Page 83 of Kiss the Girl
* * *
There was no need to see Grace on Saturday because the boys lost their regional playoff game on Friday night, and Coach Dean was having the entire team over for a waffle breakfast to commemorate what had turned out to be his last game. All the team had left to do was costumes, and that wasn’t Grace’s headache anyway.
Paige also drove herself to work. “You’re doing enough watching Evie for me, but I promise to call if my car breaks down.”
Evie had a good time at the waffle breakfast, but she asked three times why we didn’t go to “Toodles’ house” so she could use her Evie workbench. It underscored the need to pull back from Grace.
On Tuesday, I turned down an invitation to Brooke’s game night on Thursday, saying I needed to watch Evie. I tried to send a text telling Grace not to worry about the final assembly of the booth, that it was fine if she wanted to let her dad handle it. But I couldn’t quite make myself send it, and then Thursday, she texted me first.
Grace:Still planning on Saturday. Still going to put on a show. Don’t worry.
A show.
For her, it was still a show. A fun one. One with all the rewards of flirting with none of the risk. It had quit feeling like a show to me.
I knew she felt the electricity between us. I could see it in the flicker of her eyes when we touched. I could make her laugh by looking at her a certain way. We never ran out of things to talk about. I loved the way her brain worked. The way she looked at the world.
The way she looked at me.
I should tell her we could call off the fake dating.
But what if it was my last chance to convince her that we had something here—something special? Something worth staying for.
Noah:Sounds good. See you Saturday.
* * *
Saturday was chilly, a strong bite in the December air. Evie whined about climbing out of the warm car, and Mrs. Winters was waiting on the back patio for us with warm mugs of cocoa.
“Hey, coach. I was thinking maybe Evie might like to hang inside with me and watch TV. I don’t know if Saturday morning cartoons are even a thing anymore, but I figured Evie could help me figure out what the kids are watching these days.”
I shot her a grateful smile. “Sounds good, Mrs. Winters. Thanks. Evie, what do you think?”
She nodded happily and slipped her hand into Mrs. Winters’s outstretched one to follow her into the house.
The door to Grace’s apartment opened and she came down the stairs bundled in a fleece sweatshirt and jeans that made me wonder why I’d given up even a single second of opportunity to make out with her—until I saw her face. Her guarded expression reminded me of exactly why. She was shutting me out in all the ways that mattered.
“Hey,” she said. “I was thinking maybe today would be a good day to start dropping hints that there’s trouble in Paradise. Not enough that DeShawn will run back to Dr. Boone with it, but so that when she asks you where I am after Christmas, you can tell her we broke up, and then maybe DeShawn will mention he saw the cracks if she asks him about it.”
“Yeah, good idea. What can I help with today?” None of this made sense. Maybe Grace had so many people to choose from in dating that she found connections like ours all the time. But she’d asked me to drop it, and I wouldn’t push her anymore.
I’d focus on the work.
“Patrol and watch for basic shop safety.” She didn’t meet my eyes.
The first boys appeared from the driveway, and she hurried to direct them, knowing their strengths from previous weeks. We kept busy supervising our own groups of kids, as good a reason as any to avoid any more awkward interactions.
At one point, Mrs. Winters came out with a platter of warm cookies that the boys fell on like starved termites, emptying it in seconds and going back to work with their mouths full.
“Sorry about them,” I told her. “Mostly they have manners, but I think playing with power tools triggered their cave man brains.”
She smiled. “No problem. It’s fun having young men around here. When Grace and Tabitha were young, this house multiplied with girls like gremlins or tribbles.”
“Star Trek,” I said, smiling back at the reference to the little furballs that replicated in water.
“Exactly. It’s fun to see how the other half lives. Have fun!” She went back inside.
“Noah,” Grace called. She sounded slightly annoyed. “Can you go watch the boys putting in the hinges on the back wall?”
