Page 16 of Playing for Keeps
I’m a little lost in thought when my phone buzzes from the back of my jeans where I slid it when I was preparing breakfast. When I glance at the screen, Tanner’s name flashes up. Ah, my big brother is checking up on me.
We haven’t talked since I’ve been in Seattle visiting Beth again, but have sent a couple of messages back and forth.
“Hey, Tan,” I say when I answer.
“Hey, Sis. Caught you at a good time?”
The irony of sitting here on my brother’s best friend’s patio without his knowledge isn’t lost on me. “Perfect time,” I muse, more to myself than to him.
“How’s Seattle treating you? Did you catch up with Jay yet? He hasn’t answered my texts.”
“Actually, I’m with Jay as we speak.”
“Great, well, put him on in a sec.”
“I think he’s um, in the shower—” I trail off. Oh Lord, I don’t need to be thinking about Jay in the shower, or anywhere else naked, for that matter. “He’s taking me ice skating,” I quickly add. Not that Tanner would think there was anything going on between us. And nothing is going on, of course.
I need to slap myself.
“Any chance he can get to be on the ice,” he chuckles.
“You know Jay,” I reply. “And you know me, I couldn’t give up the opportunity to take to the ice.”
“Some things never change. How is he?”
I look out over the Seattle skyline to a clear, blue-skied day and try to form a coherent answer to my brother’s question. Every time he asks about Jay, the night at the bar flashes through my brain. I’ve always thought Jay was cute, I possibly even had a crush on the guy. Well, I know I did. But he’s as close to me as a friend as he is to my brother, so there’s no way anything could ever happen between us. He also isn’t a one gal at a time kinda guy. “He seems fine to me.”
“More importantly, how are you? You haven’t heard from Aaron this time around?”
The name hits me in the chest like a wrecking ball. Mainly because I wasn’t expecting Tanner to ask about him. He didn’t know my ex all that well, even though we’d been dating for almost a year. Living in California meant I didn’t get to see my family as much as I liked. That was until we broke up and I headed back to San Diego before my last visit to Seattle. Tannerknows Aaron has been contacting me ever since we split, but I’ve been ignoring his calls. “I haven’t,” I say. And it’s not a lie. He finally stopped trying to get back in my good graces because he knew it was never going to happen. No one in my family knows why we split. My dad would have a fit over it and want to hunt the guy down. Tanner probably wouldn’t be much better. Not that either of them are fighters, but they’ve always been protective of me.
“Are the two of you going to work things out?”
“No,” I say flatly. “I don’t want to live in Cali anymore, so it would have never worked out long term.” I don’t want to tell them that he cheated, or that he made me feel like I wasn’t good enough to be with him. He was pretty good at that during the time we were together.
“I worry about you, Sis. Is there something you’re not saying?”
“You don’t have to worry about me.” I do my best to try and sound perky and reassure him with a softer tone in my voice, making it as light as possible. Tanner has enough going on with the wedding, he doesn’t need to be worrying about me.
The truth is, I don’t really want to talk about what happened with Aaron. I want to put it all behind me now. It was months ago and I’m moving on. “I’m having a great time here again. Beth is a riot and the change of scenery has been good.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“How’s the wedding plans coming along?” I ask.
“It’s looming too close,” his voice drops an octave. “Meaning there’s still so much to do, I had no idea.”
I laugh. “Well, I’m sure Deb will keep things on track. I’ll be back in town anyway soon enough, so if there’s anything you guys need.”
“Thanks. Deb is keeping me in check, with a jobs list a mile long. She’s the one to talk to if you want a job.”
Tanner and Deb are sweethearts and have been together since college. She’s a great woman and they’re lucky to have found each other so young. They have a three-year-old little boy, Luca, who is the apple of everyone’s eye, not just my parents, but mine too.
“It will all come together, don’t worry. Speaking of which, I’ve finally convinced Jay to come to dance lessons while I’m here.”
Now it’s Tanner’s turn to laugh. “Seriously?”
“Yep. Right after we’ve been skating today. I’m not sure how much we can learn six weeks before the wedding, but hey.”
