I sipped my lemonade, letting their bickering wash over me like comforting background noise.
“Speaking of tragic,” Elodie said, tilting her head toward me. “I still can’t believe Austin stayed and played nurse for two days straight. Cal told me he even called in sick to work.”
“He didn’t have to,” I said quickly, my fingers knotting in my cardigan. “But he ... he just did.”
It had rattled me more than I wanted to admit.
For years I’d been the one holding everything together—late-night fevers, last-minute emergencies, the thousand tiny inconveniences that came with single motherhood. No one had ever stepped in, unasked, the way Austin had. No one had thought to. I didn’t know what to do with that kind of care, with the quiet competence of a man who folded towels and rocked my daughter like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Was Austin there when Brian dropped her off?” Kit asked with a bounce of her eyebrows.
I groaned, hoping to forget. I was still reeling from the fact that Brian had dropped Winnie off meremomentsafter Austin and I had just had sex. I was fully convinced the flush in mycheeks and rat’s nest hair was a neon billboard that flashedJust Been Fucked.
“Yes,” I grumbled. “There was a moment where the two just stared at each other like a pair of gorillas. I thought one of them was going to start beating his chest and grunting.”
Elodie snorted. “Let him be jealous. He’s the idiot who lost you anyway.”
My sister had never liked Brian. While I was often reminded of the many,manyreasons why we had divorced, he wasn’t a horrible human being. We had been friends in college who’d fallen into a companionable rhythm. That rhythm had eventually turned into a relationship, and when he’d asked me to be his wife, I’d happily settled for a slow, comfortable life.
It had taken me a long time to realize how easy it was to mistake comfort for complacency. I would spend hours restoring and romanticizing old love stories while daydreaming of my own. I was three months postpartum when Brian calmly came to me one evening and told me he wasn’t sure he’d ever beenin lovewith me, and the only thing I could do was nod.
Because what else was there? I knew the truth—I was more heartbroken over the impact our divorce would have on Winnie than over anything else. I had been in love with theideaof a husband and never with the husband himself.
Pathetic.
My eyes strayed—again—to the outfield where Austin stood with his glove tucked lazily under one arm. He was laughing at something Hayes said, his smile easy and unguarded in a way that still did strange things to my stomach.
The early-evening sun cut across his broad shoulders, catching on the fine layer of sweat on his neck, and Ihatedhow my pulse tripped.
“You’re quiet over there.” Elodie’s voice drew me back. “Hey, I’m sorry if I was ragging on Brian.”
I blinked and turned, schooling my expression. “It’s fine. I’m just lost in my own thoughts.”
Her brow arched, and I knew that look. Elodie had been reading me like a book since we were old enough to keep secrets. “No. You’re doing that thing.”
My brows pinched down. “What thing?”
Kit grinned. “The thing where you’re pretending to care about the conversation while your eyes are undressing someone.”
My mouth fell open as my cheeks flamed. “I am not?—”
“You so are.” Kit leaned forward, conspiratorial. “And honestly, same. I mean, have you seen Austin in a jersey? It’s like the fabric doesn’t know whether to cling or beg for mercy.”
“Elodie,” I said, desperate for backup.
But Elodie just shook her head and gave me a knowing smile. “You do watch him like someone who’s trying very hard not to be caught watching.”
Heat flared in my cheeks. I took another sip of lemonade to buy time, though it didn’t cool me nearly enough.
“It’s nothing,” I said finally, waving a hand. “We’re just ... spending a little time together. Having fun.”
Kit raised a brow. “Is that what we’re calling mind-blowing sex these days? I could use some fun.”
“Elodie,” I hissed, praying no one around us heard.
“Don’t look at me.” She smirked. “I didn’t say it. Kit did.”
“I only implied it.” Kit grinned. “But you just confirmed it.”
