Page 41 of Wild About You
“Ash is fine with it. I promise. I think he likes having a bunch of people around.”
“I meant me staying in your house. Even if you’re not here, it’s a lot. I’ve seen you more in the past week than I did most weeks when we were actually dating.”
Guilt and remorse prick at my skin. She’s right, of course; I may not have seen her every day but I felt her, wanted her, loved her. She was mine, no matter the distance. Until I fucked it all up.
And now that I’m lucky enough to have her this close, I’m not screwing it up again.
“Before I go, I need to come clean on something.”
She stiffens. “What?”
“I said this was about what is best for Everly, and I meant it. I think you are the best person for the job, and I don’t want to screw with that.”
“O-kay.”
I step closer. Her bottom lip trembles as I invade her space. “But it doesn’t change how I feel about you. There’s something still here, Pipes. I know it.”
13
A LOT OF CHARACTER
PIPER
“Hey, stranger.”Chris stands from the table at the coffee shop.
“Hey.” I lean into him for a quick embrace. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Only three past. That’s basically early for you.”
He sits and I slide into the seat across from him. He pushes a coffee cup closer to me.
“Thank you.” I rest both elbows on the table and place my hands around the cup.
Chris hooks one finger around the pinky on my left hand. “It’s good to see you, Piper. How’s school? I feel like I haven’t seen you at all since you started teaching.”
My pulse ticks faster. “School is good. Hard. Harder than I expected, but good. What about you? How are classes and the gym?”
“Good. Good. Busy. The same.” He smiles at me. He’s such an easy guy to be with, but I know this isn’t going anywhere. Maybe I knew it all along, but seeing Tyler again and having all these reminders of how great we were together has me all mixed up. I don’t know what’s what. Am I just romanticizing it? I don’t know, but I know that Chris’s touch doesn’t feel anything like Tyler’s.
“Don’t leave me in suspense. Tell me about this new job.” He leans back, breaking contact. “Nannying for one of the Wildcat players? How did that happen?”
I’ve never told Chris about Tyler and now I’m wishing I had.
“It’s more like helping out a friend. Or not a friend. The truth is we used to date, like way back in high school.” I ramble as I try to explain who Tyler is to me. I don’t even freaking know anymore. “I ran into him because his sister is a student at my school, and he needed someone to help when he’s traveling for games.”
“That’s nice of you.” He pauses. “Your ex-boyfriend plays hockey for the Wildcats?”
“Umm. Yes. Tyler Sharp.”
His brows lift. “No way? He’s awesome. You dated him?”
“It was an eternity ago. He wasn’t a Wildcat then. And his sister is going through a rough time, and I felt like I could help. She’s eighteen so I can work on school stuff while I’m there.”
He nods thoughtfully and finally says, “How come you never mentioned him before?”
I squirm in my chair. “There’s nothing to say. Until I ran into him at the school, I hadn’t seen him since high school.”
“Makes sense, I guess. Now that I think about it, you’ve never mentioned any of the guys you dated before me. Got an ex on the Vikings too?” He shoots me an easy smile.
