?”

That’s the question. And I need to figure it out fast.

On the drive home that afternoon, my mind spins with how to make it real. What to say to Sabrina. How to figure out if she’s even ready. How to tell the kids we’re…well, into each other.

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