Page 36 of Third and Ten

“She’s cute. Are you guys…dating? I’m afraid to ask what you call relationships these days.”

He frowns. “Tonight was the first time she really talked to me. But we’re going to be partners for our next bio project.”

“Oh. So she waited around to talk to you about the assignment?” I ask, lacing my arm with his.

“She doesn’t know about it yet.” Then one side of his mouth curls up into a smirk. “Coach JD’s not assigning partners until next week.”

I bite my lip, suppressing a smile at the lengths JD is apparently willing to go to make Ethan happy.

“Hmm. Then maybe it was the touchdown you scored in the third quarter or that onside kick you recovered to end the game,” I offer, and the back of his neck flushes. “Or maybe she just thinks you look like a snack.”

He presses his lips together, trying not to laugh as he rounds my car. “You get points for trying, Aunt Ten.” But then he groans and points out a deflated tire on the passenger side.

“Mais la,” I grumble, kicking the saggy heap of rubber. “It’s definitely flat.”

“Good thing Pop showed me how to change a tire,” Ethan declares proudly. “I’ve got this.”

He makes his way to the trunk, trading his football bag out for the spare and gathering the tools as if he knows exactly what he’s doing. I watch him appreciatively for a second before I bring the rest of the gear over to where he’s crouching beside the flat tire, and I’m impressed when he manages to jack the car up successfully. However, we hit a major roadblock when it’s time to remove the old tire.

“The lug nuts are just too tight,” Ethan admits. “They must have used an impact wrench or something to get them on.”

“You were doing a great job so far,” I offer.

“I think it was the leftover adrenaline from that game, but it’s starting to wear off. I’ll need to call in bigger muscles,” he explains.

I glance around the deserted lot. Of course, JD’s truck is one of the few vehicles left. “Do we really have to ask him, though? It feels like we bother him all the time.”

I’m not exactly thrilled about the prospect of facing JD after our latest awkward interaction. To my dismay, I mentally stumbled over seeing him with another woman this afternoon. And it didn’t help that the woman clutching at his arm was my former best friend, Loren Reed.

It’s not like I suspect Loren has grown up to be any less amazing than the quirky and bubbly girl who used to sleep over at my house every weekend and subject me to Lord of the Rings marathons so we could drool over Orlando Bloom together. She seems just as charming and good-natured as ever. She’s also pretty—really pretty. Loren’s always been a natural beauty, and now she looks like a modern-day Audrey Hepburn.

And it’s glaringly obvious that if JD is into Loren, he couldn’t possibly have been intentional about flirting with me all this time.

So, then, why did he do it again, right in front of Loren?

I wish I could say I didn’t care. As much as I shouldn’t bother worrying about why JD Bourgeois has been staring at me like I’m the last woman on Earth while he’s obviously seeing someone else, the truth is that I can’t help but feel something stirring in the pit of my stomach every time he looks my way. Because even though I don’t want to like him, he’s still walking around in the body of a tight end. And dammit if “nice guy who loves kids, tall and muscular with gorgeous eyes” isn’t my freaking type.

There’s probably a reason why most of my exes and celebrity crushes were all football players. I mean, Orlando Bloom is gorgeous, but I’d prefer an Odell Beckham, Jr. any day of the week.

Or better yet, I’d take a Watt brother—preferably TJ.

“Aunt Ten? We don’t exactly have anyone else to call,” Ethan reminds me, bringing me back to the present. “And you know he doesn’t mind helping.”

I hang my lip and whine once more before giving in to the inevitable. “Fine, let’s go get the muscles.”

He smirks at me before setting down the torque wrench and leading me back to the football field. JD and his brother are already walking out of the locker room when we approach, and it only takes a second for Ethan to convince them to help.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” JD says as we pass the concession stand. “I promised Loren I’d walk her to her car. I don’t care for anyone going out to the parking lot alone in the dark, especially this late.”

Of course. No way the human golden retriever would let that happen.

“If you want to go ahead, I could wait around…” Blake begins, but he trails off as soon as JD cocks an eyebrow. “But I guess you might need my help. Why don’t you just go inside and see if Loren’s ready?”

“She’s ready!” Loren calls, rounding the corner of the building a second later as if Blake conjured her up. She greets each one of us and listens as JD explains our predicament, and we all make the awkward trek to the lot together.

JD clears his throat as we near my car. “I’ll, uh, be right back,” he announces, then gestures for Loren to lead the way. She turns and winks at me before they walk off together, and I realize my expression probably looks less than friendly. I busy myself with opening my car door and pretending to sift through my purse for something, determined not to stare.

“What’s going on with them?” I hear Ethan ask Blake. When I turn, the two of them are standing together, arms crossed, watching the scene play out in front of us.

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